50 Years of Home Rule: Local Voice. Lasting Impact.
The Home Rule Act was signed on June 25, 1975, marking the beginning of modern county government in South Carolina. Over the past five decades, the Palmetto State’s 46 county governments have advanced to serve their communities with critical services protecting and improving quality of life.
We are excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary with a multi-media look at the past, present and future of county government.
Timeline
Timeline | Explore the evolution of county government in South Carolina beginning in the Colonial days and see the significant impact the Home Rule Act of 1975 made on counties today.
Audio
Listen to first-hand accounts from South Carolina trailblazers who were key players in the Home Rule Act of 1975.
The Hon. Jean Hoefer Toal, retired chief justice for the South Carolina Supreme Court, talks about the period before home rule, senate supply bills and the push for government modernization.
The Hon. Richard W. Riley, former South Carolina governor and United States Secretary of Education, discusses his time in the South Carolina Senate as a “young turk” arguing for home rule.
Russell B. “Bo” Shetterly, the first South Carolina Association of Counties executive director, explains the beginning of SCAC, which formed to advocate for home rule.
Toal, who served as a South Carolina House member and was on the conference committee that negotiated the Home Rule Act of 1975, recalls the legislative debates and compromises that led to the act.
Shetterly discusses the SCAC Board’s leadership in getting the Home Rule Act of 1975 successfully passed.
Riley reflects on implementation of the Home Rule Act.
Articles
How County Government Has Changed Since the Reform Era of the Mid-1970's (County Focus article from 2005 by Francis Marion University President Luther F. "Fred" Carter)