H 4755

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 4755
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Amended
February 11, 2026
H. 4755
Introduced by Reps. Gatch, G. M. Smith, W.
Newton, Caskey, Jordan, Bailey, Ballentine, Brewer, Brittain, Chapman,
Crawford, Cromer, Davis, Duncan, Edgerton, Forrest, Gagnon, Gilliam, Guest,
Guffey, Hager, Hardee, Hartz, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hiott, Hixon, Holman, Huff,
Kilmartin, Lawson, Long, Lowe, Magnuson, Martin, McCravy, McGinnis, C.
Mitchell, B. Newton, Oremus, Pace, Pedalino, Pope, Rankin, Sanders, Schuessler,
Sessions, M. M. Smith, Taylor, Teeple, Terribile, Vaughan, White, Whitmire,
Willis, Yow, Erickson, Chumley, Ford, Lastinger, Wickensimer, Bowers, D.
Mitchell and Gilreath
S. Printed 2/11/26--H.
Read the first time January 13, 2026
________
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTIONS 2-19-5, 2-19-20, 2-19-30, 2-19-35, 2-19-50, 2-19-60 AND 2-19-70, ALL
RELATING TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA JUDICIAL MERIT SELECTION COMMISSION SCREENING
AND ELECTION OF JUSTICES AND JUDGES, SO AS TO REVISE THE STAFFING AND
APPOINTMENT PROCESS OF THE COMMISSION AND TRANSFER THAT AUTHORITY TO THE
GOVERNOR, TO PROHIBIT SITTING MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CERTAIN
FAMILY MEMBERS FROM SERVING ON THE COMMISSION, TO PROHIBIT THE COMMISSION FROM
CONSIDERING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION CRITERIA ALONG WITH OTHER SIMILAR
CRITERIA, AND TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES.
    Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 2-19-5 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
2-19-5.  (A) There is created the
South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission. The
commission must be staffed by the Governor's Office. composed of twelve members who must be appointed as follows:
       (1) four members appointed by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives and of these appointments:
  (a) three members must be members of the
House of Representatives;  and
  (b) one member must be selected from the
South Carolina Bar who must be a member of the Bar in good standing with ten
years' experience in the practice of law;
       (2) four members appointed by the Senate
and of these appointments:
  (a) two members must be appointed by the
President of the Senate one of whom must be a member of the Senate and one of
whom must be selected from the South Carolina Bar and must be a member in good
standing with ten years' experience in the practice of law;  and
  (b) two members must be appointed by the
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee both of whom must be members of the
Senate;  and
       (3) four members appointed by the
Governor all of which must be members in good standing of the South Carolina
Bar with at least ten years' experience in the practice of law.
The commission shall be composed of twelve members who must be
appointed by the Governor as follows:
       (1) eight members must be members of the
South Carolina Bar in good standing;
       (2) no more than four members may be law
enforcement professionals; and
       (3) no individual currently holding a
seat in the General Assembly of either chamber shall be eligible to serve on
the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, nor shall their spouse, children, or
siblings. Former members of the General Assembly must wait no fewer than two
years before qualifying for selection by the Governor to the commission. Their
spouse, children, or siblings must also wait no fewer than two years before
qualifying following the member vacating their seat.
    (B) No
person is eligible for appointment if he individually contributed to athe Governor's campaign of one of the appointing authorities in the most recent
election.  Nonlegislative members may not be a public
employee or serve in another elected office.
    (C)
Members of the commission shall serve for a term of two years and may serve no
more than two consecutive terms.  However, a member of the
House of Representatives or Senate who ceases to serve as a member of the
General Assembly will have his service on the commission terminated upon the
end of his service in the General Assembly.  Additionally, a member
appointed to fill a vacancy in an unexpired term may serve two full terms
thereafter.  The initial appointments must be made as
follows:
       (1) one member each appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives pursuant to subsection (A)(1)(a) and
(b) shall serve an initial term of one year and may be reappointed to a
following two-year term;
       (2) one member each appointed by the
President of the Senate and the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee
pursuant to subsection (A)(2)(a) and (b) shall serve an initial term of one
year and may be reappointed to a following two-year term;  and
       (3) two members appointed by the Governor
pursuant to subsection (A)(3) shall serve an initial term of one year and may
be reappointed to a following two-year term.
