Bill could alleviate court backlog

By Cindy Landrum  

MARCH 2, 2010 10:30 a.m. (0)

A proposal to create hearing officers to handle uncontested divorces and other matters in Family Court comes at the same time when the state’s judicial system is hemorrhaging because of state budget cuts.

A bill introduced in the state Senate would allow lawyers with at least 10 years experience in family court matters or retired judges to hear uncontested divorces as well as conduct motion hearings and make recommendations to family court judges in some other cases.

The bill is designed to reduce the state’s growing family court docket by allowing the hearing officers to deal with the more routine cases and allow the state’s family court judges to concentrate on the most serious cases.

There are about 44,000 cases pending in family court statewide.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal has told lawmakers South Carolina’s courts have had their funding cut more than any other state in the nation and its judges carry the highest caseload.

There have been no circuit or family court judges added since 1997, she said.

The national average is 1,761 filings per judge and 3.74 judges per 100,000 citizens, Toal said. South Carolina has 1.1 judges per 100,000 citizens and an average number of 4,374 filings per judge.

Toal said she’s already reduced judges’ travel and has family court judges sharing administrative staff.

She said if her budget is further reduced, she could have to consider limiting terms of court, laying off law clerks, reducing the number of court reporters and not filling upcoming judicial vacancies.

“We can’t continue to operate like this,” she said.

South Carolina family court judges handle juvenile criminal cases, divorces, termination of parental rights cases, emergency custody hearings and adoptions.

Hearing officers would have the same authority as a family court judge in cases assigned to him, according to the bill.

If a hearing officer is a retired judge, he could find people in contempt of court and issue bench warrants for failure to appear.

Hearing officers would be required to receive a minimum of six hours of continuing legal education on family court issues each year.

The bill has been assigned to the state Senate’s judiciary subcommittee.

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