The Supreme Court of South Carolina

RE:  Magistrate Eligibility Examination

ORDER

By Order dated February 25, 2015, the Supreme Court provided that the Magistrate Eligibility Examination required by S.C. Ann. §22-2-5 (2007) shall consist of the Wonderlic Personnel Test and the Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test. The Order further provided that to successfully complete the eligibility examination and be considered for an initial appointment as a magistrate, an individual must achieve a minimum aggregate score of 68 on the two tests.

The Court has been apprised that the Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test is being transitioned into a different scoring format, requiring that the minimum aggregate score of 68 on the two tests be adjusted to correspond to the new scoring format of the test.

Therefore, pursuant to Article V, §4, South Carolina Constitution,

IT IS ORDERED that the Order of the Supreme Court dated February 25, 2015, regarding the Magistrate Eligibility Examination, is amended to provide that in order to successfully complete the Magistrate Eligibility Examination and be considered for an initial appointment as a magistrate, an individual must achieve a minimum aggregate point score of 40 on the combined Wonderlic Personnel Test and the revised Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any South Carolina Technical College that has been administering the Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test by paper, rather than electronically, may continue administering the original paper version of that test until their current supply has been depleted. Once the supply has been depleted, that Technical College must transition to the revised Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test. Any individual eligibility examination test-taker using the original paper version must achieve a minimum aggregate point score of 68 on the combined Wonderlic Personnel Test and the Watson-Glasser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test in order to seek an initial appointment as a magistrate.

The provisions of this Order are effective immediately and remain in effect until amended or revoked by Order of the Court.

January 2, 2017
Columbia, South Carolina