Monuments

2025-2026 Bill 508: Monument and Memorial Protection

South Carolina General Assembly

126th Session, 2025-2026

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This Bill
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A224, R228, S508

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill

Sponsors: Senators Verdin, Goldfinch, Martin, Peeler, Bennett, Young, Blackmon, Kimbrell, Zell, Nutt, Fernandez, Alexander, Turner, Adams, Leber, Corbin, Grooms, Hembree, Rice, Massey, Garrett, Chaplin, Cromer, Johnson, Gambrell, Kennedy, Davis, Climer, Campsen, Reichenbach, Bright and Cash

Document Path: SR-0295KM25.docx

Introduced in the Senate on March 27, 2025

Introduced in the House on April 16, 2026

Last Amended on May 14, 2026

Governor's Action: May 19, 2026, Signed

Summary: Monuments

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

3/27/2025

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 4
)

3/27/2025

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Finance
(
Senate Journal-page 4
)

3/18/2026

Senate

Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Finance
(
Senate Journal-page 6
)

3/31/2026

Senate

Special order, set for March 31, 2026 (
Senate Journal-page 50
)

4/1/2026

Senate

Committee Amendment Adopted (
Senate Journal-page 60
)

4/1/2026

Senate

Read second time (
Senate Journal-page 60
)

4/14/2026

Senate

Amended (
Senate Journal-page 12
)

4/15/2026

Senate

Read third time and sent to House (
Senate Journal-page 81
)

4/15/2026

Senate

Roll call Ayes-31 Nays-7 (
Senate Journal-page 81
)

4/16/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 7
)

4/16/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 7
)

4/29/2026

House

Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 180
)

4/30/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

4/30/2026

House

Debate adjourned until Tues., 5-5-26 (
House Journal-page 117
)

5/5/2026

House

Debate adjourned until Wed., 5-6-26 (
House Journal-page 31
)

5/6/2026

House

Requests for debate-Rep(s). Taylor, Oremus,
Forrest, Harts, Bowers, Edgerton, Magnuson,
Pope, White, Caskey, Hewitt, Weeks, Scott (
House Journal-page 35
)

5/7/2026

House

Amended (
House Journal-page 46
)

5/7/2026

House

Read second time (
House Journal-page 46
)

5/7/2026

House

Roll call Yeas-74 Nays-28 (
House Journal-page 59
)

5/12/2026

House

Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments (
House Journal-page 116
)

5/12/2026

Senate

Non-concurrence in House amendment (
Senate Journal-page 10
)

5/13/2026

House

House insists upon amendment and conference
committee appointed Reps. T Moore, Taylor, Govan (
House Journal-page 103
)

5/13/2026

Senate

Conference committee appointed Verdin, Goldfinch,
Sutton (
Senate Journal-page 25
)

5/14/2026

House

Conference report received and adopted (
House Journal-page 67
)

5/14/2026

House

Roll call Yeas-79 Nays-28 (
House Journal-page 72
)

5/14/2026

Senate

Conference report received and adopted (
Senate Journal-page 110
)

5/14/2026

Senate

Roll call Ayes-40 Nays-0 (
Senate Journal-page 110
)

5/14/2026

Senate

Conference report enrolled for ratificatiom (
Senate Journal-page 116
)

5/15/2026

Ratified R 228

5/19/2026

Signed By Governor

6/5/2026

Effective date 05/19/26

6/3/2026

Act No. 224

View the latest
legislative information
at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

03/27/2025
03/18/2026
04/01/2026
04/14/2026
04/29/2026
04/30/2026
05/07/2026
05/14/2026

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

NOTE: THIS IS A TEMPORARY VERSION. THIS DOCUMENT WILL REMAIN IN THIS VERSION UNTIL FINAL APPROVAL BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

(A224, R228, S508)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION
10-1-165
, RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF CERTAIN MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS, SO AS TO EXPAND THE TYPE OF MONUMENTS OR MEMORIALS THAT MAY NOT BE RELOCATED, REMOVED, OR DISTURBED, TO AUTHORIZE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY JOINT RESOLUTION, TO TAKE ACTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN MONUMENTS, TO ALLOW FOR CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, AND TO PROVIDE THE MANNER IN WHICH AN AFFINITY ORGANIZATION MAY BRING A CIVIL ACTION TO PREVENT CERTAIN ACTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN MONUMENTS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Findings

SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that those who lived through a historical event possess a firsthand understanding that later observers can study but never fully replicate. Accounts written by people who experienced the event--or who lived closer to the time period--carry the texture of context, language, and lived reality that inevitably fades with time. The nearer a person stands in time to the event, the more likely their description reflects the conditions, perceptions, and meanings as they were actually understood when they occurred.

Monuments

SECTION 2. Section
10-1-165
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

Section
10-1-165
. (A) For the purposes of this section:

(1) "Affinity organization" means a nonprofit organization registered with the Secretary of State that was established for the purpose of, primary or otherwise, honoring a particular event, people, or time period including, but not limited to, historic or heritage organizations that have a clearly demonstrable record of these actions.

(2) "Historic figure" means a deceased person recognized in historical records, scholarship, or public commemoration as having played a significant role in past events or developments of public importance.

(3) "Monument preservation organization" means a nonprofit organization registered with the Secretary of State that was established solely, or in part, for the preservation, defense, or protection of monuments and memorials that has a clearly demonstrable record of these actions.

