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South Carolina — Court Rules & Rules of Practice Guide

Last verified · Published by Michigan Legal Publishing Ltd. · Browse the South Carolina rules

1. Court System Overview

South Carolina courts: circuit courts — which still sit under historic names: the Court of Common Pleas (civil) and the Court of General Sessions (criminal) — the Family Court (statewide, exclusive domestic/juvenile jurisdiction), magistrate courts (civil ≤$7,500 — S.C. Code § 22-3-10 — small claims, misdemeanors), municipal courts, probate courts (county-level — estates, guardianships, commitments), master-in-equity courts (references of non-jury matters — an equity relic; S.C. Code Title 14, ch. 11), the South Carolina Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of South Carolina. The Supreme Court promulgates rules, subject to legislative review: under S.C. Const. art. V, §§ 4 & 4A, rules are submitted to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees (by February 1 in a regular session) and take effect after ninety days unless disapproved by concurrent resolution passed by three-fifths of each house. Rules published at sccourts.org.

2. The Ruleset Map

South Carolina’s rulesets (names verified via USC law-library guide, SC Bar, S.C. Code § 14-11-85 (“South Carolina Appellate Court Rules”), and sccourts.org homepage notices, and against the sccourts.org court-rules pages themselves):

Ruleset Scope
SCRCP — SC Rules of Civil Procedure Common pleas civil (effective July 1, 1985 — Rule 86(a), SCRCP; FRCP-modeled, pre-restyle)
SCRCrimP — SC Rules of Criminal Procedure General sessions criminal (a thin set — much SC criminal procedure is case law/statute)
SCRE — SC Rules of Evidence FRE-modeled; adopted 1995 (State v. Council: “In 1995, South Carolina replaced Rule 24 [SCRCrimP] with Rule 702, SCRE”)
SCACR — South Carolina Appellate Court Rules The omnibus: appellate procedure plus attorney regulation — Rule 407 = Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 413 = Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement (RLDE) (both confirmed via SC Bar and In re Hanlin (S.C. 2024)), admission rules, CLE (Rule 408, confirmed), judicial conduct (Rule 501 = Code of Judicial Conduct, Canons 1–5 with Terminology and Application sections)
Family Court Rules Standalone set for the statewide Family Court (named as “South Carolina Family Court Rules” in sccourts.org amendment notices)
Magistrate courts Statutory small-claims/civil procedure + the South Carolina Rules of Magistrates Court (Scope & Purpose: “These rules govern civil procedure in the magistrates courts. They are to be known and cited as the ‘South Carolina Rules of Magistrates Court.’”)
Probate Court Statutory (Title 62 = the South Carolina Probate Code, confirmed) + a short Probate rule set on the sccourts.org court-rules hub (five rules — e.g., Rule 1 reuse of recording tapes, Rule 2 duty of probate judge)
ADR Rules (court-annexed mediation) The sccourts.org ADR rule set (Rule 1, Scope: court-annexed ADR “in South Carolina Circuit Courts in civil suits, and in South Carolina Family Courts in domestic relations actions” in all counties; Rule 3(a): all circuit-court civil actions and all contested issues in family-court domestic-relations actions are subject to court-ordered mediation, with Rule 3(b) exceptions such as appeals, PCR, contempt, mortgage foreclosures and DSS-initiated cases)
SC Business Court Program Statewide Business Court Program created and continued by Supreme Court administrative order: begun as a pilot (Administrative Order 2007-09-07-01), expanded statewide (Order 2014-01-03-02), and continued as the “Business Court Program” by the orders of January 30, 2019 and August 1, 2024 — the latter covers “all counties statewide,” supersedes all prior orders and “shall remain in effect until amended or rescinded by the Chief Justice.” Designated circuit judges sit as Business Court Judges; assignment is by the Chief Business Court Judge sua sponte or on counsel’s request (SCCA BC Form 101), “without respect to the amount in controversy,” for principal claims under Titles 33, 35, 36 ch. 8 and 39 chs. 3, 8 and 15 or any other matter the Chief Business Court Judge deems appropriate. Use the current SCCA BC Form 101 (dated 9/2024; the October 23, 2024 revision was rescinded for scrivener’s error)
Local rules Limited; administrative orders per circuit

