Video South Carolina Code of Laws
Record of Law in the Colonial Period
The English Royal Charter of March 1663 that handed the eight Lords' Proprietors of Carolina the land composing of modern-day North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia spurred an actual colonizing expedition and the drafting of a founding constitution. In 1670 Proprietor Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper and famed philosopher John Locke combined to realize the first revised colonial constitution accepted by the body Proprietorship. The importance to legal history of this first constitution is that it actually banned legal practice as a profession and sought to simplify legal dictates so that under educated nobles could run the colony effectively. The 1670 constitution banned legal commentary and established eight administrative courts whose aristocratic members composed part of a Grand Council that would prepare legislation produced in the colony's parliament. The journal of the Grand Council would, due to that body's power, become the first legislative record of the Carolina colony but also contains judicial rulings and executive actions undertaken due to the Council's fiat. Chief Justice Nicholas Trott compiled the first comprehensive record of parliamentary statutes in 1712 which covered all the preceding years from 1682, with the majority being English common law statutes that could still apply in a vastly different environment. The collection of South Carolina colonial and state laws released by Judge John Grimke in 1790 includes the record from before Trott's time in office up until the formation of the United States.
Maps South Carolina Code of Laws
Record of Law between Independence and the American Civil War
The next compendium of South Carolina law would be gathered and edited by legal reformer Dr. Thomas Cooper. Cooper acted under a resolution passed by the General Assembly in December 1834 to "compile under his direction the statute law of the state, now of force". Cooper commented of his task,
"I am required to compile an edition of the Statute Law of South-Carolina: Is it to be an imperfect and mutilated edition of our public Law, or one that will answer the description of the 'Statutes at Large'? I have preferred the latter: because, it is better to insert somewhat too much than somewhat too little: because, the reasons for a present law, are often derived from, and the law itself elucidated by, the imperfections it is meant to supersede -".
Cooper died before the fifth volume went to the publisher leading to the appointment of Dr. David James Mccord by Governor Patrick Noble to finish the project. The tenth and final volume, an index, was published in 1841. Legislative year books published by the General Assembly would continue to proliferate, covering the time period from Mccord's work through the American Civil War. Volumes in the format seen of The Statutes at Large would have to wait until after the massive upheaval of the 1860s, to be added for the collective educational benefit of South Carolina's legal community.
Titles of the South Carolina Code of Laws 2016
Title 1 - Administration of the Government
Title 2- General Assembly
Title 3- U.S. Government, Agreements and Relations with
Title 4- Counties
Title 5- Municipal Corporations
Title 6- Local Government: Provisions Applicable to Special Purpose Districts and Other Political Subdivisions
Title 7- Elections
Title 8- Public Officers and Employees
Title 9- Retirement Systems
Title 10- Public Buildings and Property
Title 11- Public Finance
Title 12- Taxation
Title 13- Planning, Research and Development
Title 14- Courts
Title 15- Civil Remedies and Procedures
Title 16- Crimes and Offenses
Title 17- Criminal Procedures
Title 18- Appeals
Title 19- Evidence
Title 20- Domestic Relations
Title 21- Estates, Trusts, Fiduciaries
Title 22- Magistrates and Constables
Title 23- Law Enforcement and Public Safety
Title 24- Corrections, Jails, Probations, Paroles and Pardons
Title 25- Military, Civil Defense and Veteran Affairs
Title 26- Notaries Public and Acknowledgements
Title 27- Property and Conveyances
Title 28- Eminent Domain
Title 29- Mortgages and Other Liens
Title 30- Public Records
Title 31- Housing and Redevelopment
Title 32- Contracts and Agents
Title 33- Corporations, Partnerships, and Associations
Title 34- Banking, Financial Institutions, and Money
Title 35- Securities
Title 36- Commercial Code
Title 37- Consumer Protection Code
Title 38- Insurance
Title 39- Trade and Commerce
Title 40- Professions and Occupations
Title 41- Labor and Employment
Title 42- Workers' Compensation
Title 43- Social Services
Title 44- Health
Title 45- Hotels, Motels, Restaurants and Boardinghouses
Title 46- Agriculture
Title 47- Animals, Livestock and Poultry
Title 48- Environmental Protection and Conservation
Title 49- Waters, Water Resources and Drainage
Title 50- Fish, Game and Watercraft
Title 51- Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Title 52- Amusements and Athletic Contests
Title 53- Sundays, Holidays and Other Special Days
Title 54- Ports and Maritime Matters
Title 55- Aeronautics
Title 56- Motor Vehicles
Title 57- Highways, Bridges and Ferries
Title 58- Public Utilities, Services and Carriers
Title 59- Education
Title 60- Libraries, Archives, Museums and Arts
Title 61- Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages
Title 62- South Carolina Probate Code
Title 63- South Carolina Children's Code
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia