SC House approves changes to how state judges are picked

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - With the clock ticking for the South Carolina legislature to get work done for this year, a major priority for prosecutors and some lawmakers cleared a big hurdle Tuesday at the State House.

In an overwhelming, 112-6 vote, the House of Representatives approved a bill to change the process by which the state’s judges are picked.

It follows months of entreaties from judicial reform supporters, including Gov. Henry McMaster, Attorney General Alan Wilson, and several of the state’s elected solicitors.

“I certainly believe that this is going a long way to restore the public’s trust at the end of the day, and I think that anytime that we bring some more transparency to the process, that ultimately is a good thing,” Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, said.

South Carolina is one of two states where the legislature elects judges.

Before those elections, candidates are screened by a 10-member panel called the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, or JMSC, which is made up of four citizens and six lawmakers, who are typically also lawyers.

Among several changes, this bill would expand the number of people on the judicial screening panel to 13 and give the governor five selections, for a process in which he currently has no role.

“Our system is not perfect. There’s always room for improvement,” Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said.

But House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, who serves on the screening committee and is also a lawyer, argued against giving the governor that power.

“What we are doing is making sure that people that are unvetted in any political process, the people that may have just donated a bunch of money to someone, the people that may come with an agenda that we don’t know anything about, will now have a role in picking the third branch of government,” Rutherford, D-Richland, said.

Right now, the JMSC can forward the names of up to three candidates it finds qualified for every seat to the full legislature for its consideration.

This bill would remove that cap, so all candidates found qualified by the JMSC would appear on the ballot.

It would also require candidates for magistrate judgeships to be screened, which does not happen right now.

“We heard over and over again that magistrates is an issue that needs to be taken up in South Carolina. This bill seeks to take a step in that direction as well,” Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, said.

Under this, magistrates’ civil and criminal jurisdiction would expand, a move intended to help clear court backlogs.

Rep. Tiffany Spann-Wilder, who served as a magistrate before her recent election to the House, believes this would worsen that backlog without the allocation of extra resources to hire more magistrates and train them.

“I do believe it is going to be an absolute problem,” Spann-Wilder, D-Charleston, said.

The Senate passed this bill earlier this year, but with some key differences, so the two chambers will likely have to work out a compromise to send to the governor.

Both versions of the bill would still allow lawmakers who are also lawyers to serve on the screening panel, a major point of contention for some judicial reform supporters.

But the bill the House approved Tuesday would reduce the number of lawmakers total who can serve on that committee to comprise less than half of its membership.

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