South Carolina S 1005: Judicial Salaries

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 1005 Text of Previous Version (May. 06, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 1005

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

Committee Report

May 6, 2026

S. 1005

Introduced 
by Senators Elliott, Stubbs, Walker, Blackmon and Garrett 

S. Printed 5/6/26--H.

Read the first time April 30, 2026

________

The committee on House Ways 
and Means

To whom was referred a Bill (S. 1005) to 
amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 14-1-200, relating to 
the establishment of salaries of Supreme Court justices and court of appeals, etc., 
respectfully

Report:

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

B.W. BANNISTER for 
Committee.

statement of estimated fiscal impact

Explanation of Fiscal Impact

State Expenditure

This bill increases the annual salary 
for family court judges from 92.5 percent of the salary for Associate Justices 
of the Supreme Court to 95 percent of the salary for Associate Justices of the 
Supreme Court. The bill also makes clarifying changes to references regarding 
judges of the circuit court and judges of the court of appeals. 

Judicial reports that increasing the 
annual salary for family court judges to 95 percent of the salary for Associate 
Justices of the Supreme Court equates to a salary increase of $5,840 per year for 
66 family court judges, resulting in a total increase in salary expenses of 
$385,440 beginning in FY 2026-27. Judicial further anticipates additional 
fringe expenses of $289,560 associated with the salary increase for 66 family 
court judges beginning in FY 2026-27. Therefore, this bill will increase expenditures 
for Judicial by at least $675,000 beginning in FY 2026-27. Judicial indicates 
that additional General Fund appropriations would be needed to implement the 
salary increase. To note, the increase in fringe expenses assumes that a one-time 
contribution is made to fund the JSRS and the employer contribution remains at 
75 percent of employee salary. 

PEBA indicates that the bill will 
have no expenditure impact on the agency, as the changes will be implemented 
with current staff and resources.

PEBA reports that the annual salary 
increase for family court judges under this bill would increase the unfunded 
actuarial accrued liability for the JSRS by approximately $3,896,000 and would reduce 
the funded ratio of the JSRS by 0.4 percent. Should the General Assembly choose 
to fund this increase, this bill would result in a one-time expenditure of approximately 
$3,896,000 in FY 2026-27. Absent one-time funding to cover the increase in the 
unfunded actuarial accrued liability, this bill would require the JSRS employer 
contribution rate to grow from 62.94 percent to 63.83 percent, an increase of 
0.89 percent, in order to maintain the current funding period. This increase 
would apply to all 168 current active members of the JSRS employed by Judicial, 
CPC, CID, and ALC with a current systemwide payroll of approximately 
$36,800,000 per year. Therefore, a 0.89 percent increase in the employer 
contribution rate will increase employer contributions expenditures for these 
agencies by $327,500 beginning in FY 2026-27.

Frank A. Rainwater, Executive Director

Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office

_______

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY 
AMENDING SECTION 14-1-200, RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SALARIES OF SUPREME 
COURT JUSTICES AND COURT OF APPEALS, CIRCUIT COURT, AND FAMILY COURT JUDGES, SO 
AS TO PROVIDE A REVISED SALARY SCHEDULE FOR JUDGES.

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

SECTION 
1. Section 14-1-200 of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 Section 
14-1-200. The General Assembly shall establish the 
salary of the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court in the 
annual general appropriation act with the salary of the Chief Justice to be one 
hundred five percent of the salary fixed for Associate Justices of the Supreme 
Court and shall fix the salaries for the court of appeals, circuit court, and 
family court according to the following schedule:

 (1) 
Thethe chief judge of 
the court of appeals shall receive a salary in an amount equal to ninety-nine 
percent of the salary fixed for Associate Justices of the Supreme Court;

 (2) 
Judgesjudges of the 
court of appeals shall receive a salary in an amount equal to ninety-seven and 
one-half percent of the salary fixed for Associate Justices of the Supreme 
Court, ;

 (3) and 
circuit court judges judges of the circuit court shall 
receive a salary in an amount equal to ninety-five percent of the salary fixed 
for Associate Justices of the Supreme Court; and

 (3)(4) Judges judges of the family court shall receive a salary i