How many trustees should Anderson County school boards have, when do their terms start, and who fills vacancies?

Plain-English summary

A legislator asked three questions about Anderson County school-district trustees under Act No. 509 of 1982. The Assistant AG read its mandatory enrollment brackets literally: fewer than 3,000 students required five trustees, 3,000 to fewer than 6,000 required seven, and 6,000 or more required nine. He did not report a particular district’s enrollment.

Although the local act spoke of a January 1 start, he applied statewide Section 59-19-315, which said every elected school trustee’s term must begin one week after election certification. He relied on a 1985 AG opinion about nearly identical language and noted a separate 1986 opinion suggesting later local legislation might create an exception. For a vacancy before term end, he said the county board of education would appoint a successor for the rest of the term under the local act. The letter was informal and described the law as understood in 1997.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1997. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: How many board seats did a district with 6,000 students have? A: Nine under the enrollment bracket quoted in the opinion.

Q: Did newly elected trustees wait until January 1 to take office? A: The author said no. He applied the statewide rule starting terms one week after election certification.

Q: Who filled an unexpired vacancy?
A: The opinion said the County Board of Education appointed a successor for the remaining term.

Background and statutory framework

The letter read Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, and 9 of Act No. 509 of 1982 against Section 59-19-315. It cited State v. Blackmon and Paschal v. State Election Commission on applying clear statutory text, and used prior AG opinions to resolve the term-start conflict.

Citations and references

Statutes discussed: Act No. 509 of 1982; Section 59-19-315. Cases cited: State v. Blackmon; Paschal v. State Election Commission.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/august-29-1997/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/97aug29cooper.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLES MOLONY CONDON
ATIORNEY GENERAL

August 29, 1997

The Honorable Daniel T. Cooper
Member, House of Representatives
P.O. Box 160
Williamston, South Carolina 29697
Re:

Informal Opinion

Dear Representative Cooper:
Your recent opinion request has been forwarded to me for reply. A number of questions are raised regarding the Boards of Trustees of the School Districts of Anderson County. The boards of trustees of the school districts of Anderson County are provided for by Act No. 509 of 1982, as amended. Pursuant to Section 1 of the Act, the school districts in Anderson County shall be managed and controlled by boards of trustees, the members of which shall be residents of their districts and elected by the qualified electors thereof. The first question concerns the proper number of members serving on the board of trustees. Section 4 of the Act provides the manner in which the boards are to be constituted. This section provides: The boards in the several districts shall be constituted as follows: ( 1) In those districts having a total enrollment in all elementary and high schools within the district of less than three thousand pupils, the board of trustees shall consist of five members;

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FACSIMILE: 803-253-6283

The Honorable Daniel T. Cooper
Page 2
August 29, 1997
(2)
In those districts having a total enrollment in all
elementary and high schools within the district of three thousand pupils, or more, but less than six thousand pupils, the board of trustees shall consist of seven members; (3) In those districts having a total enrollment in all elementary and high schools within the district of six thousand pupils, or more, the board of trustees shall consist of nine members. The words of a statute must be given their plain and ordinary meaning without resort to subtle or forced construction to limit or expand the statute's operation. State v. Blackmon, 304 S.C. 270, 403 S.E.2d 660 (1991). Where the terms of a statute are clear, the court must apply those terms according to their literal meaning. Paschal v. State Election Commission, 317 S.C. 434, 454 S.E.2d 890 (1995). Use of the word "shall" in a statute generally connotes mandatory compliance. S.C. Dept. of Highways and Public Transportation v. Dickinson, 288 S.C. 189, 341 S.E.2d 134 (1986). Since the use of the word "shall" connotes mandatory compliance, the number of members on the board of trustees must be determined by the total enrollment in all elementary and high schools within the district in strict accordance with the provisions of Act 509 of 1982. For example, in a district having a total enrollment in all elementary and high schools of six thousand or more pupils, the board of trustees must consist of nine members. The second question is at what time do the terms of office of newly elected members of the board of trustees begin. Section 5 of Act No. 509 provides that the terms of office of school trustees of Anderson County shall expire on December thirty-first following the election of their successors in the general election. In addition, Section 9 of Act No. 509 provides that the trustees shall assume office on January first. However, in this situation, another statute must also be analyzed. Section 59-19-315 of the South Carolina Code of Laws provides that "[t]he term of office of every elected trustee of a school district must commence one week following certification of his election." A situation virtually identical to the one presented here was addressed in an Opinion dated July 16, 1985. In that Opinion, the issue was whether Act No. 544 of 1982, which provided that "[t]he term of office of each trustee shall be four years to commence on the first day of January next following the election" controlled over Section 59-19-315. This Office concluded that the use of the word "every" and the use of the mandatory word "must" indicated that the legislature intended that the general provisions

The Honorable Daniel T. Cooper
Page 3
August 29, 1997
of Section 59-19-315 were to be controlling with respect to the commencement of the term of office of a school trustee. The effect of this conclusion was to change the time of commencement of the term of office from the first day of January following the election to one week following the certification of the election. But see Op. A!!y. Gen. dated December 19, 1986 (where local legislation regarding a county's school trustees was passed after the passage of Section 59-19-315, the local legislation may be considered a controlling exception).

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The conclusion reached in the July 16, 1985 opinion would be applicable here as well and, therefore, Section 59-19-315 would govern the commencement of the term of office. Accordingly, the term of office would begin one week following certification of the election. The third question concerns the proper method of filling a vacancy in the board of trustees which occurs prior to the expiration of the term of office. Pursuant to Sections 3 and 5 of Act No. 509, if there is a vacancy in the board of trustees, a successor shall be appointed by the County Board of Education for the unexpired portion of the term. This letter is an informal opinion only. It has been written by a designated assistant attorney general and represents the position of the undersigned attorney as to the specific questions asked. It has not, however, been personally scrutinized by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion. With kindest regards, I remain Very truly yours,

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Paul M. Koch
Assistant Attorney General