    (D) In making appointments to the
commission, race, gender, national origin, and other demographic factors shall
be considered to ensure nondiscrimination to the greatest extent possible as to
all segments of the population of the State.
    (E)(D) A vacancy on the commission must be filled for the
remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner as provided for the original
selection.
    (F)(E) Members of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission
serving on the effective date of this act who have served more than four years
on the commission are not eligible for appointment to the commission pursuant
to the provisions of this act except for the current chairman and vice chairman
who can serve a two-year term but then may not serve a successive term.
    (G)(F) No member of the commission shall receive any
compensation for commission services, except those set by law for travel,
board, and lodging expenses incurred in the performance of commission duties.
    (H)(G) No member of the commission is eligible for nomination
and appointment as a judge or justice of the state court system or
administrative law court while serving on the commission and for a period of
one year thereafter.  If a candidate is a family member of a member of the
commission, the member must resign.  For the purposes of this subsection,
"family member" means a spouse, parent, brother, sister, child, step-child,
mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law,
sister-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild.
SECTION 2.  Section 2-19-20(D) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    (D) Any person
wishing to seek a judicial office, which is elected by the General Assembly,
shall file a notice of intention to seek the office with the commission.  Upon
receipt of the notice of intention, the commission shall begin to conduct the
investigation of the candidate as it considers appropriate and may in theIn the course of an  investigation,
the commission may utilize the services of any agency of state
government.  This agency shall, upon request, cooperate fully with the
commission.
SECTION 3.  Section 2-19-30 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
2-19-30. (A) Upon completion of the
investigation, the Chairman of the South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection
Commission shall schedule a public hearing concerning the qualifications of the
candidates. Any person who desires to testify at the hearing, including candidates,
shall furnish a written statement of his proposed testimony to the commission
no later than two weeksseventy-two
hours prior to the date and time set for the hearing unless sufficient
cause is determined by the commission for allowing the submitting individual's
testimony after the deadline. The commission shall
determine the persons who shall testify at the hearing. All testimony,
including documents furnished to the commission, must be submitted under oath
and persons knowingly furnishing false information either orally or in writing
are subject to the penalties provided by law for perjury and false swearing.
    (B)
During the course of the investigation, the commission may schedule an executivea public session
at which each candidate, and other persons whom the commission wishes to
interview, may be interviewed by the commission on matters pertinent to the
candidate's qualification for the office to be filled.
All confidential information may be reserved for an executive session which the
commission may schedule.
    (C) At
a reasonable time thereafter the commission shall render its tentative findings
as to whether the candidate is qualified for the office to be filled and its
reasons therefor as to each candidate.
       (1) A finding that a candidate is not
qualified must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.
       (2) Anonymous survey data including, but
not limited to, results from the South Carolina Bar surveys when the identity
of the responding party is not disclosed to the candidate, is considered
insufficient as a matter of law to support a finding of not qualified.  While
such data may be used to initiate an investigation, a finding of not qualified
must be based on independent, verifiable evidence or sworn testimony when the
candidate has been given the opportunity to respond to the specific
allegations.
       (3) Any finding of not qualified must be
stated with specificity in the commission's report.  The report must include a
detailed written statement of the specific facts and a direct reference to the
evidence in the record that supports the finding.  General or conclusory
statements regarding a candidate's character, temperament, or fitness, without
specific reference to the supporting evidence, are insufficient to sustain a
finding of not qualified.
    (D) As
soon as possible after the completion of the hearing, a verbatim copy of the
testimony, documents submitted at the hearing, and findings of fact must be
transcribed and published or otherwise made available in a reasonable number of
copies to the members of both houses prior to the date of the scheduled
election, and a copy shall be furnished to each candidate and anyone else upon
request for free.  A charge
for these copies may be made as authorized in the Freedom of Information Act.
