South Carolina governor OKs changes in selecting judges

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Changes will be coming to the way most judges are selected in South Carolina – one of two states where lawmakers pick the judiciary.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed the new law this week – after more than a year of calls for judicial reform.

“The status quo is unacceptable, and this bill does change a few things, but I view it only as the first few steps,” McMaster said.

He says lawmakers have more work ahead on the issue.

“They made some progress, but not nearly enough,” he said.

The law focuses significantly on the committee that screens judicial candidates and advances the names of those qualified for seats to the full General Assembly, which elects them.

The law will expand the ’s hip, with a third of appointed by the governor – who currently has no role in the judicial selection process.

But McMaster believes he should have at least half the appointments as a coequal branch with the General Assembly, which has the rest.

Ultimately, McMaster favors a selection system akin to the federal model – in which the governor would appoint judges, with senators’ approval. But that would require a change to the state constitution to implement – and there’s significant reluctance among lawmakers to do that.

The new law will impose term limits on screening for the first time – and prohibit most current from serving on this revamped version.

But it will still permit lawyers who are also legislators to serve on the committee. That’s a ban some wanted to see and an allowance with which the governor takes issue.

Chief among the areas where McMaster believes these changes fall short is the exclusion of any reforms to the current magistrate judge system.

“The magistrate’s court is where most of the legal business in the state is done,” he said. “Most people don’t ever see the inside of a circuit court or sometimes family court.”

Senators entirely control magistrate selection – and the upper chamber’s majority leader says reform of some fashion isn’t off the table in the future.

“There are a number of people who are willing to talk about those things. There are some senators who are very protective of that — suits me to give it up completely. They’re a pain in my butt. But I think that is something that is likely going to be talked about into the future,” said Shane Massey, Senate majority leader.

This new law’s changes won’t go into effect until July of next year.

So McMaster wants to see lawmakers come back to the table when they return to Columbia in January and additional measures before that July 2025 implementation.

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