(a) There is hereby created in the executive department the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission, to encourage fair treatment for, and to eliminate and prevent discrimination against, any member of a group protected by this chapter, and to foster mutual understanding and respect among all people in this State.
(b) The commission shall consist of a member from each congressional district appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and two members at large appointed by the Governor. Each member shall serve for a term of three years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Vacancies must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired term.
(c) No member of the Commission shall serve more than two consecutive terms. A member having served two consecutive terms shall be eligible for reappointment one year after the expiration of his second term.
(d) The Governor shall appoint one of the at large members to serve as chairman and may appoint any member to serve as vice-chairman, each to serve a term of one year. In the absence of appointment of a vice-chairman, the members may elect one of their number to fill that office. The Commission may elect other officers from among its members as necessary, except that the Commissioner may be elected to serve as secretary.
(e) The Commission shall meet at such times and in such places as it may determine.
(f) A quorum for transacting business shall consist of a majority of the membership as constituted at the time of a meeting.
(g) Each member shall be entitled to one vote on each issue presented, a majority of the votes cast determining the issue. Votes may be cast only in person. Voting may be by secret ballot or by voice vote.
(h) A vacancy in the Commission shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise all the powers of the Commission.
(i) Members of the Commission shall be entitled to such per diem, mileage and subsistence as is provided for by law for boards, committees and commissions.
(j) The Commission shall render each year to the Governor and to the General Assembly a written report of its activities and of its recommendations.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 1-360.24; 1972 (57) 2651; 1979 Act No. 24, Section 3; 1983 Act No. 80, Sections 1-3; 1991 Act No. 248, Section 6; 2012 Act No. 279, Section 1, eff June 26, 2012.
Editor's Note
2012 Act No. 279, Section 33, provides as follows:
"Due to the congressional redistricting, any person elected or appointed to serve, or serving, as a member of any board, commission, or committee to represent a congressional district, whose residency is transferred to another district by a change in the composition of the district, may serve, or continue to serve, the term of office for which he was elected or appointed; however, the appointing or electing authority shall appoint or elect an additional member on that board, commission, or committee from the district which loses a resident member as a result of the transfer to serve until the term of the transferred member expires. When a vacancy occurs in the district to which a member has been transferred, the vacancy must not be filled until the full term of the transferred member expires. Further, the inability to hold an election or to make an appointment due to judicial review of the congressional districts does not constitute a vacancy."
Effect of Amendment
The 2012 amendment rewrote subsection (b).