South Carolina H 4805: Judicial Seats

Bill Text

South Carolina General Assembly

126th Session, 2025-2026



A154, R205, H4805



STATUS INFORMATION



General Bill

Sponsors: Reps. W. Newton, C. Mitchell, B. Newton, Pope, White, Robbins and Hart

Document Path: LC-0191AHB26.docx



Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026

Introduced in the Senate on April 7, 2026

Last Amended on April 1, 2026


Currently residing in the Senate

Governor's Action: May 15, 2026, Signed



Summary: Judicial Seats





HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS



	Date	Body	Action Description with journal page number	

	12/16/2025	House	Prefiled
 

	12/16/2025	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary

	1/13/2026	House	Introduced and read first time (House Journal‑page 96)

	1/13/2026	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal‑page 96)

	1/20/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: White
 

	3/31/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Robbins
 

	3/31/2026	House	Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary (House Journal‑page 210)

	4/1/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hart
 

	4/1/2026	House	Amended (House Journal‑page 22)

	4/1/2026	House	Read second time (House Journal‑page 22)

	4/1/2026	House	Roll call Yeas-109  Nays-0 (House Journal‑page 24)

	4/2/2026	House	Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal‑page 37)

	4/7/2026	Senate	Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal‑page 3)

	4/7/2026	Senate	Referred to Committee on Judiciary (Senate Journal‑page 3)

	5/5/2026	Senate	Read second time (Senate Journal‑page 45)

	5/5/2026	Senate	Roll call Ayes-45  Nays-0 (Senate Journal‑page 45)

	5/6/2026	Senate	Read third time and enrolled (Senate Journal‑page 82)

	5/14/2026		Ratified R 205
 

	5/15/2026		Signed By Governor
 

	5/26/2026		Effective date 05/15/26
 

	5/26/2026		Act No. 154
 



View the latest  legislative information  at the website





VERSIONS OF THIS BILL



12/17/2025

03/31/2026

04/01/2026

04/29/2026

04/29/2026-A

























(A154, R205, H4805)



AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 14‑5‑610, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIXTEEN JUDICIAL CIRCUITS, THE NUMBER OF JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, AND THE ELECTION OF AT‑LARGE JUDGES WITHOUT REGARD TO COUNTY OR CIRCUIT OF RESIDENCE, SO AS TO CONVERT THREE AT‑LARGE CIRCUIT COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS AND CREATE FOUR NEW JUDGESHIPS; BY AMENDING SECTION 63‑3‑40, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, SO AS TO CONVERT FOUR AT‑LARGE FAMILY COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 9‑8‑60, RELATING TO RETIREMENT OF JUDGES, SOLICITORS, AND CIRCUIT PUBLIC DEFENDERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE EIGHT YEARS OF EARNED SERVICE RATHER THAN TEN.



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



Circuit court judgeships



SECTION 1.	Section 14‑5‑610 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:



	Section 14‑5‑610.	(A) The State is divided into sixteen judicial circuits as follows:

		(1) The first circuit is composed of the counties of Calhoun, Dorchester, and Orangeburg.

		(2) The second circuit is composed of the counties of Aiken, Bamberg, and Barnwell.

		(3) The third circuit is composed of the counties of Clarendon, Lee, Sumter, and Williamsburg.

		(4) The fourth circuit is composed of the counties of Chesterfield, Darlington, Marlboro, and Dillon.

		(5) The fifth circuit is composed of the counties of Kershaw and Richland.

		(6) The sixth circuit is composed of the counties of Chester, Lancaster, and Fairfield.

		(7) The seventh circuit is composed of the counties of Cherokee and Spartanburg.

		(8) The eighth circuit is composed of the counties of Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry.

		(9) The ninth circuit is composed of the counties of Charleston and Berkeley.

		(10) The tenth circuit is composed of the counties of Anderson and Oconee.

		(11) The eleventh circuit is composed of the counties of Lexington, McCormick, Saluda, and Edgefield.

		(12) The twelfth circuit is composed of the counties of Florence and Marion.

		(13) The thirteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Greenville and Pickens.

		(14) The fourteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Allendale, Hampton, Colleton, Jasper, and Beaufort.

		(15) The fifteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Georgetown and Horry.

		(16) The sixteenth circuit is composed of the counties of York and Union.

	(B) Two judges must be elected from the second, fourth, sixth, and sixteenth circuits. Three judges must be elected from the first, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and fourteenth circuits. Four judges must be elected from the third and fifteenth circuits. Five judges must be elected from the ninth and thirteenth circuits. Six judges must be elected from the fifth circuit.

	(C) In addition to the above judges authorized by this section, there must be four additional circuit judges elected by the General Assembly from the State