South Carolina Constitution

The Constitution of the State of South Carolina is the governing document of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. The current constitution took effect on December 4, 1895. South Carolina has had six other constitutions, which were adopted in 1776, 1778, 1790, 1861, 1865 and 1868.^[1]

Revisions since 1968

The 1895 Constitution has been rewritten article by article on an ongoing basis since 1968, with each proposed revision submitted to the voters for approval. Prior to 1968, the 1895 Constitution had been amended 330 times, making it one of the longest state constitutions in the United States. It had become a somewhat chaotic document, in large part because most of the amendments dealt with matters addressed by statute in most other states.

The great majority of these amendments dealt with bonded debt limits for local governments. Originally, changes in the bonded debt limits for counties could only be adopted by a statewide vote.

Unusual provisions

• Article IV, Section 2 (Qualifications of Governor) states: "No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor who denies the existence of the Supreme Being." This provision has never been enforced in modern times, since current precedent holds that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause is binding on the states per the 14th Amendment's liberty clause.
• A constitutional amendment must be approved by two-thirds of each house of the legislature, approved by the people in an election, and then ratified by a majority of each house of the legislature. If the legislature fails to ratify, the amendment does not take effect, even though it has been approved by the people. See S.C. Const. art. XVI, s. 1.
• Article XVII, Section 3 of the Constitution prohibited divorce for any reason. On April 15, 1949, it was revised to permit divorce for certain reasons. It is believed that South Carolina is the only state in which the grounds for divorce are written into the constitution. The legislature is thus prohibited from creating additional grounds for divorce except by constitutional amendment.
• Due to extremely strict annexation laws passed by the General Assembly in 1976, incorporated municipalities in South Carolina are usually much smaller in area and population than those elsewhere in the fast-growing Southeast. However, when adjacent suburbs which would be annexed elsewhere are added in, they exhibit sizes and rates of growth similar to many municipalities in neighboring states, such as Georgia and North Carolina.
• A two-thirds majority vote of the House of Representatives is required to impeach the governor and other state officials, as opposed to the simple majority required by the U.S. Constitution and most other state constitutions.
• In elections, the governor and lieutenant governor can run on separate tickets.
• The adjutant general, head of South Carolina's National Guard, is an elected official. South Carolina is the only state where this is the case.

References

1. ^ Graham

Graham, C. Blease. "South Carolina’s Constitutions". University of South Carolina. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080225080851/http://www.cas.sc.edu/poli/courses/scgov/Articles/SC_Constitution_History.htm. Retrieved October 8, 2009. 

External links

• Official site