The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- South Carolina
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Op. S.C. Att'y Gen. (Mar. 29, 2020) (to Rep. Bradley)
- Issued
- 2020-03-29 Mar. 29, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-03-29
- End
- n/a (advisory opinion) (read as 2021-06-30)
- In force
- Mar. 29, 2020 to June 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q2
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Emergency declarationOther
- Addressees
- counties and municipalities; persons generally subject to the Governor's orders
- Character
- agency interpretation
- Collection
- Standing duties: South Carolina DUT-SC
Operative words
Here the Governor's executive orders have made certain actions criminal, but others remain legal, for the duration of the executive order.... This conclusion that the Governor's emergency powers preempt those of counties and municipalities is equally applicable to the pandemic created by COVID-19.
Penalty
n/a (opinion describing the criminal effect of the Governor's orders)
What it required
The Attorney General affirmed that the emergency powers of § 25-1-440 are 'exclusive and may be exercised only by the Chief Executive of the State,' that the Governor's executive orders 'have made certain actions criminal... for the duration of the executive order,' that local governments 'cannot exercise the emergency powers delegated to the Governor by the General Assembly,' and that 'an ordinance must continue to be enforced unless and until set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction.' Character as recorded: agency_interpretation (Attorney General opinion; order_penalty layer).
Retrieval noteScanned five-page opinion without a text layer; all pages were rendered to images and read in full. The opinion quotes EO 2020-15 § 6(B) (Ex. SC-008): 'this Order shall supersede and preempt any such local ordinance, rule, regulation, or other restriction,' relies on Walsh v. City of River Rouge, 385 Mich. 623 (1971), and was copied to the Governor, SLED, the Police Chiefs' and Sheriffs' Associations, the Association of Counties and the Municipal Association. The Attorney General's April 13, 2020 opinion cites it as 'Op. S.C. Att'y Gen., 2020 WL ___ (March 29, 2020)' (Ex. DUT-SC-019).