---
type: "Bill"
title: "Judicial seats, circuit court"
description: "AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 14-5-610, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIXTEEN JUDICIAL CIRCUITS, THE NUMBER OF JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, AND THE ELECTION OF AT-LARGE JUDGES WITHOUT REGARD TO COUNTY OR CIRCUIT OF RESIDENCE, SO AS TO CONVERT NINE AT-LARGE CIRCUIT COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS IN THE THIRD, THIRTEENTH, TWELFTH, FIFTH, NINTH, ELEVENTH, AND SEVENTH CIRCUITS. - RATIFIED TITLE"
jurisdiction: "us/states/sc"
legislature: "South Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "H 4160"
citation: "South Carolina H 4160 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bannister", "C. Mitchell", "Caskey", "G.M. Smith", "Jordan", "Pope", "W. Newton", "Yow"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 20
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-03-06"
last_action: "2025-05-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d2d171fc-baf3-43ae-baa9-f0751ddd2d0e"
source_url: "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=4160&session=126&summary=B"
source_hash: "1a71c17bfd4b95de56b2adacfa7c0207cdea67a2a6d832a0d46a3813bfb143c5"
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 4160 (2025-2026) — Judicial seats, circuit court

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 14-5-610, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIXTEEN JUDICIAL CIRCUITS, THE NUMBER OF JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, AND THE ELECTION OF AT-LARGE JUDGES WITHOUT REGARD TO COUNTY OR CIRCUIT OF RESIDENCE, SO AS TO CONVERT NINE AT-LARGE CIRCUIT COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS IN THE THIRD, THIRTEENTH, TWELFTH, FIFTH, NINTH, ELEVENTH, AND SEVENTH CIRCUITS. - 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/sess126_2025-2026/bills/4160.htm)
2. **03/06/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4160_20250306.htm)
3. **04/02/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4160_20250402.htm)
4. **04/08/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4160_20250408.htm)
5. **04/29/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4160_20250429.htm)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage of Bill — **106–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bannister — primary (person)
- C. Mitchell — primary (person)
- Caskey — primary (person)
- G.M. Smith — primary (person)
- Jordan — primary (person)
- Pope — primary (person)
- W. Newton — primary (person)
- Yow — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-03-06** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-03-06** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-27** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Pope
- **2025-04-02** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-08** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: C.Mitchell, Yow
- **2025-04-08** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2025-04-08** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2025-04-08** Roll call Yeas-106 Nays-0
- **2025-04-09** Read third time and sent to Senate `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-04-09** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-04-09** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-29** Committee report: Favorable Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-05-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2025-05-01** Roll call Ayes-24 Nays-14
- **2025-05-06** Read third time and enrolled `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-05-06** Roll call Ayes-45 Nays-0
- **2025-05-08** Ratified R 76
- **2025-05-12** Signed By Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-19** Effective date 05/12/25
- **2025-05-19** Act No. 50

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d2d171fc-baf3-43ae-baa9-f0751ddd2d0e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Carolina legislature records).