(B) No colonial war, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, War Between the States, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, any armed conflict involving South Carolinians, Native American, African-American History, or other historic monuments or memorials erected on public property of the State or any of its political subdivisions may be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered. No street, bridge, structure, park, preserve, reserve, installation, nameplate, or other public area of the State or any of its political subdivisions dedicated in memory of or named for any historic figure, historic group of people, historic event, or commemorated event may be renamed or rededicated. No person may prevent the public body responsible for the monument or memorial from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of these monuments, memorials, or nameplates.

(C) The prohibition on disturbing or altering a monument or memorial contained in this section includes affixing to or placing on or near a monument or memorial, or the public property upon which the monument or memorial is located, plaques, markers, anything that facilitates the transmission of messages through digital or electronic means, or other messages or message delivery devices or platforms that are related to the monument or memorial but are not original to the monument or memorial.

(D) In order to relocate, remove, disturb, or alter a monument or memorial or to rename or rededicate a street, bridge, structure, park, preserve, reserve, installation, nameplate, or other public area of the State or any of its political subdivisions dedicated in memory of or named for any historic figure, historic group of people, historic event, or commemorated event, the General Assembly must enact a joint resolution directing the action to be taken.

(E)(1) It is not a violation of subsection (B) if a monument or memorial to a dedicated class of people whose names are inscribed on the monument or memorial is altered to include additional names of members of the class who were not known to be or had not qualified as a member of the class at the time that the monument or memorial was first erected.

(2) For a monument or memorial described in item (1), the permitted alteration may include the limited update of an existing plaque, marker, inscription, nameplate, anything that facilitates the transmission of messages through digital or electronic means, or other message or message delivery device or platform that is related to the monument or memorial and original to the monument or memorial. The update must be limited to identifying or providing information concerning the newly added members of the same dedicated class and must be made in substantially the same manner and format as the information provided for members of the class previously identified on or through the monument or memorial.

(F)(1) An affinity organization or monument preservation organization may bring a civil action to prevent or redress a violation of this section, including an action for injunctive or declaratory relief. If a monument or memorial has been damaged or destroyed, the affinity organization or monument preservation organization may bring an action for the recovery of damages; however, such damages are limited to only the reasonable amount necessary to restore, repair, or replace any damaged or destroyed monument or memorial. A prevailing plaintiff under any cause of action may recover reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.

(2) An alleged violation of this section:

(a) related to a particular event, people, or time period honored by an affinity organization that is raised by the affinity organization in a civil complaint concerning the alleged violation constitutes concrete and particularized harm for the purposes of the affinity organization's standing to bring the civil action; or

(b) that is raised by a monument preservation organization constitutes concrete and particularized harm incurred by the monument preservation organization for the purposes of the monument preservation organization's standing to bring the civil action.

(3) Before an affinity organization may bring a civil action, it must give notice and the opportunity to cure the damaged or destroyed monument or memorial. Notice must be given at least ninety days before a civil action is filed.

(G) If the real property upon which a monument or memorial is erected is sold or transferred to a private entity, then as soon as practicable after the sale or transfer is completed the monument or memorial shall be relocated only to an area on public property of equal or greater prominence and visibility within the same political subdivision.

(H)(1) If necessary for public utility-related infrastructure improvements, the construction of a new government structure, or the expansion or renovation of an existing government structure, then a monument or memorial may be relocated only to an area on public property of equal or greater prominence and visibility within the same political subdivision or removed temporarily during the construction project and relocated to its original location as soon as practicable after the project's completion.

(2) A government structure named or dedicated for a historic figure, historic group of people, historic event, or commemorated event may be demolished at the direction of the public body with control over the structure. Any plaque, marker, or other tangible item located within the building that falls within the protections contained in subsection (B) must be removed from the structure prior to its demolition. If the demolished structure is replaced with a new one, then the plaques, markers, or other tangible items must be placed within the new structure in a place of equal or greater prominence and visibility. If the demolished structure is not replaced with a new one, then the public body must display the plaques, markers, or other tangible items removed from the demolished structure in another location of equal or greater prominence and visibility.

(I) The provisions of this section do not apply to a governmental entity when it temporarily relocates or removes a monument or memorial, including road dedication signs pursuant to Section
57-3-610
, if the current location of the monument or memorial conflicts with a highway, bridge, roadway maintenance, or construction project. However, as soon as practicable after the project's completion, the monument or memorial shall be returned to its original location or placed in a location in close proximity to its original location.

(J) The Department of Archives and History shall promulgate regulations to establish a process for affinity organizations, monument preservation organizations, public bodies, or other custodians to maintain monuments and memorials, as well as restore and replace monuments and memorials that have been damaged or destroyed.

(K) This section must be construed and applied to protect the exercise of the right of freedom of speech and of the press, the right to assemble and petition, and the right of association, guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the South Carolina Constitution.

(L) It is not a violation of this section to make additions, inscriptions, or updates to a monument or memorial that is actively maintained and updated to reflect the names or service of members of the United States Armed Forces, National Guard, reserve components, law enforcement, firefighters, or first responders who are killed in action or die in the line of duty, were prisoners of war, missing in action, or otherwise honored for service, provided that any additions, inscriptions, or updates are consistent with the original commemorative purpose of the monument or memorial and do not result in its relocation or removal.

Severability

SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 15th day of May, 2026.

Approved the 19th day of May, 2026.

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This web page was last updated on
June 3, 2026 at 12:03 PM