(a) File Book. (1) Domestic Relations Actions in Family Court. The clerk of court shall provide for the filing and keeping of papers with respect to domestic relations actions in the manner provided in this rule. The clerk of court for each county shall keep a File Book, relating to domestic relations actions in the family court, in which there shall be entered and cross-indexed all proceedings of a domestic relations nature which are instituted in the family court for the county. The clerk of court shall maintain only one file book for domestic relations actions in the family court as required by this rule. (2) Juvenile Actions in Family Court. The clerk of court shall provide for the filing and keeping of papers with respect to juvenile actions in the manner provided in this rule. The clerk of court for each county shall keep a File Book, relating to juvenile actions in the family court, in which there shall be entered and cross-indexed all proceedings of a juvenile action nature which are instituted in the family court for the county. The clerk of court shall maintain only one file book for juvenile actions in the family court as required by this rule. (b) File Number. When a summons and complaint or juvenile petition are filed, the action shall receive a number in keeping with such case numbering system as the Office of South Carolina Court Administration shall develop, and thereafter all papers filed in the proceeding shall be similarly numbered and kept together in a file bearing the same number. (c) Entry Required. No domestic relations or juvenile actions, whether for interlocutory action or final disposition, shall be heard by the court until the action has been first entered in the appropriate file book and all pleadings in the action filed with the clerk of court. (d) Entries on File Books. Entries may be made on the file books only by a judge of the court or by the clerk of court or his deputy. (e) Motion Calendar. In addition to the file books, each clerk of court shall maintain a family court motion calendar in such form as prescribed by the Office of South Carolina Court Administration. Attorneys shall advise the clerk of court to note on the motion calendar all requests for appearance on preliminary motions and other matters requiring a summary hearing before a family court judge. The family court motion calendar shall contain the case number, date of request, name of the action, attorneys involved and the nature of the motion to be presented. (f) Order of Dismissal. No action listed in a file book which thereafter is settled or disposed of in any manner shall be dismissed, marked ended, or stricken from a file book unless and until:
(1) plaintiff shall file and serve a notice of dismissal or stipulation of dismissal pursuant to the provisions of Rule 41(a), SCRCP; or (2) counsel in the action shall have prepared and filed an order signed by the appropriate judge and bearing the written consent of all interested parties to the action showing that it has been ended; or, (3) dismissal is ordered by the court.
The clerk of court shall keep the file books current from time to time as may be necessary.
(g) Failure to Comply. Failure to comply with the requirements of this rule shall subject the person so failing to penalties as for contempt of court; which contempt shall be enforced by the court on motion of any aggrieved party or by the court on its own motion.
