RULE 268
CITATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA AUTHORITY
To provide guidance on citing South Carolina authority, the following forms of citation are given. Once cited in the form given, the authority may thereafter be cited in an abbreviated form. Additional guidance on citation of authority may be found in A Uniform System of Citation published by the Harvard Law Review Association, A Guide to South Carolina Legal Research and Citation published by the S.C. Bar C.L.E. Division, or other publications.
(a) South Carolina Constitution. The South Carolina Constitution should be cited in the following manner: S.C. Const. art. IV, § 4.
(b) Statutes and Regulations.
(1) Statutes which appear in a hardbound volume of the Code of Laws of South Carolina should be cited in the following form: S.C. Code Ann. § 1-2-345 (1976). Where the statute appears in a replacement hardbound volume, the citation should include the date appearing on the spine of the volume or the copyright date of the volume in the following form: S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-1210 (1986). Statutes which appear in the supplement to the Code of Laws of South Carolina should be cited in the following form: S.C. Code Ann. § 6-7-890 (Supp. 1988).
(2) Statutes which have not yet been codified should be cited by the number of the Act, and the year and page number where it appears in the South Carolina Acts and Joint Resolutions in the following form: Act No. 100, 1985 S.C. Acts 277.
(3) Regulations which appear in the Code of Regulations of South Carolina should be cited in the following manner: S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 19-501 (2011). Regulations which appear in the supplement to the Code of Regulations of South Carolina should be cited in the following manner: S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 61-4.102 (Supp. 2016). The date used in the citation shall be the latest copyright date of the volume or supplement.
(c) Court Rules. Court rules should be cited by the rule number and the abbreviations shown:
(1) South Carolina Appellate Court Rules: Rule ___, SCACR.
(a) Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule ___, RPC, Rule 407, SCACR.
(b) Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement: Rule ___, RLDE, Rule 413 SCACR.
(c) Code of Judicial Conduct: Rule ___, CJC, Rule 501, SCACR.
(d) Rules for Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement: Rule ___, RJDE, Rule 502, SCACR.
(2) South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure: Rule ___, SCRCP.
(3) South Carolina Rules of Criminal Procedure: Rule ___, SCRCrimP.
(4) South Carolina Rules of Family Court: Rule ___, SCRFC.
(5) South Carolina Rules of Probate Court: Rule ___, SCRPC.
(6) South Carolina Rules of Magistrates Court: Rule ___, SCRMC.
(7) South Carolina Rules of Evidence: Rule ___, SCRE.
(8) South Carolina Court-Annexed Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules: Rule ___, SCADR.
(9) Rules of Procedure for the Administrative Law Court: SCALC Rule ____.
(d) Appellate Court Decisions.
(1) Published opinions or orders of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals should be cited in the following manner: State v. Williams, 297 S.C. 404, 377 S.E.2d 309 (1989); Andrews v. Piedmont Air Lines, 297 S.C. 367, 377 S.E.2d 127 (Ct. App. 1989). If a published opinion does not appear in a reporter, it should be cited in the following manner: Donahue v. Donahue, Op. No. 23083 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed Sept. 25, 1989); Satcher v. Berry, Op. No. 1383 (S.C. Ct. App. filed July 31, 1989). Further, if the opinion has been published in the Advance Sheets published by the Supreme Court, the opinion should be cited in the following manner: State v. Victor, Op. No. 23118 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed Dec. 11, 1989) (Davis Adv. Sh. No. 29 at 5). If a published order does not appear in a reporter, it should be cited by its order number: State v. Smith, 89-OR-25 (S.C. Ct. App. dated March 1, 1989), or by reference to the date of the order if no order number has been assigned: State v. Smith, S.C. Sup. Ct. Order dated March 1, 1989. Further, if the order has been published on the front of the Advance Sheets the order should be cited in the following manner: State v. Foster, S.C. Sup. Ct. Order dated June 9, 1989 (Davis Adv. Sh. No. 14).