    (E) A
candidate may withdraw at any time prior to the public hearing or after the
draft report is issued to members of the General Assembly. The information
concerning a withdrawn candidate also shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant
to Chapter 4 of Title 30. However, all materials concerning the candidate must
be retained and may not be destroyed by the commission.
    (F)
All of the commission's public hearings shall be live streamed except for the
portions of the hearings conducted in executive session.
SECTION 4.  Chapter 19, Title 2 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:
    Section
2-19-32. (A) If the Judicial Merit
Selection Commission fails to meet, conduct hearings, or render findings on the
qualifications of candidates before the first Wednesday in March, all
candidates who have filed a timely notice of intention and completed the
initial background investigation are deemed qualified by operation of law.
    (B) In
the event of such a failure to act, the Chairman of the commission, or in the
Chairman's absence, the Clerk of the House and the Clerk of the Senate, shall
certify the list of all candidates to the General Assembly on the first
Wednesday in March.
    (C) Upon
such certification, the General Assembly shall proceed to the election of the
judicial offices. All constitutional and statutory prohibitions regarding the
pledging of votes are lifted seventy-two hours after the certification is
issued to the members of the General Assembly.
SECTION 5.  Section 2-19-35(B) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    (B) Race, gender,
national origin, and other demographic factors shall be considered by the
commission to ensure nondiscrimination to the greatest extent possible as to
all segments of the population of the State. In
making nominations and appointments, and in all affairs of the commission,
race, gender, sex, sexual preference, color, religion, national origin and
other intersectional identifiers, markers, or any diversity, equity, and
inclusion criteria, philosophy, or frameworks, shall not be considered by the
commission at any time, for any reason.
SECTION 6.  Section 2-19-50 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
2-19-50. All records, information, and other material that the South Carolina
Judicial Merit Selection Commission has obtained or used to make its findings
of fact, except materials, records, and information presented under oath at the
public hearing, or records which were not otherwise or
previously confidential, must be kept strictly confidential. The
information required to be kept confidential also shall be exempt from
disclosure pursuant to Chapter 4, Title 30.
SECTION 7.  Section 2-19-60 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
2-19-60. (A) The South Carolina
Judicial Merit Selection Commission, strictly and only
in the discharge of its duties in selecting and vetting
viable candidates, may administer oaths and affirmations, take
depositions, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the
production of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records
considered necessary in connection with the investigation of the candidate.
    (B) No
person shall be excused from attending and testifying or from producing books,
papers, correspondence, memoranda, or other records before the commission on
the ground that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required
of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture.
But no individual shall be prosecuted or subjected to any punishment,
forfeiture, or criminal or civil penalty
based upon testimony or evidence submitted or forfeiture for or on account of
any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled, after
having claimed his privilege against self-incrimination, to testify or produce
evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that the individual so testifying
shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury and false
swearing committed in so testifying.
    (C) In
case of contumacy by any person or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any
person, any circuit court of this State or circuit judge within the
jurisdiction of which the person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is
found, resides, or transacts business, upon application by the commission may
issue to this person an order requiring him to appear before the commission to
produce evidence if so ordered or to give testimony touching the matter under
investigation. Any failure to obey an order of the court may be punished as a
contempt. Subpoenas shall be issued in the name of the South Carolina Judicial
Merit Selection Commission and shall be signed by the commission chairman.
Subpoenas shall be issued to those persons as the commission may designate.
SECTION 8.  Section 2-19-70 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    Section
2-19-70. (A) No member of the General
Assembly may be elected to a judicial office while he is serving in the General
Assembly nor shall that person be elected to a judicial office for a period of
one year after he either:
       (1)
ceases to be a member of the General Assembly;  or
       (2)
fails to file for election to the General Assembly in accordance with Section
7-11-15.
    (B)
The privilege of the floor in either house of the General Assembly may not be
granted to any candidate or any immediate family member of a candidate unless the family member is serving in the General Assembly,
during the time the candidate's application is pending before the commission
and during the time his nomination by the commission for election to a
particular judicial office is pending in the General Assembly.
