If you are interested in being appointed to a particular board, you will need to contact the appointing authority for that board.  Each position on a state board or commission, with the exception of members who serve ex officio, is appointed by a particular authority as provided by statute.  Many seats are appointed by the Governor, but there are also positions appointed by members of the General Assembly or by other public officials.  Information regarding who appoints members to boards and commissions can be found in two places.  First, when you search for a board or commission using our online database, you will be provided with a list of the positions for that particular board, including who appoints each seat on the board.  Secondly, the statute that defines the membership of a board or commission also sets forth who appoints each seat on that board or commission.  Each board in our searchable online database has a link to the relevant statute.

The Secretary of State’s Office offers an online searchable database of state boards and commissions with their current members.  You have the option of searching for a particular individual to see if he or she is serving on a state board or commission.  You may also search for a particular board and view a list of all current members of that board as provided by the board or by its appointing authorities.

Pursuant to state law, only state boards and commissions are required to report membership information to the Secretary of State’s Office.  However, appointing authorities for county boards sometimes report membership information to our office.  When this information is reported, it is recorded in our database and available on request.

The best way to find the requirements of positions for a particular board or commission is to read the applicable statute.  For each board in our searchable online database, we have provided a link to the statute that provides how many members are on a particular board and whether there are any qualifications for membership.

Generally, a person cannot serve on more than one board or commission at a time because the South Carolina Constitution prohibits dual office holding.  Article XVII, Section 1A of the South Carolina Constitution states that “no person may hold two offices of honor or profit at the same time.” There are, however, some exceptions to this rule, including members who serve ex officio, and positions on boards whose powers and duties are advisory in nature.  Questions regarding whether serving on more than one board or commission constitutes dual office holding should be directed to the appropriate appointing authority.

An ex officio member of a board is a person who serves by virtue of the position or office they hold rather than by being appointed by another official.  As a result, you may see that a board has a particular official who serves but no name is provided.  This is because ex officio members do not report to us as they are not appointed and automatically serve as provided by statute.  For example, on many university boards of trustees, the Governor serves ex officio.  This means that the current Governor is a member of that board of trustees for the duration of his or her term as Governor and ceases to be a member of the board at the end of his or her term as Governor.  Often the statute for a board allows for ex officio members to designate a person to serve in his or her place.  These designations should be treated as regular appointments, and notification of designations by ex officio members should be sent to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Please remember that the membership information on file with the Secretary of State’s Office is based on information provided by state boards and commissions pursuant to S.C. Code of Laws §1-1-1310.  Under this code section, state boards and commissions must send written notification to the Secretary of State’s Office regarding any appointment, election, resignation or vacancy within the board or commission.  This written notification should also include the following: