South Carolina S 1: Senate Rules of Procedure

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 1 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 04, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 1

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A senate RESOLUTION

TO ADOPT THE RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE SENATE AS 
PROVIDED IN ARTICLE III, SECTION 12 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
1895.

Be it resolved by the Senate that the Rules of the 
Senate are as follows:

SENATE 
RULES

RULE 1.

A.

Time of 
Daily Meeting

 The Senate, on the first day of each 
annual session, shall convene at 12 o'clock noon. Thereafter, the Senate shall 
meet each legislative day at 12 o'clock noon every Tuesday, 1 o'clock p.m. every 
Wednesday, 11 o'clock a.m. every Thursday for statewide matters and on Friday 
for local matters and uncontested matters which have previously received 
unanimous consent to be taken up unless otherwise ordered by the Senate. A 
motion to change the time of daily meeting may be made at any time when a 
quorum of the Senate is present or not present and must be voted on after no 
more than five (5) minutes of debate, two and a half (2½) for and two and a 
half (2½) against. The Senate shall stand adjourned Saturday through Monday 
unless otherwise ordered by a majority vote of the members present in statewide 
session.

B.

 At various times as he or she deems 
necessary during the session, the President, or his designee, is authorized to 
make a motion to provide for the convening of the Senate in statewide session 
for the exclusive purpose of the introduction and referral of bills, receipt of 
communications and committee reports and the reading and passage of local legislation 
to which all members of an affected delegation have given their consent for the 
bill to be taken up, and to adjourn immediately thereafter. Any such motion 
shall provide the specific dates during which the motion shall apply and shall 
provide that the Senate must convene at 11:00 a.m. and adjourn not later than 
12:30 p.m. on each such day and such motion must be made at least two (2) days 
prior to the beginning of the period for which it applies.

C.

 The President, when, in his opinion, it 
is impractical or dangerous to hold a regularly scheduled session(s) of the 
Senate, may declare the body adjourned to some other time or may convene the 
Senate under the provisions of Rule 1B. Such actions are to be taken only in 
times of great emergency including, but not limited to, natural disasters, 
severe weather, and acts of God.

RULE 2.

Quorum

 A majority of the total number of 
Senators qualified shall constitute a quorum.

Quorum Call 
of the Senate

 If at any time during the daily session 
of the Senate it is ascertained that there is not a quorum present, no business 
shall be in order except a call of the Senate, an order to send for absentees 
(as provided for in Rule 3B), a motion to recede for a fixed period of time or 
to a time certain, or a motion to adjourn. Each of the foregoing motions shall 
be of equal standing and none shall have priority over the others.

RULE 3.

Attendance, 
Duties and Obligations of Senators

A.

 Any member or officer of the Senate who 
shall absent himself or herself from the service of the Senate, without leave 
of the Senate first obtained, shall forfeit his or her subsistence while so 
absent. The Clerk shall maintain a record of those members present on each 
statewide legislative day.

B.

 Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 14 
or any other Rule of the Senate, at any time during a session when the presence 
of absent members is required, the Senate, by majority vote of those present 
and voting shall authorize the Sergeant-at-Arms to send for the absent members. 
In case a less number than a quorum of the Senate shall convene, the members 
present are hereby authorized to send the Sergeant-at-Arms or any person or 
persons by them authorized for any or all absent members, as the majority of 
such members present shall agree. This Rule shall apply to the first convention 
of the Senate each year at the legal time of meeting and to each day of the 
session after the hour to which the Senate stood adjourned has arrived. When 
provisions of this Rule are invoked then the outer doors of the antechamber 
shall be secured and any member within the confines of the chamber shall be 
counted for the purpose of determining a quorum. A motion to invoke or repeal 
Rule 3B may be made at any time when a quorum of the Senate is present or not 
present and must be voted on after no more than five (5) minutes of debate, two 
and a half (2 ½) for and two and a half (2 ½) against.

RULE 4.

A.

Majority 
Party and Minority Party

 Prior to the commencement of the session, 
the members of the Senate in each party shall select a leader of their 
respective party. The leader of each respective party shall serve as ei