South Carolina Courts consist of South Carolina Supreme Court, South Carolina Court of Appeals, South Carolina Circuit Court, South Carolina Family Court, South Carolina Probate Court, South Carolina Magistrate Court and South Carolina Municipal Court.
South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of South Carolina. It is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. The Justices are elected for a ten year term by the state legislature. The Supreme Court exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction. Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court includes issuing writs such as certiorari, mandamus and extraordinary bills. It has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over cases involving capital punishment or life imprisonment cases in the state, judgments pertaining to elections and public indebtedness, utility rates, orders that limit the grand juries and also on abortion cases involving minors.
South Carolina court of Appeals hears most appeals from the Circuit Courts and Family Courts of the state except for those cases that fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. It is the intermediate level appellate court for the state of South Carolina. It is composed of a Chief Judge and eight Associate Judges for a six year term and is elected by the state legislature. The court sits in a three judge panel or as a whole.
South Carolina Circuit Court is the court of general jurisdiction. It consists of a civil court, a criminal court, the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of General Sessions. The state of South Carolina has sixteen judicial circuits with a collective strength of forty-six circuit judges that serve the districts on rotation. Apart from exercising general trial jurisdiction, it has limited appellate jurisdiction on cases involving hearing appeals from the Municipal Courts, Magistrate's Court and the Probate Court. It also hears appeals arising from Administrative Law Judge Division.South Carolina Family Courts enjoy exclusive jurisdiction on issues pertaining to family relationships. It is the only forum that hears cases relating to domestic issues such as marriage, divorce, visitation rights, custody, adoption, alimony, change of name, and division of marital property. It also exercises exclusive jurisdiction on cases that involve minors who violate state laws or municipal ordinances.
South Carolina Probate Court enjoys jurisdiction over civil cases involving marriage licenses, guardianships of incompetents, minor settlements that are less than $25000, and settling estates of the deceased. Probate courts also enjoy exclusive jurisdiction on matters involving trusts and exercise concurrent jurisdiction on cases pertaining to powers of attorney with the Circuit Courts.
The South Carolina Magistrate Court enjoys jurisdiction on criminal trials over offenses that involve penalty amount less than $ 500 and imprisonment term that is less than thirty days. Additionally, the Magistrate Court also issues arrest and search warrants, set bails, conduct preliminary hearing and deal with civil cases where the amount is less than $ 7,500.
South Carolina Municipal Courts enjoy jurisdiction over cases that fall under the municipal ordinances and other offenses in which the penalty amount is less than $500 or involves imprisonment for less than thirty days.
The general public has the legal right to access South Carolina Court files. However, all court files are not made public. The South Carolina Court may officially seal certain court files or a statute may make some files confidential. These court files cannot be accessed by the citizens until the sealing order expires or unless the South Carolina courts give authorization to view these court files. Court files that deal with juvenile are also kept confidential.
