COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Senate subcommittee is working to streamline a multitude of bills aimed at reforming the way judges are selected in South Carolina.
It comes after a recent vow from a bipartisan group of senators to block all judicial elections until the issue is addressed by the General Assembly.
"We’re trying to do this the right way," stated Sen. Scott Talley (R-Spartanburg).
South Carolina currently stands as one of only two states where judges are elected by the legislature. However, calls for a change to this system have been mounting over the past year.
Proposed reforms range from adding gubernatorial appointments to the screening commission to establishing term limits for its members.
"Should there be some tweaking to the process about who's involved? I have no problem with that at all. But do we have a system that is broken? I don’t think so. I really don’t think so," Sen. Talley said.
Additionally, Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Scott Talley highlighted that the bill will address the issue of the number of candidates found qualified. Currently, only three candidates for each race are advanced.
Democratic Sen. Ronnie Sabb (D-Williamsburg County) expressed concern over the makeup of judges across the state, noting, "I care about the fact that there are very few African American judges on the circuit court."
Sabb added, "Judge elections ought not be partisan. It ought to be based on qualifications, and the idea of not considering diversity is simply wrong."
The extent to which these proposed changes will satisfy senators threatening to halt judicial elections remains uncertain.
"Some will want more, some will want less than what we talked about, but I don't think it needs to be a hostage situation that we’re operating in," Sen. Talley expressed.
The subcommittee is slated to reconvene next week to advance a proposal to the full Judiciary Committee. Lawmakers are optimistic that a resolution will be reached before the end of the session.
The judges’ terms will expire on June 30, leaving their seats empty if no elections are held.