South Carolina Legal Research

The official reporter for the South Carolina Judicial Department is the South Carolina Reporter, which contains published opinions from the Supreme Court (from 1868 onward) and Court of Appeals (from 1983 onward).  South Carolina opinions are also published in the Southeastern Reporter and Southeastern Second.  Opinions from earlier courts were also reported prior to the South Carolina Reporter and the Southeastern Reporter.  The Constitutional Court of Appeals cases were reported in South Carolina Law Reports from 1791 to 1824.  The Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace were also reported in South Carolina Law Reports from 1783 to 1795.  Opinions from these courts may also be found within volumes of various nominal reporters.

The South Carolina Legislature begins its regular session on the second Tuesday in January and must adjourn no later than the first Thursday in June.  The South Carolina Acts & Joint Resolutions is an annual compilation of laws enacted during a legislative session (Session laws).  South Carolina's statutes are codified and officially published as the South Carolina Code of Laws Annotated by West.  The S.C. Code is divided into 63 titles (and in the print volumes is followed by the South Carolina Administrative Code.)  The South Carolina Code of Laws can also be accessed electronically through Westlaw, Lexis or  the South Carolina Legislature website.

 The South Carolina Administrative Code is divided into 139 chapters.

1873-1977 can be found in the Library's LLMC Digital database

1914-1974 (scattered volumes) can be found on Shelf 34B in the Library