South Carolina 126th General Assembly Status: Enacted

H 4805 — 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. - RATIFIED TITLE

Last action — Act No. 154

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 16, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Henry McMaster (Republican) on May 15, 2026.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 60% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 7 sponsors

    1 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

This bill changes judge election processes and requirements in South Carolina.

The bill amends South Carolina laws to convert some at-large judicial seats to resident seats and reduces the service requirement for judges' retirement. It aims to adjust the distribution and election process of judges in the state.

Summary

Judicial Seats

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Act No. 154

  2. Effective date 05/15/26

  3. Signed By Governor

  4. Ratified R 205

  5. Read third time and enrolled (Senate Journal-page 82)

  6. Roll call Ayes-45 Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 45)

  7. Read second time (Senate Journal-page 45)

  8. Referred to Committee on Judiciary (Senate Journal-page 3)

  9. Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 3)

  10. Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal-page 37)

  11. Roll call Yeas-109 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 24)

  12. Read second time (House Journal-page 22)

  13. Amended (House Journal-page 22)

  14. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hart

  15. Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary (House Journal-page 210)

  16. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Robbins

  17. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: White

  18. Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 96)

  19. Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 96)

  20. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  21. Prefiled

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 163 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (163)

163 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 163 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does H 4805 do?
Judicial Seats
Who sponsors H 4805?
H 4805 is sponsored by Representative Christopher R. "Chris" Hart, Representative Robby Robbins, Representative Joseph S. "Joe" White, Representative Thomas E. "Tommy" Pope, Representative Brandon Newton, Representative Cody T. Mitchell, and Representative Wm. Weston J. Newton.
What is the current status of H 4805?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 16, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track H 4805?
Track H 4805 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on H 4805

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of H 4805

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →