SC Senate to start redistricting hearings in Columbia. Here’s your chance to give input

The South Carolina Senate’s special panel responsible for starting the redraw of the chamber’s 46 districts will kick off a round of 10 redistricting public hearings starting July 27 in Columbia.

The meetings will be held in person at locations across the state and stream online through the State House website. The subcommittee plans to take testimony in person but also written testimony at each hearing.

Each meeting will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The Senate’s goal is to complete their maps by October.

The point of the hearings is to take public testimony and hear concerns before the Senate starts to redraw their district lines — a practice done every 10 years when the House, Senate and congressional districts are redrawn based on new population data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The House, up for reelection in 2022, has not announced their public schedule yet.

South Carolinians who would like to join the Senate Judiciary Committee’s email list to hear about upcoming meetings can send their name, telephone number and email to redistricting@scsenate.gov.

To speak at a hearing, email redistricting@scsenate.gov, call 803-212-6634 or sign up in person.

Here’s the Senate Judiciary Committee’s public hearing schedule:

▪ Tuesday, July 27, Columbia

Room 105 of the Gressette Building, 1101 Pendleton St.

For these counties: Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Saluda, Richland, and Sumter

▪ Wednesday, July 2, Sumter

M401 Seminar Room at Central Carolina Technical College 506 N. Guignard Dr.

For these counties: Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee, Sumter and Williamsburg

▪ Thursday, July 29, Rock Hill

Baxter Hood Center at York Technical College, 452 S. Anderson Road

For these counties: Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Newberry, Union and York

▪ Monday, Aug. 2, Greenville

Greenville Technical College, Building 102, Barton Campus, 506 S. Pleasantburg Drive

For these counties: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union

▪ Tuesday, Aug. 3, Florence

Florence-Darlington Technical College, SiMT, 1951 Pisgah Road

For these counties: Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Sumter and Williamsburg

▪ Wednesday, Aug. 4, Beaufort

Auditorium in MacLean Hall at Technical College of the Lowcountry, 921 Ribaut Road

For these counties: Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper

▪ Monday, Aug. 9, Orangeburg

C-118 Auditorium at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, 3250 St. Matthews Road

For these counties: Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun and Orangeburg

▪ Tuesday, Aug. 10, North Charleston

College Center (Building 920 - Salon F&G) at Trident Technical College, 7000 Rivers Ave.

For these counties: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Orangeburg

▪ Wednesday, Aug. 11, Conway

Burroughs and Chapin Auditorium (Building 1100) at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, 2050 US-501

For these counties: Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg

▪ Thursday, Aug. 12, Graniteville

Aiken Technical College, 2276 Jefferson Davis Highway

For these counties: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Edgefield, Hampton, Lexington, McCormick, Orangeburg and Saluda

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 9:18 AM with the headline "SC Senate to start redistricting hearings in Columbia. Here’s your chance to give input."

Maayan Schechter

The State

Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is the senior editor of The State’s politics and government team. She has covered the S.C. State House and politics for The State since 2017. She grew up in Atlanta, Ga. and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013. She previously worked at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She has won reporting awards in South Carolina. Support my work with a digital subscription