The South Carolina General Assembly enacts state statutes that are arranged by subject in the South Carolina Code Annotated.
This unit on the South Carolina State Laws covers how South Carolina statutes are published and how to find, read, and update them in print and using the South Carolina Legislature website.
It ends with a video on how to search the South Carolina Code for free in print and online.
South Carolina Bills
The process of passing a law in South Carolina begins with the introduction of a bill. A bill typically becomes law in South Carolina when it is passed by both the South Carolina House and South Carolina Senate and signed by the Governor. The full text of South Carolina bills from 1980 forward are available to search (Legislation page) or browse (Archives page) online for free on the South Carolina Legislature website.
South Carolina Acts/Session Laws
Once a bill is passed by the South Carolina General Assembly, it is assigned an Act number and published in chronological order in the SC Acts and Joint Resolutions. The full text of South Carolina Acts from 1980 forward are accessible online for free through the Legislation and Archives pages of the South Carolina Legislature website.
South Carolina Code of Laws
South Carolina laws are then organized by subject and arranged by title, chapter and section as statutes in the South Carolina Code of Laws.
For example, in 1986, the South Carolina General Assembly passed South Carolina's Payment of Wages laws, which were published in the South Carolina Code Annotated as Title 41 (Labor & Employment), Chapter 10 (Payment of Wages), Sections 10 through 110.
Section 41-10-50 of the South Carolina Payment of Wages Laws requires South Carolina employers to pay all wages due a discharged employee within forty-eight hours or by the next regular payday.
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SECTION 41‑10‑50. Payment of wages due discharged employees. When an employer separates an employee from the payroll for any reason, the employer shall pay all wages due to the employee within forty‑eight hours of the time of separation or the next regular payday which may not exceed thirty days. HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 380, Section 1, eff April 21, 1986; 1990 Act No. 463, Section 3, eff May 7, 1990. Effect of Amendment |
Text of SC Payment of Wages Statutes
The current South Carolina Code of Laws is accessible online for free via the South Carolina Legislature website.
The legislative process for the passage of South Carolina’s Payment of Wages laws is shown in the diagram on the right.
1. During its 1986 session, the South Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2426.
2. House Bill 2426 was published in chronological order in the SC Acts and Joint Resolutions as 1986 Act No. 380.
3. Act No. 380 was organized by topic in the South Carolina Code Annotated as Title 41 (Labor & Employment), Chapter 10 (Payment of Wages), Sections 10 through 110 (§§ 41-1-10 to 110).
The official annotated South Carolina statutes are published in print in the South Carolina Code Annotated.
Print annotated codes add resources after the text of a statute to help you further research the issue addressed by that statute.
The annotations added to the text of a statute in the South Carolina Code Annotated include:
The page on the right shows the annotations provided for section 41-10-50 of the South Carolina Payment of Wages Laws in the print South Carolina Code Annotated. They include:
Annotated versions of the South Carolina Code are available through subscriptions services such as Westlaw or Lexis. A few public libraries in South Carolina provide access to Westlaw for their patrons, while some South Carolina colleges and universities, including the University of South Carolina, provide access to Nexis Uni (by Lexis).
The proper citation to a South Carolina statute includes that statute’s title (41), chapter (10), and section (50) and the year of the volume or supplement (Supp. 2019) where it is published in the South Carolina Code Annotated.
For example, South Carolina’s Payment of Wages statute referenced above would be cited as follows:
S.C.•Code•Ann.•§•41-10-50•(Supp.•2019).
This citation indicates that the entire statute (§ 41-10-50) is currently published in a supplement to the bound volume that contains Title 41. The information in the parenthesis would be different if the statute appeared in the bound volume only [S.C. Code Ann. § 41-10-50 (1986).] or if portions of the statute appeared in both the bound volume and the supplement [S.C. Code Ann. § 41-10-50 (1986 & Supp. 2019).].
South Carolina Appellate Court Rule 268 governs the citation of South Carolina statutes. It is available via the Court Rules link on the South Carolina Judicial Department’s website.
The blue bullets in the citation above represent spaces.
There are four methods for locating South Carolina statutes in print— by citation, by popular name, using the table of contents, and by subject.
By Citation
You may find relevant South Carolina statutes cited in cases, journal articles, and books, or referenced in the annotations to another statute.
If you know the citation to a South Carolina statute, you can locate it in the print South Carolina Code Annotated by going to the volume that contains the title of the statute and turning to its chapter and section.
For example, to locate 41-10-50 of the South Carolina Code Annotated, find the volume that contains Title 41 and turn to Chapter 10, Section 50.
By Popular Name
Many laws, like South Carolina’s Clean Indoor Air Act, are referred to by their popular names. The J-Z Index volume, located at the end of the print South Carolina Code Annotated, contains a Popular Names Table that provides an alphabetical list of South Carolina statutes by popular name and their locations in the South Carolina Code Annotated.
For example, the Clean Indoor Air Act of 1990 is listed in the Popular Names Table to the South Carolina Code Annotated as beginning at Title 44, Chapter 95, Section 10 (§ 44-95-10).
Table of Contents
Once you find a statute that applies to your legal issue, it is always a good idea to browse the Table of Contents at the beginning of that title or chapter. Surrounding code sections may contain applicable definitions, procedures that must be followed, or even exceptions to the statute you found.
For example, South Carolina's Payment of Wages laws include a Definitions statute (§ 42-10-10) that may be helpful when researching payment of wages.
By Subject
If you do not have a citation to a particular South Carolina statute, you will need to research relevant statutes by subject. There are two index volumes designated A-I and J-Z, located at the end of the official print South Carolina Code Annotated.
Each index contains an alphabetical list of topics with references to South Carolina statutes relevant to that topic. If the first topic you look up in the index does not work, the index may refer you to a different topic that is more helpful.
For example, if you look in the J-Z index under "wages" to find the law in South Carolina that requires employers to pay wages to discharged employees, the index directs you to the topic "Compensation and salaries, generally" in the A-I index, where you will find the relevant statute under the subtopic "Discharged employees."
There is also an index in the back of each volume of the South Carolina Code Annotated for the title(s) contained in that volume.
The official South Carolina statutes are published in the print South Carolina Code Annotated.
The unofficial and un-annotated South Carolina Code of Laws is available for free online through the South Carolina Legislature website. The website allows you to search for a statute by citation, browse statutes by title and chapter, and search by keyword or popular name.
From its Archives page, you can also browse previous versions of the South Carolina Code back through 2000.
Administrative agencies often include links on their websites to the major laws they enforce. The South Carolina Legislature website provides a link to an alphabetical listing of links to South Carolina State Agency Websites.
Examples include the following:
