State Sen. John Courson resigned from the South Carolina Legislature on Monday, June 4, after pleading guilty to willful misconduct and agreeing to cooperate with ongoing ethics investigations.

Courson, a former Senate president pro tempore who served 33 years in the state Legislature, was indicted last year on multiple corruption charges stemming from his conversion of campaign money for personal use.

A special election will be called to fill the District 20 seat.

South Carolina lawmakers will return to the State House this week to deal with unfinished legislative business after legislators extended the 2018 sine die adjournment date for the General Assembly.

Each house stands adjourned to meet in a two-day statewide session beginning May 23 and another two-day session on June 27.

Following the June session, the General Assembly will stand in recess subject to the call of the speaker and president pro tempore.

Unless otherwise adjourned sine die at an earlier date, the 2018 session will adjourn sine not later than November 11, 2018.

As the legislative session begins this week, South Carolina legislators are proposing several reforms to increase transparency.

An ongoing corruption probe has entered its fifth year, and six current or former lawmakers have been indicted thus far.

Rep. Gary Clary filed a bill that would require lawmakers to disclose any money they or their family members receive as part of an arrangement with an organization that lobbies state lawmakers.

Sens. William Timmons and Mike Fanning are sponsoring legislation that would grant the ethics commission direct access to campaign bank accounts, rather than lawmakers submitting reports on their political contributions and expenditures.

The session began on Tuesday, January 9.

A special election has been called for House District 69.

The vacancy is a result of South Carolina Rep. Rick Quinn Jr. pleading guilty to corruption charges.

The special election will be held on May 1.

The special primary will be held on February 27, with a special primary run-off election scheduled for March 13, if necessary.

State Rep. Jim Merrill resigned from the Legislature last week, just prior to appearing in court.

He has been suspended from office since December, when he was indicted on two counts of misconduct in office and 28 counts of violating state ethics laws. While many of the charges are misdemeanors, he could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Merrill is the second legislator to resign amid recent corruption charges. Former state House Speaker Bobby Harrell plead guilty in October 2014 to ethics-related charges and resigned.

Similar charges are currently pending against Rep. Rick Quinn and Sen. John Courson. Both remain suspended while awaiting trial.

There will be a special election held on September 26 to fill the seat for state House District 31.

Rep. Harold Mitchell recently vacated the seat after serving 13 years in the South Carolina Legislature. He was granted medical leave in April but decided to resign shortly thereafter for health reasons.

A primary election, if necessary, will be held July 25, with the possibility of runoffs on August 8.

South Carolina lawmakers scheduled a three-day special legislative session before adjourning the regular session on May 11. The special session is expected to begin today.

Because state law requires it, House Speaker Jay Lucas will gavel it in but then likely adjourn an empty chamber.

He encouraged House members not to return for the session because there is no budget compromise to consider. He plans to call House members back when the budget panel, consisting of members from both chambers of the Legislature, has taken the time to complete its work and reach an agreement.

The 46 members of the Senate are expected to be present for the special session, as Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman has not indicated anything to the contrary.

Steve Hamm, attorney and former director of the South Carolina Consumer Affairs Department is now the interim director of the State Ethics Commission.

He replaced Ami Franklin, who filled the role briefly following Herb Hayden’s retirement at the end of last year.

Hamm will continue to serve as interim director while the commission is restructured. It is expected he will also oversee an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws.

Franklin has returned to her post as assistant director.

Special elections will be held on June 20, 2017, to fill vacancies in South Carolina state House Districts 48 and 70, as well as in the state’s 5th congressional district.

District 70 was left vacant last week following the death of state Rep. Joseph Neal.

State Rep. Ralph Norman, representing District 48, resigned his seat last week to run for South Carolina’s 5th congressional district.

Former U.S. Rep Mick Mulvaney vacated his District 5 seat when he was confirmed as the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

State Rep. Ralph Norman resigned his seat last week to focus on his campaign for U.S. House. The move puts pressure on his colleague and current state House Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope to do the same.

The men are among a half-dozen GOP candidates running to replace former U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney. Mulvaney represented South Carolina’s congressional district until confirmed as the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Norman’s move will save the taxpayers thousands of dollars if the election to fill his seat is held on the same day as the district race.

Pope is not planning to resign his House seat in light of the congressional race.

Photo of former State Rep. Ralph Norman from the South Carolina Legislature website.

Filing opens today for candidates participating in the May 30 special election for South Carolina House District 84. At least two individuals have expressed interest in running for the seat. If a primary election is necessary, it will be held on April 11 with a runoff on April 25.

Former Rep. Chris Corley resigned from the seat in January to avoid being expelled following his indictment on felony domestic violence and weapons charges.

A bond hearing will be held this morning for suspended South Carolina state Rep. Jim Merrill. Merrill was indicted last week on two counts of misconduct in office and 28 counts of ethics violations.

The indictments span the course of his 15-year tenure in office. Merrill allegedly failed to report money received from lobbyists, used his office for financial gain, received payments through his company to influence a public official, and failed to file certain campaign finance reports. Though most of the charges are misdemeanors, three are felonies.

Merrill was suspended from office after the indictments were filed.

Yesterday, Gov. Pat McCrory formally requested a recount in his race for governor against Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Cooper has already declared victory, but with the race within 10,000 votes, McCrory is not conceding and there is no answer to when the race will officially end. This week, the head of the conservative group Civitas Institute filed a federal lawsuit to block the counting of votes cast using same-day registration on Election Day. McCrory has also filed challenges in many counties alleging voter fraud, claiming ballots were cast by dead people and felons.

South Carolina legislators sent two ethics bills to Gov. Nikki Haley yesterday.

One bill requires officeholders to report private sources of income. The other requires the State Ethics Commission to independently investigate complaints against lawmakers.

House and Senate ethics committees currently oversee campaign finance filings and handle complaints against their colleagues while the State Ethics Commission oversees all other public officials.