(A) The South Carolina Court Administration is authorized to establish and determine the number of contact hours to be completed in a continuing education program of two years available to a magistrate who has successfully completed the certification examination. The program must provide extensive instruction in civil and criminal procedures and must encourage magistrates to develop contacts and resources of information in conjunction with their instructors and fellow magistrates.
(B) The program shall be administered through the state's technical college system and may be used to facilitate continuing legal education opportunities for all magistrates. The technical college system may assess a reasonable fee for each participant in the program in order to pay for the program's expenses.
(C) The funding for this program shall be provided from fees and costs collected by magistrates or magistrates' courts and deposited in the general fund of the county.
(D) Subsections (A) and (B) are effective July 1, 2001; however, the planning and development of this program shall begin on or after July 1, 2000, and the effective date for subsections (C) and (D) is July 1, 2000.
HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 226, Section 7.