Bill Text: SC H4641 | 2023-2024 | 125th General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Military courts
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 7-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-06 - Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Pope, Sessions [H4641 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2023-H4641-Amended.html
South Carolina General Assembly
125th Session, 2023-2024
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A joint Resolution
PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, RELATING TO THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT, BY ADDING SECTION 38 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY BY LAW MAY ESTABLISH MILITARY COURTS TO PRESERVE AND MAINTAIN GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE WITHIN THE STATE'S ORGANIZED MILITIA; AND BY PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 11, ARTICLE I OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, RELATING TO PRESENTMENTS AND INDICTMENTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT MILITARY COURTS, AS MAY BE ESTABLISHED BY LAW BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ARE EXEMPT FROM THE PRESENTMENT AND INDICTMENT REQUIREMENT IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE MAGISTRATE COURTS OF THIS STATE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. It is proposed that Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended by adding:
Section 38. The General Assembly by law may establish military courts to preserve and maintain good order and discipline within the organized militia of this State.
SECTION 2. The proposed amendment must be submitted to the qualified electors at the next general election for representatives. Ballots must be provided at the various voting precincts with the following words printed or written on the ballot:
"Must Article III of the Constitution of this State, relating to the Legislative Department, be amended so as to provide that the General Assembly by law may establish military courts to preserve and maintain good order and discipline within the organized militia of this State?
Yes o
No o
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'No'."
SECTION 3. It is proposed that Section 11, Article I of the Constitution of this State be amended to read:
Section 11. No person may be held to answer for any crime the jurisdiction over which is not within the magistrate's court nor that of any military court established by the General Assembly, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury of the county where the crime has been committed, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger. The General Assembly may provide for the waiver of an indictment by the accused. Nothing contained in this Constitution is deemed to limit or prohibit the establishment by the General Assembly of a state grand jury with the authority to return indictments irrespective of the county where the crime has been committed and that other authority, including procedure, as the General Assembly may provide.
SECTION 4. The proposed amendment must be submitted to the qualified electors at the next general election for representatives. Ballots must be provided at the various voting precincts with the following words printed or written on the ballot:
"Must Section 11, Article I of the Constitution of this State, relating to presentments and indictments, be amended so as to provide that military courts as may be established by law by the General Assembly are exempt from the presentment and indictment requirement in the same manner as the magistrate courts of this State?
Yes o
No o
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'No'."
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This web page was last updated on January 10, 2024 at 12:34 PM
