1. (A) There is established the South Carolina Conservation Bank. The bank is governed by a seventeen-member board selected as follows:

   1. (1) the Chairman of the Board for the Department of Natural Resources, the Chairman of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, or their designees, all of whom shall serve ex officio and without voting privileges;
   2. (2) three members appointed by the Governor from the State at large;
   3. (3) four members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one each from the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Congressional Districts and one member from the State at large; and
   4. (4) four members appointed by the President of the Senate, one each from the First, Second, Fifth, and Seventh Congressional Districts.

2. (B)

   1. (1) In making their respective appointments to the board, the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and President of the Senate shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the members of the board reflect the state's racial and gender diversity.
   2. (2) Each member of the board must possess experience in the areas of natural resources, land development, forestry, farming, finance, land conservation, real estate, or law.
3. (C) Terms of board members are for four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify, except that the initial terms of each appointing official's appointees must be staggered with the initial term noted on the appointment. Regardless of the date of appointment, all terms expire on July first of the applicable year. Vacancies must be filled in the manner of original appointments for the unexpired portion of the term. Members shall serve without compensation, but may receive the mileage, subsistence, and per diem allowed by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions. The board shall elect a chairman and other officers as necessary from its membership.

4. (D) Board members must recuse themselves from any vote in which they have a conflict of interest including, but not limited to, any vote affecting or providing funding for the acquisition of interests in land:

   1. (1) on land owned or controlled by the board member, the board member's immediate family, or an entity the board member represents, works for, or in which the member has a voting or ownership interest;
   2. (2) on land contiguous to land described in item (1) of this subsection; and

   3. (3) by an eligible trust fund recipient that the board member represents, works for, or in which the member has a voting or ownership interest.

      The provisions of this subsection are cumulative to and not in lieu of provisions of law or applicable rule relating to the ethics of public officers.

5. (E) The board shall meet at least quarterly in regularly scheduled meetings and in special meetings as the chairman may call. The bank is a public body and its records and meetings are public records and public meetings for purposes of Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act. All meetings shall be open to the public and allow for public input.
6. (F) Board members shall have no personal liability for any actions or refusals to act in their official capacity as long as such actions or refusals to act do not involve wilful or intentional malfeasance or recklessness.

HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 200, Section 1; 2012 Act No. 279, Section 20, eff June 26, 2012; 2018 Act No. 224 (H.4727), Section 2, eff July 1, 2018; 2019 Act No. 1 (S.2), Section 59, eff January 31, 2019; 2024 Act No. 117 (H.3951), Section 1, eff March 11, 2024.

Editor's Note

2012 Act No. 279, Section 33, provides as follows:

"Due to the congressional redistricting, any person elected or appointed to serve, or serving, as a member of any board, commission, or committee to represent a congressional district, whose residency is transferred to another district by a change in the composition of the district, may serve, or continue to serve, the term of office for which he was elected or appointed; however, the appointing or electing authority shall appoint or elect an additional member on that board, commission, or committee from the district which loses a resident member as a result of the transfer to serve until the term of the transferred member expires. When a vacancy occurs in the district to which a member has been transferred, the vacancy must not be filled until the full term of the transferred member expires. Further, the inability to hold an election or to make an appointment due to judicial review of the congressional districts does not constitute a vacancy."

2018 Act No. 224, Section 7, provides as follows:

"SECTION 7. (A) Effective July 1, 2018, the South Carolina Conservation Bank Board must be made up of members elected pursuant to the provisions of Section 48-59-40, as amended by this act. The members serving on the board immediately prior to July 1, 2018, only may serve on the commission until their successor has been appointed or the member is reappointed pursuant to Section 48-59-40, as amended by this act. The initial appointments to the board must be staggered so that one of the members appointed by the Governor, the member from the Third Congressional District and the member appointed from the State at large appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the members from the First and Fifth Congressional Districts appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate must be appointed to an initial term of two years. The Governor must clearly specify which of his appointments are for two-year terms. The remaining initial appointments and all subsequent appointments must be for four-year terms pursuant to Section 48-59-40.

"(B) To ensure an efficient transition, upon approval by the Governor, the appointing officials may begin appointing members whose terms will take effect on July 1, 2018."

Effect of Amendment

The 2012 amendment in subsection (A), substituted "fourteen-member" for "twelve-member"; in item (3), substituted "four" for "three" and added "and one member from the State at large"; in item (4), substituted "four" for "three" and added ", and seventh"; and made other nonsubstantive changes.

2018 Act No. 224, Section 2, inserted (B), relating to racial and gender diversity on the board; redesignated (B) to (E) as (C) to (F); and in (E), in the first sentence, substituted "quarterly" for "twice annually", and in the second sentence, substituted "Chapter 4, Title 30" for "Chapter 4 of Title 30".

2019 Act No. 1, Section 59, in (A)(4), substituted "President of the Senate" for "President Pro Tempore of the Senate".

2024 Act No. 117, Section 1, in (A), in the second sentence, substituted "seventeen-member board" for "fourteen-member board", and in (1), inserted "the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation," and "or their designees"; and in (B), in (1), substituted "President of the Senate" for "President Pro Tempore of the Senate", and in (2), inserted "farming,".