Politics & Government
South Carolina Great Seal Missing From Over 100 Laws, Suit Filed
No bill shall have the force of law until it has had the Great Seal of the State affixed to it, the state constitution says.
COLUMBIA, SC — After The Associated Press reported that more than 100 South Carolina laws were missing the state's Great Seal, a Greenville attorney on Monday filed the first legal challenge seeking confirmation that a pair of tort reform bills passed in 2005 and 2011 have it. If not, attorney Joshua Hawkins said the laws would be invalid because the state constitution requires the mark for acts to officially become law.
According to the state constitution, "No bill or joint resolution shall have the force of law until it ... has had the Great Seal of the State affixed to it, and has been signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives."
While state law doesn't specifically assign the task to the secretary of state, the office has traditionally performed the duty and legislators assumed it was still doing so. Rep. Joshua Putnam, who is challenging Secretary of State Mark Hammond in next year's GOP primary, told the AP he made the discovery while researching ways the secretary's office could be more efficient and better use technology.
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Hawkins' lawsuit seeks class-action status for any other plaintiffs affected by what he called "the gross negligence of the Secretary of State."
Hammond said he expected hearings and legal challenges, and that, moving forward, he'd make sure the seal were on all acts. Rep. Gary Clary, a longtime judge and current state lawmaker, said it seemed unlikely the seal's misapplication would upend years of legislation but that plenty of lawsuits would be filed.
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Clary also said he expects lawmakers will debate after they reconvene in January before settling on clarifying instructions on how the application of the seal should be handled.
Attorney General Alan Wilson's office confirmed to the AP it received a request from Putnam on Monday to interpret the state constitution's requirement that South Carolina's seal must be affixed to legislation before it officially becomes law. Attorney General opinions are nonbinding and are merely advisory.
By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press
Photo credit: Meg Kinnard/Associated Press