South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

S 782 — Determination of Population Density for Municipal Incorporation

Last action — Referred to Committee on Judiciary

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

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 14% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 5-1-30, RELATING TO PREREQUISITES TO THE ISSUANCE OF A CORPORATE CERTIFICATE TO A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY SO AS TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO USE ANY RELIABLE AND VERIFIABLE INFORMATION BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL UNITED STATES CENSUS TO DETERMINE WHETHER A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY HAS THE REQUISITE POPULATION DENSITY FOR INCORPORATION.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

38 added · 16 removed

Plain-language change summary

The proposed changes to Bill S 782 modify how the Secretary of State assesses population density for incorporating new municipalities in South Carolina. Previously, the law strictly required a population density of at least 300 people per square mile based solely on census data. The amendment now allows for the use of any reliable and verifiable information from the most recent census, potentially making it easier for areas to meet the density requirement for incorporation. This change is significant as it could open up opportunities for more communities to form and recognize their own local governments.

→
Previous
Latest
PK ÑH.\>†nˆ / customXml/item5.xmlÍXír£ÈýŸ§èҏõ3âC|ÈÑhƒ¥–ÍŽ ™¸¶¦¨›  ñN¥¦*¯W̓ä6„°¼ëMvS©²,Ñ÷œÓ§»/—+;ÿi—¢/´(“<{%¼ã¯ÍÂÑ)ßå{šA$΋©à²xïIø™<Ò±ÈóÊxw¤5®½ÍgKkám°éúîÃÏo“4ÏÇf+cM}ƒçߥÕÙ+NRš‘ýî®á5w™±œ^ bpB¤M¹É$¹) єˆÊB+¢<pf8þ­·¼Ã®ßN9_‘´¤}ahü׎nÞak­×úí÷ð/c3׿5ÖkÿÖ¿×ǵX_¯[Êåà‰c8úÂ}nF¨ôÅü ö;cÀz–lM®µ°LÇ5\Ï5,óÿd_mam6†ëblã­e_r1Dœ³ÍŒ›‹Ÿ£ g|϶Ùé¸ÅaÀ:úà%^»ú…šñ3¤­¯^ßÖ~´Ï2L׶–Þ/_úéÅú”nÀKo{a–.t†ÇöH\@7>vkcvc\Bw¡>ÞƵI8®­n^Nˆ>ßÅ8Ý~¸@<ÅZÆÒõÿ‚m‡‰ˆ¼¨p¼À ’Ëó7õÇËð¿“è;¾ßl©îâžÀ‰ÑŸ(” ÿqjé&“Ķ©¯^Los‹í¹Ðq_CœìÔ«D¥ÇjGO¸×gxMùëv½ž¶k!6þ³‡·}ŸK±& 1”ã@TDnÂO$ŽÄ|ÈE¡ «tJdEÔ:­!¹õ-Û¸3`ÅõM1ŸHj1âøp"s“˜L9Mc"‰WEB¦êIt@nE-Ënßç¡¢Éb'%GÓ 7Ñ(åU9)I8Qƒp“NtHnE›·ú)ñ#¯j⧎ыÀÍxˆ=ßüæ ª#}×BuÕDî=FŽå¹÷h¡ÛÖV‰Ö#k…ÖúGÝ>4@üC^°ºŠäý㟼$þÙx­»,Šp»²‡*âb‡ 0qÃq<ª"SdÚ6»Á\Œ NºÆÊX°ÏÌ °­­åà%Úx¦±0¶úÚpÀÒk-xìX»xacnR&é¸GÏÁH7˜!ƒ=×àb‰ aŽúÒ0W–½ÑëÜêløÀäÀ?¤ hC_#˜Ý…h-ì€MÓñjK÷ÌÆ01úxh¿êùž9ån3ÐÖÚzëfî%2¸Oí~@äÝàôšƒ:<·ëã,¡«¨hÜNЮÑ@=Ø©ûè†Öø®n^hh|h«*úœD}ép¢€×&­X3`ÞÍú°c?1ÙãÌüûÈ¡ažçËÑÍHSCÊ+“˜¦š­¯±›nɉˆÒT F×-Ʉž HÐR¿l†zÁÃ. ÅèFèFܯûð\åèõnóüóŽŸÛ‰Jߕ‚)ñ¾¨È±ÈO F¹ n•TÆ9RG71{¦@4¢Ä¾_æNâk†IŸ;„sάéšÖÆ{ÜãĎ0êËΠ#øéÁ§ÈE:ڄIOÔÓÛtŸ’î`R}ût=r“*¥6M!!"7g£Ç1'×Ëv`IS ñӒK§*’ð3m'é”\úSuä$% R ;WyZvÜ¡x¢$5*ºc›ó©;ÌÁʃÒÏ;_ðUÊKBŠÚèÛõ0»xU‘¢N8Y¡ÑŽ @C‘8-RU AŠmv‰¿]ve§ì’TÂO¦ÿ_eWݯL®Õ“kU'WIâDP‰t)¹†³s뺳"^´BÞh…€Ñ—‰LbY‰•ÿ(ÏÉKðF/Aí…çE5Yø]¼„oôÖ^”pªñèïâ%z£—¨öj ªÿfµh[Ђþ퐔IEKTå()ËÉBŠò…y±ÏÀ¢U'!û }‘ïó’FhwȒ0ٓ”­jXÖHšæϨz¢ðý¿øÊTê¨r()"ÙWTÐ4a…."ösLT_&Yóë,„M˜³_V Ž’"/÷Q#\¢ÍÊC½–Ê`±K2ŠžŸ(D.[GO¤¬•»½@û|H›¹áÔJ7à©Ý”¦8ýÿÔmÑצq¨(št©nk1/…d*sZLÔmÖøOC‘ÓHN ÁU9xY·›ß†ŠÈ§qìG°¹¯qiXÄ£‚ÄU’=úaJà _ÖñÿÕ¾H~Jʪ5þ­ÿ k¢z}•wûŒÎ—ÇÔi2 ²v{ʇe/6m!£ŸýIŽŠíží×ß| Ç„,Ù±$®ª?•aӉ¾{Ì¿tätȆnP‡ïÐW›îœd ’ò)ßÿ¼Îi6>ÿoþoPK ÑH.\Ùî!å Y customXml/itemProps5.xml±NÃ0†wžÂÊâɵJÚTI*“©+‰Õ8—Ô"¶#Û$Ä»ã¨b ã'}ÿwW?õ„ÞÁyeM…Ó Ì´½2c…ŸŸ:²ÇÈaz1Y6뛲÷‡^áƒup  QĘ8óUra>Pêå´ð;ƒ‰ËÁ:-BŒn¤v”„ÖÊEƒ 4c,§r‰,ý¢§E¶ŠÈS[%_|Çx“uiº»‚ls^¾ç;’Í}ËÚmš²ï¤^}.…0ø¿qå-NýGlòMŒp1ÒÄz#>^osF~sBë’^õÑëÔ?PK ÑH.\»„Jâ½ ' customXml/_rels/item5.xml.relsÏ1K1†áÞ_Ò¤r³ '"›½F„ëDV° ÙÙÝ`f&dædïßVXØ~ÅóñNjù‚&™)¸»®w(ñœi î}z¹}tF4ÒwqÇñfxƒ53ɖ«˜I°›j}ò^ҥ㠴cY¸aT鸭¾ÆôWð÷}ÿàÛoÎW¦9ÍÁ¶Ó|°fºTøÍ˒
2025-2026 Bill 782 Text of Previous Version (Jan.
13, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 782Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates New Matter(Text matches printed bills.
Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)                 A bill   TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 5-1-30, RELATING TO PREREQUISITES TO THE ISSUANCE OF A CORPORATE CERTIFICATE TO A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY SO AS TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO USE ANY RELIABLE AND VERIFIABLE INFORMATION BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL UNITED STATES CENSUS TO DETERMINE WHETHER A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY HAS THE REQUISITE POPULATION DENSITY FOR INCORPORATION.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  Section 5-1-30(A)(1) of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      (1) the area seeking to be incorporated has a population density of at least three hundred persons a square mile according to the latest official United States Census, except as provided in subsections (B) through (E) (F);
  SECTION 2.  Section 5-1-30 of the S.C.
Code is amended by adding:
      (F) In determining whether the proposed incorporated municipality has the requisite population density, the Secretary of State may use any reliable and verifiable information based on the latest official United States Census that assures the closest possible conformance between the area proposed for incorporation and the data available, including:
       (a) full census blocks;
       (b) sub census blocks;
       (c) special census areas identified by the U.S.
Census Bureau regardless of established census blocks or subblocks;
or        (d) reapportionment data used to determine redistricting decisions following the release of the decennial census figures.
  SECTION 3.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 12:38 PM
⬇ Download PDF
View plain text versions (2)
  • 01/13/2026 View text Current html
  • Introduced Filed vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document

Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  2. Introduced and read first time

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 169 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (169)

169 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 169 →

"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

housing 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 S 782 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 5-1-30, RELATING TO PREREQUISITES TO THE ISSUANCE OF A CORPORATE CERTIFICATE TO A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY SO AS TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO USE ANY RELIABLE AND VERIFIABLE INFORMATION BASED ON THE LATEST OFFICIAL UNITED STATES CENSUS TO DETERMINE WHETHER A PROPOSED MUNICIPALITY HAS THE REQUISITE POPULATION DENSITY FOR INCORPORATION.
Who sponsors S 782?
S 782 is sponsored by Senator A. Shane Massey.
What is the current status of S 782?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 782?
Track S 782 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on S 782

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 S 782

Last checked for changes about 2 months ago · updated continuously

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

Track this bill →