Jim Hodges v. John S. Rainey, Former Member and Chairman Of…

Summary

The court held that the Governor may remove a member of the South Carolina Public Service Authority's Board of Directors at discretion under the Restructuring Act. It concluded that the Act's general removal provision applies because the Board was not among the expressly excluded bodies, that the Act can coexist with the Authority's for-cause removal provision, and that the removal does not violate the Contracts Clauses. The court therefore declared the executive order removing Rainey effective. Justice Burnett, joined by Chief Justice Finney, concurred in Parts III and IV but would have held that the specific for-cause removal provision controlled and barred discretionary removal.