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Bill 3052

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      3052
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 House
Introduced Date:                  20010109
Primary Sponsor:                  W.D. Smith
All Sponsors:                     W.D. Smith, Harrison, Whatley, Cotty
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\skb\18026som01.doc
Residing Body:                    Senate
Current Committee:                Judiciary Committee 11 SJ
Subject:                          Judicial Merit Selection Commission, to 
                                  publicize judicial vacancies in newspapers; 
                                  Courts, General Assembly, Elections


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  20010130  Introduced, read first time,           11 SJ
                  referred to Committee
House   20010126  Read third time, sent to Senate
House   20010125  Read second time, unanimous consent
                  for third reading on the next
                  Legislative day
House   20010124  Committee report: Favorable            25 HJ
House   20010111  Co-Sponsor added (Rule 5.2) by Rep.            Cotty
House   20010109  Introduced, read first time,           25 HJ
                  referred to Committee
House   20001206  Prefiled, referred to Committee        25 HJ


              Versions of This Bill
Revised on January 24, 2001 - Word format

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

COMMITTEE REPORT

January 24, 2001

    H. 3052

S. Printed 1/24/01--H.

Read the first time January 9, 2001.

    To whom was referred a Bill (H. 3052), to amend Section 2-19-20, as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission announcing and publicizing judicial vacancies, etc., respectfully

    That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass:

JAMES H. HARRISON, for Committee.

TO AMEND SECTION 2-19-20, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE JUDICIAL MERIT SELECTION COMMISSION ANNOUNCING AND PUBLICIZING JUDICIAL VACANCIES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMISSION, IN TIMELY FASHION, MUST SEND A NEWS RELEASE TO EACH NEWSPAPER OF DAILY CIRCULATION IN THE STATE THAT CONTAINS THE NAMES OF THE CANDIDATES, THE DATE, PLACE, AND TIME OF JUDICIAL SCREENING HEARINGS, AND ALSO CONTAINS A STATEMENT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC INPUT IN THE SCREENING PROCESS, AND TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSION TO REQUEST OF EACH NEWSPAPER THAT THE NEWS RELEASE BE PUBLISHED ON AT LEAST ONE-HALF OF ONE NEWSPAPER PAGE, AND TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSION TO SEND THE NEWS RELEASE TO APPLICABLE BAR ORGANIZATIONS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.        Section 2-19-20(C) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 32 of 1999, is further amended to read:

    "(C)    (1) The Judicial Merit Selection Commission shall announce and publicize vacancies and forthcoming vacancies in the administrative law judge division, on the family court, circuit court, court of appeals, and Supreme Court. A person who desires to be considered for nomination as justice or judge may make application to the commission. No person may concurrently seek more than one judicial vacancy.

        (2)    The commission shall announce the names of those persons who have applied for the vacancies in the administrative law division, family court, circuit court, court of appeals, and Supreme Court. The commission must inform the public of the candidates to be screened, and the date, place, and time of the hearing through a news release sent to each newspaper of the State with daily circulation. The news release also must contain a request for public input on the candidates for judicial office and the statement that 'public input is an important factor in determining whether the candidate is qualified to serve'. The commission is required to submit the news release to the newspapers in timely fashion so that the news release is published at least two weeks before the date when public hearings are scheduled to begin. The commission is required to request of each newspaper that the news release is published on at least one-half of a newspaper page. The commission also must send the news release to applicable bar organizations, including the South Carolina Bar and all applicable county bar organizations."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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