(2) Memorandum opinions and unpublished orders have no precedential value and should not be cited except in proceedings in which they are directly involved. Memorandum opinions may be cited in the following form: Burns v. Burns, Op. No. 89-MO-110 (S.C. Ct. App. filed July 31, 1989). Unpublished orders may be cited in a similar manner as provided for published orders under Rule 268(d)(1).
(3) The South Carolina Equity Reports, beginning with 1 Desaussure Equity and ending with 14 Richardson Equity should be cited in the following manner: Taylor v. Taylor, 4 S.C.Eq. (4 Des. Eq.) 165 (1811). The following table of cross references is provided:
| Reporter | Citation to be Used |
| 1 Desaussure..................................................... | 1 S.C. Eq. (1 Des. Eq.) |
| 2 Desaussure..................................................... | 2 S.C. Eq. (2 Des. Eq.) |
| 3 Desaussure..................................................... | 3 S.C. Eq. (3 Des. Eq.) |
| 4 Desaussure..................................................... | 4 S.C. Eq. (4 Des. Eq.) |
| Harper................................................................ | 5 S.C. Eq. (Harp. Eq.) |
| 1 McCord............................................................ | 6 S.C. Eq. (1 McCord Eq.) |
| 2 McCord............................................................ | 7 S.C. Eq. (2 McCord Eq.) |
| Bailey.................................................................. | 8 S.C. Eq. (Bail. Eq.) |
| Richardson's Cases........................................... | 9 S.C. Eq. (Rich. Cas.) |
| 1 Hill.................................................................... | 10 S.C. Eq. (1 Hill Eq.) |
| 2 Hill.................................................................... | 11 S.C. Eq. (2 Hill Eq.) |
| Riley.................................................................... | 12 S.C. Eq. (Ril. Eq.) |
| Dudley................................................................. | 13 S.C. Eq. (Dud. Eq.) |
| Rice..................................................................... | 14 S.C. Eq. (Rice Eq.) |
| Cheves................................................................ | 15 S.C. Eq. (Chev. Eq.) |
| McMullen............................................................. | 16 S.C. Eq. (McMul. Eq.) |
| Speers................................................................. | 17 S.C. Eq. (Speers Eq.) |
| 1 Richardson...................................................... | 18 S.C. Eq. (1 Rich. Eq.) |
| 2 Richardson...................................................... | 19 S.C. Eq. (2 Rich. Eq.) |
| 1 Strobhart......................................................... | 20 S.C. Eq. (1 Strob. Eq.) |
| 2 Strobhart......................................................... | 21 S.C. Eq. (2 Strob. Eq.) |
| 3 Strobhart......................................................... | 22 S.C. Eq. (3 Strob. Eq.) |
| 4 Strobhart......................................................... | 23 S.C.Eq. (4 Strob.Eq.) |
| 3 Richardson..................................................... | 24 S.C.Eq. (3 Rich.Eq.) |
| 4 Richardson..................................................... | 25 S.C.Eq. (4 Rich.Eq.) |
| 5 Richardson..................................................... | 26 S.C.Eq. (5 Rich.Eq.) |
| 6 Richardson..................................................... | 27 S.C.Eq. (6 Rich.Eq.) |
| 7 Richardson..................................................... | 28 S.C.Eq. (7 Rich.Eq.) |
| 8 Richardson..................................................... | 29 S.C.Eq. (8 Rich.Eq.) |
| 9 Richardson..................................................... | 30 S.C.Eq. (9 Rich.Eq.) |
| 10 Richardson................................................... | 31 S.C.Eq. (10 Rich.Eq.) |
| 11 Richardson................................................... | 32 S.C.Eq. (11 Rich.Eq.) |
| 12 Richardson................................................... | 33 S.C.Eq. (12 Rich.Eq.) |
| 13 Richardson................................................... | 34 S.C.Eq. (13 Rich.Eq.) |
| 14 Richardson................................................... | 35 S.C.Eq. (14 Rich.Eq.) |
(4) The South Carolina Law Reports beginning with 1 Bay and ending with 15 Richardson should be cited in the following manner: Roche v. Chaplin, 17 S.C.L. (1 Bail.) 419 (1830). The following table of cross references is provided:
| Reporter | Citation to be Used |
| 1 Bay................................................................. | 1 S.C.L. (1 Bay) |