3. Civil Litigation Mechanics

  • Commencement: summons + complaint, served together (Rule 4(d), SCRCP — quoted in Roche v. Young Bros. (S.C. 1995)); the action is commenced when the summons and complaint are filed, provided they are served within the statute of limitations or, if not, within 120 days after filing (Rule 3(a), SCRCP); answer 30 days after service of the complaint (Rule 12(a), SCRCP — Note: “identical to the Federal Rule except that it changes the time to answer from 20 to 30 days”).
  • SCRCP tracks the pre-restyle FRCP (Rule 12(b)(6) — phrased “failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action,” the drafters’ notes citing SC’s “requirement for fact pleading” — and Rule 56) with SC twists: Rule 40’s General Docket / Jury Trial Roster system (a case “may not be called for trial until it has been transferred to the Jury Trial Roster,” and no earlier than 30 days after it first appears there), and a discovery article that lists only the traditional discovery methods in Rule 26(a) — no FRCP 26(a)(1)-style initial-disclosure provision appears in Rule 26.
  • The master-in-equity reference: non-jury cases (foreclosures, partitions, complex equity) are commonly referred to a master-in-equity by order of reference; the master enters final judgment (not a mere report) with direct appeal to the appellate courts (S.C. Code §§ 14-11-60 to -85) — an SC structural signature.
  • Magistrate court: ≤$7,500 (§ 22-3-10), informal, jury available on demand (six-person jury — §§ 22-2-100, 22-2-150); appeal to circuit court within 30 days of written notice of judgment — or of the judgment itself, if it was announced at trial in the presence of the appellant or counsel, since no written notice is then required (§ 18-7-20) — heard on the record made below, not de novo (S.C. Code §§ 18-7-20, 18-7-130), judged “according to the justice of the case” (§ 18-7-170).
  • Discovery: Rules 26–37; experts are identified through the standard interrogatories (Rule 33(b)(6): “the names and addresses of any expert witnesses whom the party proposes to use as a witness at the trial”), expert discovery “may be obtained by any discovery method” without a special showing of need (Rule 26(b)(4)(A) and Note), and Rule 26(e) imposes a continuing duty to supplement as to experts.

4. Criminal Practice Mechanics

  • Path: magistrates/municipal courts try lesser offenses (appeal to circuit court); indictable offenses by grand jury (S.C. Const. art. I, § 11 — required for crimes beyond magistrate-court jurisdiction; waiver authorized) in General Sessions; the solicitor (SC’s prosecutor title) historically controlled the criminal docket under S.C. Code § 1-7-330 — held unconstitutional (separation of powers) in State v. Langford, 403 S.C. 204, 743 S.E.2d 521 (2012), shifting docket control toward the courts.
  • Speedy trial: no rule/statutory clock — the right is constitutional (S.C. Const. art. I, § 14 and the Sixth Amendment), analyzed under the Barker v. Wingo factors (applied in Langford).
  • Discovery: Rule 5, SCRCrimP (“Disclosure in Criminal Cases”) is request-based: on the defendant’s request the prosecution must permit inspection of the defendant’s statements, prior record, documents and tangible objects, and reports of examinations and tests, responding within 30 days of the request (Rule 5(a)); the defense’s own request triggers reciprocal disclosure (Rule 5(b)); alibi and insanity/guilty-but-mentally-ill notice provisions follow (Rule 5(e)–(f)). The Note traces the text to former Criminal Practice Rule 8.
  • Post-conviction: the SC Uniform Post-Conviction Procedure Act (S.C. Code §§ 17-27-10 et seq.) — civil PCR action, one-year limitations (§ 17-27-45(A): one year from judgment, or from remittitur/final decision on appeal, whichever is later); PCR is the primary IAC vehicle with a well-developed appellate certiorari path.
  • Bond and preliminary hearings sit in the summary courts: magistrates set bail, and a person charged with a bailable offense “must have a bond hearing within twenty-four hours of his arrest” (S.C. Code § 22-5-510(A)–(B)); a defendant charged with a crime not triable by a magistrate is given notice of the right to a preliminary hearing at the bond hearing, must request it within ten days, and the magistrate holds it within ten days of the request (unless an indictment or waiver intervenes), binding the defendant over to General Sessions on probable cause (Rule 2, SCRCrimP; see also § 22-5-320).

