The Supreme Court of South Carolina
Re: Amendments to South Carolina Rules of Magistrates Court
Appellate Case No. 2014-002183
ORDER
Pursuant to Article V, § 4 of the South Carolina Constitution, Rules 16 and 19 of the South Carolina Rules of Magistrates Court (SCRMC) are amended as set forth in the attachment to this order. These amendments shall be submitted to the General Assembly as provided in Article V, § 4A of the South Carolina Constitution.
s/Jean H. Toal C.J. s/Costa M. Pleicones J. s/Donald W. Beatty J. s/John W. Kittredge J. s/Kaye G. Hearn J. |
Columbia, South Carolina
January 29, 2015
Rule 16(b), SCRMC, is amended to provide as follows:
(b) If, at the close of all the evidence, a directed verdict is not granted, the court is deemed to have submitted the action to the jury subject to a later determination of the legal questions raised during the trial of the case if the case is being tried before a jury. If a jury verdict is returned, the court may allow the judgment to stand or may reopen the judgment and either order a new trial or direct the entry of judgment as if a directed verdict had been granted. A jury verdict is final if no motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict is filed with the court within ten (10) days of the rendering of the jury verdict and the court has not on its own motion ordered a new trial or directed a verdict notwithstanding the jury verdict. However, in cases involving landlords and tenants under Chapters 37 and 40, Title 27 of the South Carolina Code, a jury verdict is final if no motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict is filed with the court within five (5) days of the rendering of the jury verdict and the court has not on its own motion ordered a new trial or directed a verdict notwithstanding the jury verdict.
Rule 19(b), (c), and (d), SCRMC, are amended to provide as follows:
(b) The motion for a new trial shall be made in writing and filed with the court no later than ten (10) days after notice of the judgment. However, a motion for a new trial in cases involving landlords and tenants under Chapters 37 and 40, Title 27 of the South Carolina Code, must be filed within five (5) days after notice of the judgment. The court shall notify all opposing parties that the motion has been filed and shall provide those parties a copy of the motion in a manner provided for in Rule 8.
(c) Not later than ten (10) days after entry of judgment, the court, on its own initiative, may order a new trial for any reason for which it might have granted a new trial on motion of a party. However, the court may order a new trial under this paragraph not later than five (5) days after entry of judgment in cases involving landlords and tenants under Chapters 37 and 40, Title 27 of the South Carolina Code. After giving the parties notice and an opportunity to be heard on the matter, the court may grant a motion for a new trial, timely served, for a reason not stated in the motion. In either case, the court shall specify in the order the grounds for granting a new trial.
(d) A motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be filed no later than ten (10) days after notice of the judgment, except that in cases involving landlords and tenants under Chapters 37 and 40, Title 27 of the South Carolina Code, the motion shall be filed no later than five (5) days after notice of the judgment. The court shall notify all opposing parties that the motion has been filed and shall provide those parties a copy of the motion in a manner provided for in Rule 8.