    (C) No
person may seek, directly or indirectly, the pledge of a member of the General
Assembly's vote or, directly or indirectly, contact a member of the General
Assembly regarding screening for the judicial office until the qualifications
of all candidates for that office have been determined by the Judicial Merit
Selection Commission and the commission has formally released its report as to
the qualifications of all candidates for the vacancy to the General Assembly.
No member of the General Assembly may offer his pledge to any person until the
qualifications of all candidates for that office have been determined by the
Judicial Merit Selection Commission and until the commission has formally
released its report as to the qualifications of its nominees to the General
Assembly. The formal release of the report of qualifications shall occur no
earlier than twelve days after the nominees have been initially released to
members of the General Assembly. For purposes of this section, indirectly
seeking a pledge means the candidate, or someone acting on behalf of and at the
request of the candidate, requesting a person to contact a member of the
General Assembly on behalf of the candidate before nominations for that office
are formally made by the commission. Prior to the formal release of the report
as to the qualifications of judicial candidates, a person may not request that
a member of the General Assembly, nor may a member of the General Assembly
offer to, act on behalf of a candidate in furtherance of the candidate's
candidacy in any capacity including, but not limited to, acting as a vote
counter for a candidate. The prohibitions of this section do not extend to an
announcement of candidacy by a person and statements by the candidate detailing
the candidate's qualifications.
    (D) No
member of the General Assembly may trade anything of value, including pledges
to vote for legislation or for other candidates now or in the future, in
exchange for another member's pledge to vote for a candidate for judicial
office or as an inducement for a candidate to withdraw.
    (E)
Violations of this section may must be considered by the merit selection commission when
it considers the candidate's qualifications and until the time set for election
of candidates. Violations of this section by members of the General Assembly
shall be reported by the commission to the House or Senate Ethics Committee, as
may be applicable. Violations of this section by nonlegislative commission
members shall be reported by the commission to the State Ethics Commission.  A
violation of this section is a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, the violator
must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than
ninety days.  Cases tried under this section may not be transferred from
general sessions court pursuant to Section 22-3-545.
SECTION 9.  Section 2-19-80(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:
    (A) The commission shall make
nominations to the General Assembly of candidates and their qualifications for
election to the Supreme Court, court of appeals, circuit court, family court,
and the Administrative Law Court.  It shall review the qualifications of all
applicants for a judicial office and select therefrom and submit to the General
Assembly the names and qualifications of not more than sixall candidates whom it considers best qualified for the
judicial office under consideration.  If fewer than six
persons apply to fill a vacancy or if the commission concludes there are fewer
than six candidates qualified for a vacancythe
commission fails to find all candidates qualified, it shall submit to
the General Assembly only the names and qualifications of those who are
considered to be qualified, with a written explanation for submitting fewer than six namesfinding
a candidate unqualified.
SECTION 10. Chapter 19, Title 2 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:
    Section
2-19-115.  (A) Upon a magistrate
position vacancy, the Senate shall forward a magistrate candidate to the
Judicial Merit Selection Commission for review of the candidate's
qualifications. The commission shall conduct the same review as for other
judicial candidates and may conduct a public hearing in the same manner as
other judicial candidates pursuant to the provisions of this chapter as the
commission deems necessary. The commission shall forward a report on a
magistrate candidate's qualifications to the Senate and Governor prior to the
Governor's appointment. The Governor's appointment process followed by advice
and consent of the Senate is pursuant to the provisions of Section 2-19-10.  No
person found not qualified by the commission may be appointed to a magistrate
position.
    (B) For
purposes of this section, a vacancy is created in a magistrate position when
any of the following occurs, a:
       (1)
term expires;
       (2)
new magistrate position is created; or
       (3)
magistrate is no longer able to serve due to resignation, retirement,
disciplinary action, disability, or death.
SECTION 11. This act
takes effect on July 1, 2027.
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This web page was last updated on February 11, 2026 at 04:00 PM