South Carolina Constitution

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South Carolina Constitution
Articles
Preamble • I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • VIII-A • IX • X • XI • XII • XIII • XIV • XV • XVI • XVII

The South Carolina Constitution is the governing document of South Carolina. It describes the structure and function of the state's government.

Articles

The South Carolina Constitution consists of a preamble followed by 17 sections.

1. Declaration of Rights
2. Right of Suffrage
3. Legislative Department
4. Executive Department
5. Judicial Department
6. Officers
7. Counties and County Government
8. Local Government
9. Alcohol, Liquor and Beverages
10. Corporations
11. Finance, Taxation and Bonded Debt
12. Public Education
13. Functions of Government
14. Militia
15. Eminent Domain
16. Impeachment
17. Amendment and Revision of the Constitution
18. Miscellaneous Matters

Religious test

Two sections of the South Carolina Constitution effectively establish a religious test. This may be in conflict with Article Six of the United States Constitution which bans such qualifications when it states, "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." These sections are:

• Section 2 of Article VI says "No person who denies the existence of the Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution.'

• Section 4 of Article XVII says, "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution."

The Tennessee State Constitution contains this clause in very similar wording in Section 2 of Article 9.

Amending the constitution

See also: Article XVI, South Carolina Constitution, Amending state constitutions

There are two paths to amending the South Carolina Constitution: legislatively-referred constitutional amendments and constitutional conventions.

The rules governing legislatively-referred constitutional amendments are:

• Amendments can be proposed in either chamber of the South Carolina State Legislature.
• If "two-thirds of the members elected to each House" vote in favor, the amendment goes on the next general election ballot.
• If a simple majority of those voting on the amendment approve it, the amendment then goes back to the state legislature.
• "A majority of each branch of the next General Assembly, after the election and before another" must ratify the amendment.
• If there is more than one proposed amendment on a ballot, the amendments must be separated so voters can vote on them separately.

The rules governing constitutional conventions are:

• "Two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the General Assembly" must vote in favor of putting a question about whether to hold a convention on a statewide ballot.
• A simple majority vote of the state's electors is sufficient to bring about a convention.
• "...such Convention shall consist of a number of members equal to that of the most numerous branch of the General Assembly."

External links

• Full Text of the South Carolina Constitution.

v • d • e South Carolina Constitution South Carolina Constitution • Preamble • Article I • Article II • Article III • Article IV • Article V • Article VI • Article VII • Article VIII • Article VIII-A • Article IX • Article X • Article XI • Article XII • Article XIII • Article XIV • Article XV • Article XVI • Article XVII

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