South Carolina § 1-23-650 - Promulgation of rules.

§ 1-23-650. Promulgation of rules.

(A) Rules governing the internal administration and operations of the Administrative Law Court must be:

(1) proposed by the chief judge of the court and adopted by a majority of the judges of the court; or

(2) proposed by any judge of the court and adopted by seventy-five percent of the judges of the court.

(B) Rules governing practice and procedure before the court which are:

(1) consistent with the rules of procedure governing civil actions in courts of common pleas; and

(2) not otherwise expressed in Chapter 23, Title 1; upon approval by a majority of the judges of the court must be promulgated by the court and are subject to review as are rules of procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court under Article V of the Constitution.

(C) All hearings before an administrative law judge must be conducted exclusively in accordance with the rules of procedure promulgated by the court pursuant to this section. All other rules of procedure for the hearing of contested cases or appeals by individual agencies, whether promulgated by statute or regulation, are of no force and effect in proceedings before an administrative law judge.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 19; 1994 Act No. 452, SECTION 2; 1998 Act No. 359, SECTION 5; 2006 Act No. 387, SECTION 6, eff July 1, 2006.

Editor's Note

2006 Act No. 387, SECTION 53, provides as follows:

"This act is intended to provide a uniform procedure for contested cases and appeals from administrative agencies and to the extent that a provision of this act conflicts with an existing statute or regulation, the provisions of this act are controlling."

2006 Act No. 387, SECTION 57, provides as follows:

"This act takes effect on July 1, 2006, and applies to any actions pending on or after the effective date of the act. No pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, or appeal of a final administrative decision exists under the former law as of the effective date of this act, except for appeals of Department of Health and Environmental Control Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and Environmental Quality Control permits that are before the Administrative Law Court on the effective date of this act and petitions for judicial review that are pending before the circuit court. For those actions only, the department shall hear appeals from the administrative law judges and the circuit court shall hear pending petitions for judicial review in accordance with the former law. Thereafter, any appeal of those actions shall proceed as provided in this act for review. For all other actions pending on the effective date of this act, the action proceeds as provided in this act for review."

Effect of Amendment

The 2006 amendment designated subsections (A) and (B); in subsection (A), in the introductory statement substituted "Administrative Law Court must" for "administrative law judge division shall"; added subsection (C); and substituted "court" for "division" and made nonsubstantive changes throughout.