Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
	Incumbent; Murrell Smith, Jr. ; since May 12, 2022
Member of	South Carolina House of Representatives
Nominator	Election by House
Term length	4 years, 5-term limit
Inaugural holder	James Parsons ;
Formation	1776
Salary	$33,400 + $140 per diem

Last updated August 05, 2024

The speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the South Carolina House of Representatives, whose main role is to ensure that general order is maintained in the house by recognizing members to speak, ensuring members are following established rules, and to call for votes. The speaker is third in the line of succession behind the lieutenant governor and the president of the senate. The current speaker is Murrell Smith, Jr., a Republican who has held the position since May 12, 2022.

History

James Parsons was the first speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, elected in 1776 after the adoption of South Carolina's first constitution. Since 1776, there have been sixty-one speakers of the house. Four speakers have served non-consecutive terms, but unlike the office of governor where each office holder is counted once regardless of terms served, speakers are counted separately for each time in office. Therefore, for example, Solomon Blatt Sr. was the 50th and the 53rd speaker.^[3]

Election

The speaker is elected by a simple majority vote to a four year term following the most recent general election and may not serve more than five consecutive terms.^[4] The next election will be in 2023. Incumbent Speaker Murrell Smith was elected intra-term in 2022 following the resignation of Jay Lucas. Since 1776, there have been 34 Democrats, 9 Democratic-Republicans, 8 Republicans, 8 Independents, and 2 Nullifiers.^[3] The speaker pro tempore presides in the speaker's absence.^[4]

Roles and responsibilities

The speaker of the house "preserve[s] order and decorum" in the chamber and oversees the proceeding of the House of Representatives by recognizing members to speak, calling for votes, and maintaining general order.^[4]^[5] The speaker also serves an ex officio member of the Committee on Operations and Managementof the House of Representatives.^[4] Additionally, the speaker of the house has the ability to do the following:

Call for a special election after an inter-term vacancy in the senate
Appoint members all committees, but must ensure that both the majority and minority parties are represented
Adjourn the house without a vote in cases of emergency
If a quorum is not present, the speaker may order absent members to be taken into custody and brought into the house chamber.

Succession to governorship

The speaker of the house is third in the gubernatorial line of succession. If the governor, lieutenant governor, and President of the South Carolina Senate are unable to serve as governor, the speaker of the house becomes governor.^[6] Since the role of lieutenant governor was separated from president of the senate, no president has succeeded to the office of governor.

