South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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S. 645

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Pinckney, Ford, Kuhn, Ravenel and Mescher
Document Path: l:\s-resmin\bills\pinckney\smin0042.ccp.doc

Introduced in the Senate on April 22, 2003
Introduced in the House on April 29, 2003
Currently residing in the House Charleston Delegation

Summary: Charleston County School Board members, method of election and qualifications

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   4/22/2003  Senate  Intd. & placed on local & uncontested cal. w/o 
                        reference SJ-25
   4/22/2003  Senate  Unanimous consent for second reading on next legislative 
                        day SJ-25
   4/23/2003  Senate  Read second time SJ-42
   4/23/2003  Senate  Ordered to third reading with notice of amendments SJ-42
   4/23/2003          Scrivener's error corrected
   4/24/2003  Senate  Read third time and sent to House SJ-48
   4/29/2003  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-10
   4/29/2003  House   Referred to Charleston Delegation HJ-10

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/22/2003
4/22/2003-A
4/23/2003

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

INTRODUCED

April 22, 2003

S. 645

Introduced by Senators Pinckney, Ford, Kuhn, Ravenel and Mescher

L. Printed 4/22/03--S.    [SEC 4/23/03 2:46 PM]

Read the first time April 22, 2003.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND ACT 340 OF 1967, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CHARLESTON COUNTY, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE METHOD OF ELECTION OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A CANDIDATE FOR SUCH OFFICE.

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

SECTION    1.    Section 2 of Act 340 of 1967, as last amended by Act 936 of 1970 is amended to read:

"Section 2. The governing body of the Charleston County School District shall be a board of trustees which shall be composed of nine members, each of whom shall be a qualified elector of the area he represents. The initial members shall be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of a majority of the Charleston County Legislative Delegation. One member shall be appointed from that portion of the of the county included in Moultrie School District No. 2 and St. James Santee School District No. 1; three members shall be appointed from that portion of the county included in St. Andrews District No. 10, St. John's School District No. 9, St. Paul's School District No. 23, and James Island School District No. 3; three members shall be appointed from that portion of the county included in Cooper River School District No. 4; and two members shall be appointed from that portion of the county included in School district No. 20. Of the members first appointed, one shall be from each of the foregoing portions of the county, all of whom shall serve through December 31, 1970; one shall be appointed from the portion of the county included in School District No. 20, two from the portion of the county included in St. Andrews School District No. 10, St. John's School; District No, 9, St. Paul's School District No. 23, and James Island School District No. 3, and two from the portion of the county included in Cooper River School District No. 4, each of whom shall serve through December 31, 1972.

Upon the expiration of the term of each member, his successor shall be a qualified elector of the same area and shall be elected in the general election preceding such expiration date by the qualified electors of the entire county for a term of four years and until his successor is elected and qualified. In the event of a vacancy on the board, due to cause other than expiration of term, the vacancy shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by appointment by the Governor upon the recommendation of a majority of the Charleston County Legislative Delegation.

The governing body of the Charleston County School District must be a board known as the Charleston County School Board. The board shall consist of nine members who, beginning with the 2004 General Election must be elected from single-member districts. The present members of the board of the district shall continue to serve until the time specified in this act, at which time the members of the board elected in the manner provided for in this act shall take office.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the members of the board must be elected at the general election beginning in 2004 for terms of four years. At the 2004 Election, and to provide for staggered terms of office, members of the board must be elected from Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 for terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Members of the board must be elected from Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 for terms of two years each and until their successors are elected and qualify. Successors to these members must be elected for four-year terms at the general election every two or four years thereafter as appropriate. All members of the board shall serve until their successors are elected and qualify. Nothing in this act shall be construed to alter the staggering of terms established by this section. The terms of the present members of the board shall expire when the members elected at the 2004 General Election qualify and take office.

At any election the candidate for each seat receiving a majority of the votes shall be deemed elected. If no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, there shall be a runoff election held within two weeks of the election between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes.

A vacancy occurring for any reason other than expiration of a term must be filled by special election for the unexpired portion of the term as provided in Section 7-13-190, unless the vacancy occurs within nine months of the next general election.

For the purpose of electing members of the Charleston County School Board beginning in 2004, the School District of Charleston County is divided into nine single-member election districts as shown on the official map designated as S-19-00-03(A) prepared by and on file with the Office of Research and Statistical Services of the State Budget and Control Board, and as shown on certified copies of the official map provided to the State Election Commission and the Charleston County Election Commission by the Office of Research and Statistical Services. These single-member districts must be reapportioned by the General Assembly at the next census after the effective date of this act and every ten years thereafter based on the most recent census.

One member of the School Board of Charleston County must be elected from each of the nine single-member election districts established by law. Each member of the board must have been a legal resident of the district in which he is elected for a minimum of one year prior to the general election and must be elected by the qualified electors of that district. All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate shall file written notice of their candidacy with the county election commission at least thirty days before the date set for the election but not earlier than sixty days before an election. This notice of candidacy must be a sworn statement and shall include the candidate's name, age, voting precinct, single-member election district in which the candidate resides, period of residence in the district, and such other information as the county election commission shall require.

The county commissioners of election shall conduct and supervise all elections for members of the board in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The commissioners shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results thereof. The commissioners shall advertise the date of the election sixty days preceding the election in the newspapers of general circulation published in Charleston County and shall publish a second notice two weeks thereafter. The cost of the elections shall be borne by Charleston County.

Section    2 A. The election of the members of the board of trustees shall be nonpartisan and candidates for the board of trustees of the Charleston County School District shall be nominated by petition only filed with the county election commission prior to September first of each election year signed by not less than five hundred qualified resident electors of Charleston County, not less than two hundred fifty of whom shall also be residents of the area which the candidate nominated represents. Candidates so nominated shall be placed upon the ballot in the general election without any party designation and in alphabetic order."

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

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