COLUMBIA --- An investigation by a South Carolina newspaper shows a third of the state's magistrates are employed in a status that gives state senators the ability to fire them.
The State reported Sunday that 107 of the state's 314 magistrates, or 34 percent, are on what's called holdover status.
State law says a county's Senate delegation nominates magistrates, who are then appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Once magistrates are appointed to four-year terms, only the state Supreme Court can remove them.
But the law allows senators to keep magistrates on indefinitely after their four-year terms expire. That allows senators to fire magistrates whenever they wish.
Critics say that gives senators too much influence over the state's 314 magistrates, especially in cases where senators are also attorneys who work before the magistrates they nominate.
The magistrates' duties include handling minor criminal and civil cases, such as speeding tickets and criminal cases with a maximum sentence of 30 days.
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