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Rule 79 – Calendar of Civil Actions; File Book

May 14, 2021 | Civil Procedure, South Carolina

(a) File Book. The clerk of court shall consolidate the calendars of civil actions in the circuit court and provide for the filing and keeping of papers with respect to civil actions in the manner provided in this rule. The clerk of court for each county shall keep a Calendar, hereinafter referred to as “File Book,” relating to civil actions in the circuit court in which there shall be entered and cross-indexed all proceedings of a civil nature which are instituted in the circuit civil court for the county or are appealed to that court from a magistrate’s court, municipal court, other inferior court, or any administrative agency for which provision is made for an appeal to the circuit court. The clerk of court shall maintain only one file book for the circuit civil court as required by this rule.
(b)

(1) Civil Action Number. When a summons and complaint or notice of intention to appeal to the circuit court are filed, the action or appeal shall receive a number in keeping with the numbering system approved by the Supreme Court by order dated March 11, 1974, as now or hereafter amended, and thereafter all papers filed in the proceeding shall be similarly numbered and kept together in a file bearing the same number.
(2) Notice of Jury Matters. The plaintiff at the time of filing the complaint in any proceeding shall inform the clerk of court of the nature of the issue and shall designate whether the case shall be tried non-jury or by a jury.
(c) Entry Required. No jury or nonjury action and no appeal to the circuit civil court from a magistrate’s court, municipal court, other inferior court, or any administrative agency, whether for interlocutory action or final disposition, shall be heard by the court until the action has been first entered in the file book and all pleadings in the action filed with the clerk of court.
(d) Entries on File Book. Entries may be made on the file book only by a judge of the court or by the clerk of court or his deputy.
(e) Motion Calendar. In addition to the file book, each clerk of court shall maintain a motion calendar in such form as prescribed by the Office of South Carolina Court Administration. The clerk of court shall place on the motion calendar all pending motions and other matters requiring a summary hearing before the judge. The 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) Notice or Order of Dismissal. No action listed in the file book which thereafter is settled or disposed of in any manner, shall be dismissed, marked ended, or stricken from the 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; or
(2) counsel in the action shall have prepared and filed an order signed by the appropriate judge, or the clerk of court pursuant to the provisions of Section 15-35-30, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, 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 bring the file book forward from time to time as may be necessary.

(g) Failure to Comply. Failure to comply with the requirements of this rule shall subject the party 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.

S.c. R. Civ. P. 79

This Rule 79 together with Rule 40 preserves generally present Circuit Court Rule 26, as amended through 1981 by the Supreme Court except that references to roster meetings to be called by the clerk of court are eliminated. Rule numbers and paragraph numbers are changed to conform to the numbering system of these Rules, and the word “action” is substituted for the word “case” to conform to Rule 2. Note to 1986 Amendment: These amendments [to Rules 79(b)(2) and (e) ] on responsibilities for notifying the clerk of the type of trial requested, and the placing of all summary matters on the motion calendar are designed to improve the administration of the dockets. Editor’s Note: Section 15-35-30, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, was repealed by Act No. 100 of 1985. See Rule 41(a) for provisions on voluntary dismissal, however.