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2026 Op. S.C. Att'y Gen. 1 (2026)

handle is hein.sag/sagsc0168 and id is 1 raw text is: 4 _ t '5 ALAN WILSON ATTORNEY GENERAL January 6, 2026 Kevin Bronson, Chair Oconee Joint Regional Sewer Authority 623 Return Church Road Seneca, SC 29678 Dear Chairman Bronson: Attorney General Alan Wilson referred your letter to the Opinions section for a response. You ask whether an individual can simultaneously serve as the Executive Director of the Oconee Joint Regional Sewer Authority (OJRSA) and a member of the Planning Commission for the City of Clemson. You advise that the Commissioners of the OJRSA believe that a person may permissibly hold both positions at the same time because the position of Executive Director of the OJRSA does not constitute an office for dual office holding purposes. Specifically, you note the Executive Director does not swear an oath of office and serves at the pleasure of the OJRSA's governing body by contract. As discussed below, it is the opinion of this office that a person would not violate the South Carolina Constitution's prohibition against dual office holding by simultaneously serving as both the Executive Director of the OJRSA and a member of the City of Clemson's Planning Commission. Law/Analysis Article VI, Section 3 of the South Carolina Constitution prohibits any person from simultaneously holding two offices of honor or profit. The limitation does not apply to notaries, militia officers, constables, constitutional delegates, or members of lawfully and regularly organized fire departments. S.C. Const. art. VI, § 3. One who is charged by law with duties involving an exercise of some part of the sovereign power, either small or great, in the performance of which the public is concerned, and which are continuing, and not occasional or intermittent, is a public officer. Sanders v. Belue, 78 S.C. 171, 174, 58 S.E. 762, 763 (1907). A position is considered an office for purposes of dual office holding when 'the power of appointment comes from the state, the authority is derived from the law, and the duties are exercised for the benefit of the public.' Seoars-Andrews v. Jud. Merit Selection Comm'n, 387 S.C. 109, 124, 691 S.E. 2d 453, 461 (2010) (quoting Willis v. Aiken Counts, 203 S.C. 96, 103, 26 S.E.2d 313, 316 (1943). When determining whether a position is an office under our constitution, relevant considerations iERTC. DI:NIS BUILD ING, POSTOFFICE DEOX I149 a COLumB1A, Sc'292i1-1ij rELEPIN'3 80-734-397 80