Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina

The lieutenant governor of South Carolina is the second-in-command to the governor of South Carolina. Beyond the responsibility to act or serve as governor in the event of the office's vacancy, the duties of the lieutenant governor are chiefly ceremonial. The current lieutenant governor is Pamela Evette, who took office January 9, 2019. History As an English/British colony, the Province of South Carolina had no lieutenant governors when it was governed under proprietary rule. The position of lieutenant governor was introduced when the colony became subject to royal governance. Under this system, the lieutenant governor's only duties were to act as the chief executive of the colony in the event of the royal governors' absence. For 25 of the 56 years in which South Carolina was administered under the British Crown, the lieutenant governor acted as its chief executive. The governor was always an appointed Englishman, whereas the lieutenant governor was always a resident of South Carolina. They served their own terms at the pleasure of the British Crown and received the same compensation. In 1776, South Carolina's Provincial Congress adopted a constitution for the colony to be abided by until an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained. The document prescribed the formation of a legislature, the South Carolina General Assembly, which elected a president and vice president from their own ranks. Two years later South Carolina, now a U.S. state, adopted another constitution which changed the positions of president and vice president to governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. Both offices remained filled by the choice of the legislature. In 1865, South Carolina adopted a new constitution which provided for both the governor and lieutenant governor to be popularly elected to serve concurrent four year terms. The document also made the lieutenant governor the president of the South Carolina Senate. The 1868 state constitution shortened the governor's and lieutenant governor's terms to two years but continued with the designation of the lieutenant governor as the presiding officer of the Senate. In 2012, the state constitution was amended, removing the lieutenant governor's ability to preside over the Senate and providing for them to be elected on a joint ticket with the governor.