Rule 77. Courts and Clerks

• Library: South Carolina Rules Annotated (SCBar) (2020 Ed.)

RULE 77. COURTS AND CLERKS

(a) Courts Always Open.

The courts of this State shall be deemed always open for the purpose of filing any pleading or other proper paper, or issuing and returning mesne and final process, and of making and directing all interlocutory motions, orders and rules.

(b) Trials and Hearings; Orders in Chambers.

All trials upon the merits shall be conducted in open court and so far as convenient in a regular courtroom. All other acts or proceedings may be done or conducted by a judge in chambers, without the attendance of the clerk or other court officials and at any place either within or without the circuit, but no hearing, other than one ex parte or one upon motions subsequent to trial, shall be conducted outside the circuit without the consent of all parties affected thereby.

(c) Clerk's Office and Orders by Clerk.

The clerk's office with the clerk or a deputy in attendance shall be open during business hours on all days except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. All motions and applications in the clerk's office for issuing mesne process, for issuing final process to enforce and execute judgments, for entering defaults, and for other proceedings which...