---
type: "Bill"
title: "SC Religious Freedom Act"
description: "AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 33 TO TITLE 1 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE EXERCISE OF RELIGION DURING A STATE OF EMERGENCY, TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS, TO PROVIDE THAT RELIGIOUS SERVICES ARE DEEMED AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE DURING A STATE OF EMERGENCY THAT MUST BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE OPERATING, TO ALLOW A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION TO ASSERT A VIOLATION OF THESE PROVISIONS AS A CLAIM OR DEFENSE, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS CHAPTER APPLIES TO ALL STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND ORDINANCES REGARDLESS OF WHEN ADOPTED OR IMPLEMENTED. - ratified title"
jurisdiction: "us/states/sc"
legislature: "South Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "H 3105"
citation: "South Carolina H 3105 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["B. Cox", "B. Newton", "Ballentine", "Bennett", "Bradley", "Bryant", "Burns", "Chumley", "Crawford", "D.C. Moss", "Dabney", "Davis", "Elliott", "Erickson", "Forrest", "Fry", "Gilliam", "Haddon", "Herbkersman", "Hiott", "Hixon", "Huggins", "Jones", "Long", "Lucas", "M.M. Smith", "Magnuson", "Martin", "May", "McCabe", "McCravy", "McGarry", "Nutt", "Oremus", "Pope", "T. Moore", "Taylor", "Thayer", "Trantham", "W. Newton", "Wheeler", "Willis", "Wooten", "Yow"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 44
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-12-09"
last_action: "2022-05-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7bacfd52-cee3-4266-b954-673d270de5c7"
source_url: "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3105&session=124&summary=B"
source_hash: "f1e113864e220e81cb55f6aad65ffcc66f9c6d54f555c0f80d3ad6dcb6904e91"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sc"]
---

# South Carolina H 3105 (2021-2022) — SC Religious Freedom Act

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 33 TO TITLE 1 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE EXERCISE OF RELIGION DURING A STATE OF EMERGENCY, TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS, TO PROVIDE THAT RELIGIOUS SERVICES ARE DEEMED AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE DURING A STATE OF EMERGENCY THAT MUST BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE OPERATING, TO ALLOW A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION TO ASSERT A VIOLATION OF THESE PROVISIONS AS A CLAIM OR DEFENSE, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS CHAPTER APPLIES TO ALL STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND ORDINANCES REGARDLESS OF WHEN ADOPTED OR IMPLEMENTED. - ratified title

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/bills/3105.htm)
2. **12/9/2020** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20201209.htm)
3. **2/24/2021** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20210224.htm)
4. **3/11/2021** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20210311.htm)
5. **3/30/2022** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20220330.htm)
6. **3/31/2022** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20220331.htm)
7. **4/6/2022** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/prever/3105_20220406.htm)

## Votes

- Passage of Bill — **86–29** (pass) · lower
- Adopt Amendment 1 — **88–22** (pass) · lower
- Table Amendment 2 — **73–39** (pass) · lower
- Passage of Bill — **83–22** (pass) · lower
- Concur in Senate Amendments — **102–9** (pass) · lower
- 2nd Reading — **39–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- B. Cox — primary (person)
- B. Newton — primary (person)
- Ballentine — primary (person)
- Bennett — primary (person)
- Bradley — primary (person)
- Bryant — primary (person)
- Burns — primary (person)
- Chumley — primary (person)
- Crawford — primary (person)
- D.C. Moss — primary (person)
- Dabney — primary (person)
- Davis — primary (person)
- Elliott — primary (person)
- Erickson — primary (person)
- Forrest — primary (person)
- Fry — primary (person)
- Gilliam — primary (person)
- Haddon — primary (person)
- Herbkersman — primary (person)
- Hiott — primary (person)
- Hixon — primary (person)
- Huggins — primary (person)
- Jones — primary (person)
- Long — primary (person)
- Lucas — primary (person)
- M.M. Smith — primary (person)
- Magnuson — primary (person)
- Martin — primary (person)
- May — primary (person)
- McCabe — primary (person)
- McCravy — primary (person)
- McGarry — primary (person)
- Nutt — primary (person)
- Oremus — primary (person)
- Pope — primary (person)
- T. Moore — primary (person)
- Taylor — primary (person)
- Thayer — primary (person)
- Trantham — primary (person)
- W. Newton — primary (person)
- Wheeler — primary (person)
- Willis — primary (person)
- Wooten — primary (person)
- Yow — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-12-09** Prefiled `filing`
- **2020-12-09** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-13** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Nutt, Trantham, Oremus, McGarry
- **2021-01-14** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Bennett
- **2021-01-26** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Jones
- **2021-02-02** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Thayer
- **2021-02-04** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hiott, Willis
- **2021-02-09** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Huggins
- **2021-02-10** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hixon
- **2021-02-16** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: McCabe, Dabney
- **2021-02-17** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: B.Newton
- **2021-02-18** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Bryant, Elliott
- **2021-02-23** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: M.M.Smith
- **2021-02-24** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Pope, D.C.Moss, Ballentine
- **2021-02-24** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-25** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Lucas, Crawford, Erickson, Bradley
- **2021-02-25** Requests for debate-Rep(s). Hiott, McGravy, DC Moss, Bryant, Carter
- **2021-03-02** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: T.Moore
- **2021-03-03** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Wheeler, Herbkersman, W.Newton
- **2021-03-04** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Martin
- **2021-03-09** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Taylor
- **2021-03-11** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Davis
- **2021-03-11** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2021-03-11** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-03-11** Roll call Yeas-73 Nays-39
- **2021-03-17** Read third time and sent to Senate `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-17** Roll call Yeas-83 Nays-22
- **2021-03-17** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-03-17** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-10** Referred to Subcommittee: Garrett (ch), Kimpson, Loftis, Gustafson, Stephens
- **2022-03-30** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-31** Scrivener's error corrected
- **2022-04-06** Committee Amendment Adopted `amendment-passage`
- **2022-04-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-04-06** Roll call Ayes-39 Nays-2
- **2022-04-07** Read third time and returned to House with amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-04-20** Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled
- **2022-04-20** Roll call Yeas-102 Nays-9
- **2022-04-21** Ratified R 155
- **2022-04-25** Signed By Governor `executive-signature`
- **2022-05-02** Effective date 04/25/22
- **2022-05-02** Act No. 141

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7bacfd52-cee3-4266-b954-673d270de5c7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Carolina legislature records).