(A) There is created the State Advisory Committee on Educational Requirements for Local Government Planning or Zoning Officials and Employees.
(B) The advisory committee consists of five members appointed by the Governor. The advisory committee consists of:
(1) a planner recommended by the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association;
(2) a municipal official or employee recommended by the Municipal Association of South Carolina;
(3) a county official or employee recommended by the South Carolina Association of Counties;
(4) a representative recommended by the University of South Carolina's Institute for Public Service and Policy Research; and
(5) a representative recommended by Clemson University's Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture. Recommendations must be submitted to the Governor not later than the thirty-first day of December of the year preceding the year in which appointments expire. If the Governor rejects any person recommended for appointment, the group or association who recommended the person must submit additional names to the Governor for consideration.
(C) The members of the advisory committee must serve a term of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify; except that for the members first appointed to the advisory committee, the planner must serve a term of three years; the municipal official or employee and the county official or employee must each serve a term of two years; and the university representatives must each serve a term of one year. A vacancy on the advisory committee must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term. The Governor may remove a member of the advisory committee in accordance with Section 1-3-240(B).
(D) The advisory committee's duties are to:
(1) compile and distribute a list of approved orientation and continuing education programs that satisfy the educational requirements in Section 6-29-1340;
(2) determine categories of persons with advanced degrees, training, or experience, that are eligible for exemption from the educational requirements in Section 6-29-1340; and
(3) make an annual report to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, no later than April fifteenth of each year, providing a detailed account of the advisory committee's:
(a) activities;
(b) expenses;
(c) fees collected; and
(d) determinations concerning approved education programs and categories of exemption.
(E) A list of approved education programs and categories of exemption by the advisory committee must be available for public distribution through notice in the State Register and posting on the General Assembly's Internet website. This list must be updated by the advisory committee at least annually.
(F) The members of the advisory committee must serve without compensation and must meet at a set location to which members must travel no more frequently than quarterly, at the call of the chairman selected by majority vote of at least a quorum of the members. Nothing in this subsection prohibits the chairman from using discretionary authority to conduct additional meetings by telephone conference if necessary. These telephone conference meetings may be conducted more frequently than quarterly. Three members of the advisory committee constitute a quorum. Decisions concerning the approval of education programs and categories of exemption must be made by majority vote with at least a quorum of members participating.
(G) The advisory committee may assess by majority vote of at least a quorum of the members a nominal fee to each entity applying for approval of an orientation or continuing education program; however, any fees charged must be applied to the operating expenses of the advisory committee and must not result in a net profit to the groups or associations that recommend the members of the advisory committee. An accounting of any fees collected by the advisory committee must be made in the advisory committee's annual report to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
HISTORY: 2003 Act No. 39, Section 14, eff June 2, 2003; 2008 Act No. 273, Section 2, eff June 4, 2008; 2019 Act No. 1 (S.2), Sections 32, 33, eff January 31, 2019.
Effect of Amendment
The 2008 amendment, in subsection (B), in the introductory paragraph deleted "with the advice and consent of the Senate" from the end of the first sentence; and in paragraph (B)(5) deleted "or the Governor's appointment is not confirmed by the Senate" following "appointment".
2019 Act No. 1, Section 32, in (D)(3), substituted "President of the Senate" for "President Pro Tempore of the Senate".
2019 Act No. 1, Section 33, in (G), in the second sentence, substituted "President of the Senate" for "President Pro Tempore of the Senate".