---
type: "Bill"
title: "Judicial Seats"
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 THREE AT-LARGE CIRCUIT COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS AND CREATE FOUR NEW JUDGESHIPS; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-3-40, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, SO AS TO CONVERT FOUR AT-LARGE FAMILY COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 9-8-60, RELATING TO RETIREMENT OF JUDGES, SOLICITORS, AND CIRCUIT PUBLIC DEFENDERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE EIGHT YEARS OF EARNED SERVICE RATHER THAN TEN. - RATIFIED TITLE"
jurisdiction: "us/states/sc"
legislature: "South Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2025-2026"
identifier: "H 4805"
citation: "South Carolina H 4805 (2025-2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["B. Newton", "C. Mitchell", "Hart", "Pope", "Robbins", "W. Newton", "White"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-12-16"
last_action: "2026-05-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e4bb6dba-6590-4d52-afae-3c2c055a9666"
source_url: "https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=4805&session=126&summary=B"
source_hash: "ef4646ba5067c1be16c47fe5ef85581e19c08a50174920f674f8adfe6b762e44"
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 4805 (2025-2026) — Judicial Seats

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 THREE AT-LARGE CIRCUIT COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS AND CREATE FOUR NEW JUDGESHIPS; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-3-40, RELATING TO THE NUMBER OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES TO BE ELECTED FROM EACH CIRCUIT, SO AS TO CONVERT FOUR AT-LARGE FAMILY COURT SEATS TO RESIDENT SEATS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 9-8-60, RELATING TO RETIREMENT OF JUDGES, SOLICITORS, AND CIRCUIT PUBLIC DEFENDERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE EIGHT YEARS OF EARNED SERVICE RATHER THAN TEN. - 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/4805.htm)
2. **03/31/2026** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4805_20260331.htm)
3. **04/01/2026** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4805_20260401.htm)
4. **04/29/2026** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4805_20260429.htm)
5. **04/29/2026-A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4805_20260429a.htm)
6. **12/17/2025** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4805_20251217.htm)

## Votes

- Passage of Bill — **109–0** (pass) · lower
- 2nd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- B. Newton — primary (person)
- C. Mitchell — primary (person)
- Hart — primary (person)
- Pope — primary (person)
- Robbins — primary (person)
- W. Newton — primary (person)
- White — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-16** Prefiled `filing`
- **2025-12-16** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-13** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-20** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: White
- **2026-03-31** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Robbins
- **2026-03-31** Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-01** Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hart
- **2026-04-01** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2026-04-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-04-01** Roll call Yeas-109 Nays-0
- **2026-04-02** Read third time and sent to Senate `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-07** Introduced and read first time `introduction, reading-1`
- **2026-04-07** Referred to Committee on Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2026-05-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-05-05** Roll call Ayes-45 Nays-0
- **2026-05-06** Read third time and enrolled `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-05-14** Ratified R 205
- **2026-05-15** Signed By Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-26** Effective date 05/15/26
- **2026-05-26** Act No. 154

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e4bb6dba-6590-4d52-afae-3c2c055a9666`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Carolina legislature records).