List of speakers

List of speakers of the South Carolina House of Representatives^[3]^{[lower-alpha 1]}
#	Speaker		Term of office	Notes
1	James Parsons	None	March 26, 1776 – October 1776
2	John Matthews	None	December 1776 – Spring of 1777
3	Thomas Bee	None	Summer of 1777 – November 1778
4	John Matthews	None	January 1779 – December 1779	2nd Time
5	Thomas Farr	None	1779 – 1782
6	Hugh Rutledge	None	1782 – 1785
7	John Faucheraud Grimké	None	1785 – 1787
8	John Julius Pringle	Federalist	1787 – 1789
9	Jacob Read	Federalist	1789 – 1795
10	Robert Barnwell	Federalist	1795 – 1798
11	William Johnson	Democratic-Republican	1798 – 1800
12	Theodore Gaillard	Democratic-Republican	1800 – 1802
13	Robert Stork	Democratic-Republican	1802 – 1804
14	William Cotesworth Pinckney,	Democratic-Republican	1804 – 1805
15	Joseph Alston	Democratic-Republican	1805 – 1810
16	John Geddes	Democratic-Republican	1810 – 1814
17	Thomas Bennett Jr.	Democratic-Republican	1814 – 1818
19	Patrick Noble	Democratic-Republican	1818 – 1824
20	John Belton O'Neall	Democratic-Republican	1824 – 1828
21	Benjamin Fanuel Dunkin	Nullifier (Democratic)	1828 – 1830
22	Henry L. Pinckney	Nullifier (Democratic)	1830 – 1833
23	Patrick Noble	Democratic	1833 – 1836	2nd time Changed parties
24	David Lewis Wardlaw	Democratic	1836 – 1842
25	William F. Colcock	Democratic	1842 – 1848
26	John Izard Middleton	Democratic	1848 – 1850
27	James Simons	Democratic	1862 – 1864
28	R. B. Boyleston	Democratic	1864 – 1865	Deposed by Union Army
29	R. B. Boyleston	None	1865 – 1868
30	Franklin J. Moses Jr.	Republican	1868 – 1872
31	Samuel Jones Lee	Republican	1872 – 1874
32	R.B. Elliot	Republican	1874 – 1876
33	William Henry Wallace	Democratic	1876 – 1876
34	John Calhoun Sheppard	Democratic	1877 – 1882
35	James Simons, Jr.	Democratic	1882 – 1890
36	John L. M. Irby	Democratic	1890 – 1891
37	Ira B. Jones	Democratic	1891 – 1896
38	Frank B. Gary	Democratic	1896 – 1901
39	William Francis Stevenson	Democratic	1901 – 1903
40	Mendel L. Smith	Democratic	1903 – 1907
41	Richard S. Whaley	Democratic	1907 – 1911
42	Mendel L. Smith	Democratic	1911 – 1915	2nd Time
43	James Hoyt	Democratic	1915 – 1918
44	Thomas P. Cothran	Democratic	1918 – 1921
45	J. B. Atkinson	Democratic	1921 – 1923
46	Thos. S. McMillan	Democratic	1923 – 1925
47	Edgar Allan Brown	Democratic	1925 – 1926
48	John K. Hamblin	Democratic	1927 – 1933
49	James B. Gibson	Democratic	1933 – 1934	Died
50	Claude A. Taylor	Democratic	1935 – 1936
51	Solomon Blatt Sr.	Democratic	1935 – 1936
52	C. Bruce Littlejohn	Democratic	1947 – 1949
53	Thomas H. Pope	Democratic	1949 – 1950
54	Solomon Blatt Sr.	Democratic	1951 – August 1, 1973	2nd Time
55	Rex L. Carter	Democratic	1973 – August 1, 1980
56	Ramon Schwartz Jr.	Democratic	1981 – October 1, 1986
57	Robert Sheheen	Democratic	1987 – October 1, 1994
58	David Wilkins	Republican	December 6, 1994 – June 21, 2005
59	Bobby Harrell	Republican	June 21, 2005 – October 23, 2014
60	Jay Lucas	Republican	December 2, 2014 – May 12, 2022
61	Murrell Smith, Jr.	Republican	May 12, 2022 – Incumbent

Notes

↑ There is no 18th speaker. This is because at some point in history, pre-dating Wikipedia, someone miscounted. Since, society has gone along with the incorrect number. Incumbent Speaker Murrell Smith announces himself as the 61st speaker, though he is supposed to be the 60th.

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References

↑ "South Carolina Constitution of 1776". avalon.law.yale.edu. Yale University. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
↑ Slade, David. "Salary only part of S.C. lawmakers' compensation". publicintegrity.org. Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
1 2 3 "SPEAKERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA 1776–2021" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov. South Carolina Legislature. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
1 2 3 4 "House Rules" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov. South Carolina Legislature. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
↑ "South Carolina Constitution: ARTICLE III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT" (PDF). sc.gov. South Carolina State House. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
↑ "Article IV, Executive Department" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov.

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[7] There is no 18th speaker. This is because at some point in history, pre-dating Wikipedia, someone miscounted. Since, society has gone along with the incorrect number. Incumbent Speaker Murrell Smith announces himself as the 61st speaker, though he is supposed to be the 60th.

[1] "South Carolina Constitution of 1776". avalon.law.yale.edu. Yale University. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

[Integrity-2] Slade, David. "Salary only part of S.C. lawmakers' compensation". publicintegrity.org. Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

[List_of_Speakers-3] 1 2 3 "SPEAKERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA 1776–2021" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov. South Carolina Legislature. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

[House_Rules-4] 1 2 3 4 "House Rules" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov. South Carolina Legislature. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

[Constitution-5] "South Carolina Constitution: ARTICLE III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT" (PDF). sc.gov. South Carolina State House. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

[6] "Article IV, Executive Department" (PDF). scstatehouse.gov.

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