County Auditor Qualifications

2025-2026 Bill 98: County Auditor Qualifications - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
S. 98
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Matthews
Document Path: SMIN-0060MW25.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 14, 2025
Introduced in the House on April 2, 2026
Last Amended on March 31, 2026

Currently residing in the House Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: County Auditor Qualifications
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/11/2024

Senate

Prefiled

12/11/2024

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Finance

1/14/2025

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 70
)

1/14/2025

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Finance
(
Senate Journal-page 70
)

1/17/2025

Scrivener's error corrected

3/18/2026

Senate

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

3/31/2026

Senate

Committee Amendment Adopted (
Senate Journal-page 41
)

3/31/2026

Senate

Amended (
Senate Journal-page 41
)

3/31/2026

Senate

Read second time (
Senate Journal-page 41
)

3/31/2026

Senate

Roll call Ayes-34 Nays-8 (
Senate Journal-page 41
)

4/1/2026

Senate

Read third time and sent to House (
Senate Journal-page 32
)

4/2/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 32
)

4/2/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 32
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/11/2024
12/11/2024-A
12/11/2024-B
01/17/2025
03/18/2026
03/31/2026

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Committee Amendment Adopted and Amended

March 31, 2026

S. 98

Introduced
by Senator Matthews

S. Printed 3/31/26--S.

Read the first time January 14, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION
12-39-25
SO AS TO PROVIDE QUALIFICATIONS TO BE ELIGIBLE TO HOLD THE OFFICE OF
COUNTY AUDITOR.

Amend Title To Conform

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 39, Title 12 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
12-39-25
.

For persons first elected or first
appointed to serve as the county auditor after November 1, 2026, in order to be
eligible to serve or continue to serve as the county auditor, a person must:

(
1) be
a citizen of the United States and of this State;

(
2) be
a qualified elector of the applicable county;

(
3)
have:

(
a)
a four-year bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or economics from an
accredited post-secondary institution; or

(
b)
at least four years' experience:

(
i)
in the field of accounting or auditing;

(
ii)
as an employee in an auditor's office in this State; or

(
iii)
as an auditor in this state
.

S
ECTION 2.
C
hapter 39, Title 12 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
12-39-18
.
(
A) Any person first
elected or first appointed to serve as the county auditor after November 1,
2026, shall complete a one-time forty-hour training program that the department
establishes or causes to be established. Failure to complete satisfactorily this
course results in the auditor forfeiting five thousand dollars of his state
salary supplement each year until the course is completed. The content, cost,
and dates of the courses must be determined by the department.

(
B)
(
1) The department, for reasonable
cause, may excuse a county auditor from attending this course for no more than
one year. If excused, the auditor does not forfeit five thousand dollars of his
state salary supplement for that year.

(
2)
The department may credit some or all of the training program hours towards the
continuing education courses required by Section
12-39-15
in the year in which
the training program is completed.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on March 31, 2026 at 4:19 PM