5. Evidence

  • SCRE — FRE-modeled (effective September 3, 1995 — Rule 1103(b), SCRE, consistent with State v. Council; pre-restyle numbering), each rule carrying a Note that compares it to the federal rule (e.g., Rule 702: “The rule is identical to the federal rule”; Rule 101: “This rule differs from the federal rule in two regards”).
  • Experts: South Carolina applies its own reliability framework under SCRE 702 — not Daubert. State v. Council (S.C. 1999) (“While this Court does not adopt Daubert…”): the trial judge finds the evidence will assist the trier of fact, the expert is qualified, the underlying science is reliable under the Jones factors (peer review/publications, prior application, quality control, consistency with recognized scientific procedures), then applies Rule 403; later applied to non-scientific expert testimony in State v. White, 382 S.C. 265, 676 S.E.2d 684 (2009) (trial courts “have a gatekeeping role with respect to all evidence sought to be admitted under Rule 702, whether the evidence is scientific or nonscientific,” though the Council factors “serve no useful analytical purpose when evaluating nonscientific expert testimony”).

6. Appellate Mechanics

  • Routing: most appeals → Court of Appeals; seven classes go directly to the Supreme Court under S.C. Code § 14-8-200: death sentences, PSC public-utility rate decisions, cases whose principal issue is the constitutionality of a statute/ordinance, state or political-subdivision bonded-indebtedness cases, election cases, orders limiting state grand jury investigations, and family court orders on abortion by a minor; plus discretionary certiorari from the COA (Rule 242, SCACR — “not a matter of right, but of sound judicial discretion”).
  • Initiating: notice of appeal served within 30 days after receipt of written notice of entry of the order or judgment (Rule 203(b)(1), SCACR — quoted in Elam v. SCDOT (S.C. 2004)); the initial briefs follow under Rule 208, SCACR (appellant’s brief within 30 days after receiving the transcript, or after serving the notice of appeal if none is ordered; respondent 30 days; reply 10 days), each served together with the Designation of Matter to be Included in the Record on Appeal (Rule 209); a timely Rule 59(e) motion stays the time for appeal for all parties until receipt of written notice of entry of the order deciding it (Elam) — the tolling/preservation workhorse.
  • Preservation doctrine is strict: SC’s “raised to and ruled upon” requirement — “an issue cannot be raised for the first time on appeal, but must have been raised to and ruled upon by the trial judge to be preserved” (Wilder Corp. v. Wilke, S.C. 1998) — defines SC appellate practice.
  • Certiorari to the Supreme Court after COA: a COA decision “is not final for the purpose of review by the Supreme Court until the petition for rehearing or reinstatement has been acted on by the Court of Appeals”; the petition for writ of certiorari is due within 30 days after that petition is finally decided, and only questions raised both in the COA and in the rehearing petition may be presented (Rule 242(c)–(d), SCACR).
  • Appeals from masters-in-equity go directly to the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals (S.C. Code § 14-11-85: “as provided by the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules”).

7. Rules of Professional Conduct

  • Rule 407, SCACR — the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct (SC Bar: the RPC “can be found in their entirety within Rule 407 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules”) (follows the ABA Model Rules’ structure — Preamble, Scope, Rule 1.0 Terminology through Rule 8.5 — on the sccourts.org Rule 407 pages); cited “Rule 3.3, RPC, Rule 407, SCACR” (SC’s distinctive double citation).
  • CLE (Rule 408, SCACR — confirmed; administered by the Supreme Court’s Commission on CLE & Specialization) and admission rules live in the same SCACR omnibus.

