The South Carolina Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of South Carolina is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Judicial selection South Carolina is one of two states where the state legislature elects state court judges, including the justices on the state supreme court. A ten-person committee (composed mostly of state legislators) called the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) winnows down the number of candidates to fill a judicial vacancy to three based on candidate qualifications. The General Assembly must then choose from one of these three candidates to fill a judicial vacancy. However, candidates who gauge a lack of support amongst the General Assembly often drop out of the race, leaving the Assembly only one candidate to vote for. The JMSC is composed of five members appointed by the House Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, three members appointed by the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, and two members appointed by the South Carolina Senate president. South Carolina statutory law requires that six of the ten JMSC members be state legislators. Justices on the supreme court serve ten-year terms and there is no prohibition against justices serving multiple terms on the court. However, there is a mandatory retirement age of 72 for state trial judges and state appellate judges.