| 2 Bay................................................................. | 2 S.C.L. (2 Bay) |
| 1 Brevard........................................................... | 3 S.C.L. (1 Brev.) |
| 2 Brevard........................................................... | 4 S.C.L. (2 Brev.) |
| 3 Brevard........................................................... | 5 S.C.L. (3 Brev.) |
| 1 Treadway........................................................ | 6 S.C.L. (1 Tread.) |
| 2 Treadway........................................................ | 7 S.C.L. (2 Tread.) |
| 1 Mill (Constitutional)........................................ | 8 S.C.L. (1 Mill) |
| 2 Mill (Constitutional)........................................ | 9 S.C.L. (2 Mill) |
| 1 Nott and McCord........................................... | 10 S.C.L. (1 Nott & McC.) |
| 2 Nott and McCord........................................... | 11 S.C.L. (2 Nott & McC.) |
| 1 McCord........................................................... | 12 S.C.L. (1 McCord) |
| 2 McCord........................................................... | 13 S.C.L. (2 McCord) |
| 3 McCord........................................................... | 14 S.C.L. (3 McCord) |
| 4 McCord........................................................... | 15 S.C.L. (4 McCord) |
| Harper................................................................. | 16 S.C.L. (Harp.) |
| 1 Bailey.............................................................. | 17 S.C.L. (1 Bail.) |
| 2 Bailey.............................................................. | 18 S.C.L. (2 Bail.) |
| 1 Hill................................................................... | 19 S.C.L. (1 Hill) |
| 2 Hill................................................................... | 20 S.C.L. (2 Hill) |
| 3 Hill................................................................... | 21 S.C.L. (3 Hill) |
| Riley ................................................................... | 22 S.C.L. (Ril.) |
| Dudley................................................................. | 23 S.C.L. (Dud.) |
| Rice..................................................................... | 24 S.C.L. (Rice) |
| Cheves............................................................... | 25 S.C.L. (Chev.) |
| 1 McMullen........................................................ | 26 S.C.L. (1 McMul.) |
| 2 McMullen........................................................ | 27 S.C.L. (2 McMul.) |
| 1 Speers............................................................ | 28 S.C.L. (1 Speers) |
| 2 Speers............................................................ | 29 S.C.L. (2 Speers) |
| 1 Richardson..................................................... | 30 S.C.L. (1 Rich.) |
| 2 Richardson..................................................... | 31 S.C.L. (2 Rich.) |
| 1 Strobhart........................................................ | 32 S.C.L. (1 Strob.) |
| 2 Strobhart........................................................ | 33 S.C.L. (2 Strob.) |
| 3 Strobhart........................................................ | 34 S.C.L. (3 Strob.) |
| 4 Strobhart........................................................ | 35 S.C.L. (4 Strob.) |
| 5 Strobhart........................................................ | 36 S.C.L. (5 Strob.) |
| 3 Richardson..................................................... | 37 S.C.L. (3 Rich.) |
| 4 Richardson..................................................... | 38 S.C.L. (4 Rich.) |
| 5 Richardson..................................................... | 39 S.C.L. (5 Rich.) |
| 6 Richardson..................................................... | 40 S.C.L. (6 Rich.) |
| 7 Richardson..................................................... | 41 S.C.L. (7 Rich.) |
| 8 Richardson..................................................... | 42 S.C.L. (8 Rich.) |
| 9 Richardson..................................................... | 43 S.C.L. (9 Rich.) |
| 10 Richardson................................................... | 44 S.C.L. (10 Rich.) |
| 11 Richardson................................................... | 45 S.C.L. (11 Rich.) |
| 12 Richardson................................................... | 46 S.C.L. (12 Rich.) |
| 13 Richardson................................................... | 47 S.C.L. (13 Rich.) |
| 14 Richardson................................................... | 48 S.C.L. (14 Rich.) |
| 15 Richardson................................................... | 49 S.C.L. (15 Rich.) |
Last amended by Order dated September 20, 2017.