8. Attorney Discipline & Enforcement

  • Flow (Rule 413, SCACR — Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement (RLDE)): complaint → Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) (screening/investigation/prosecution) → Commission on Lawyer Conduct (investigative and hearing panels) → the Supreme Court of South Carolina (final discipline; published opinions “In the Matter of ___”). Confirmed via SC Bar (“Lawyer discipline is administered solely by the South Carolina Supreme Court through the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Commission on Lawyer Conduct”) and In re Hanlin (S.C. 2024).
  • Sanctions (Rule 7(b), RLDE): admonition → public reprimand → definite suspension (“shall not exceed 3 years”) → disbarment, alongside restitution, costs, fines, practice limitations and “any other sanction” the Court deems appropriate; a letter of caution is expressly “not a sanction” and “does not constitute a finding of misconduct” (Rule 2(s)). Reinstatement after a definite suspension of nine months or more, or after disbarment, is only by Supreme Court order on petition, and a disbarred lawyer’s petition “shall not be filed earlier than 5 years from the date of entry of the order of disbarment” (Rule 33). Interim suspension (Rule 17) is available on indictment or conviction of a serious crime or a substantial threat of serious harm (e.g., the six-month suspension in Hanlin ran retroactive to an interim suspension).
  • Discipline opinions in the SC advance sheets (sccourts.org).

9. Newcomer Orientation Notes

  • Common Pleas vs. General Sessions: the same judge, courthouse, and clerk serve two differently-named courts — captions matter.
  • Learn the double-cite convention (“Rule 407, SCACR”) and that appellate + ethics rules share one omnibus (SCACR).
  • Preservation, preservation, preservation: SC appellate courts enforce “raised-and-ruled-upon” ruthlessly — make the record and get rulings.
  • Masters-in-equity and PCR practice are SC-specific dockets worth studying early.
  • E-filing: the Judicial Branch’s attorney E-Filing System, governed by the South Carolina Electronic Filing Policies and Guidelines (the sccourts.org “E-Filing” rule set), is mandatory for attorney filings in civil cases in the Court of Common Pleas in every E-Filing county — the E-Filing for Attorneys page lists all 46 counties — with PCR/habeas/inmate petitions, sexually-violent-predator actions and minors’ abortion-consent petitions excluded (§ 2), and pro hac vice attorneys filing through local counsel (§ 3(a)(1)). The Policies and Guidelines address Common Pleas e-filing; check the court’s own page before assuming e-filing in General Sessions or the summary courts. The appellate courts run C-Track as their case-management/document-search portal (ctrack.sccourts.org, verified — “the browser based CMS for Appellate Courts”).
  • Self-help: sccourts.org self-help resources + SC Legal Services; magistrate small-claims guides on county sites (e.g., Lexington).
  • Out-of-state counsel: PHV under Rule 404, SCACR — written motion filed by an associated regular member of the SC Bar as attorney of record, with the Supreme Court’s application form and the Office of Bar Admissions’ certification that the application and the $250 admission fee were received; the SC attorney of record must sign all papers and attend all proceedings, and more than six PHV applications in a calendar year deems the lawyer “regularly engaged in the practice of law in South Carolina” (Rule 404(a), (e), (f), (i)).

10. Sources & Verification

Sources — pass 1 (fetched 2026-08-27):

Sources — pass 2 (fetched 2026-08-28):

Sources fetched 2026-09-02 (flag-resolution pass 3):

Sources fetched 2026-09-24 (claim-by-claim audit):

  • Official rule text as published on courtrules.net (imported from sccourts.org 2026-08-30; Business Court orders 2026-09-14): SCRCP 3, 12, 40; SCRCrimP 2, 5; SCRE 1103; SCACR 203, 404; RLDE (Rule 413, SCACR) 2, 7, 17, 33; Business Court Program orders of Aug. 1, 2024, June 3, 2024, Sept. 3, 2024 and Oct. 23, 2024.
  • Official — S.C. Code on scstatehouse.gov: §§ 14-8-200, 17-27-45, 18-7-20, 22-3-10, 22-5-510 — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t18c007.php (same pattern for each chapter).

Not verified (flagged): none.