Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives explained

Post:	Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives
Incumbent:	Murrell Smith, Jr.
Incumbentsince:	May 12, 2022
Member Of:	South Carolina House of Representatives
Nominator:	Election by House
Termlength:	4 years, 5-term limit
Inaugural:	James Parsons^[1]
Formation:	1776
Salary:	$33,400 + $140 per diem^[2]

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.

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. 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. The speaker pro tempore presides in the speaker's absence.

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.^[3] ^[4] The speaker also serves an ex officio member of the Committee on Operations and Managementof the House of Representatives. 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.^[5] 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

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

Notes and References

Web site: South Carolina Constitution of 1776 . avalon.law.yale.edu . Yale University . 30 July 2022.
Web site: Slade . David . Salary only part of S.C. lawmakers’ compensation . publicintegrity.org . Center for Public Integrity . 30 July 2022.
Web site: House Rules . scstatehouse.gov . South Carolina Legislature . 1 August 2022.
Web site: South Carolina Constitution: ARTICLE III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT . sc.gov . South Carolina State House . 30 July 2022.
Web site: Article IV, Executive Department. scstatehouse.gov.