The S.C. Supreme Court has promulgated Rule 503 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR). This Rule provides for the creation of an Advisory Committee on Standards of Judicial Conduct.

The Committee will, upon written request, review and provide written opinions on the propriety of contemplated judicial and nonjudicial conduct. All opinions of the Committee will be advisory and will not bind the Board of Commissioners on Judicial Standards in any proceeding before it. However, the Rule does provide that such an opinion may be considered by the Board of Commissioners as evidence of good faith effort to comply with the Code of Judicial Conduct.

All requests for opinions must be in writing and signed by the requesting judge. All such requests however will remain confidential and the name of the requesting party will not be contained in the written opinion. All requests should be mailed to:

A. Camden Lewis, Esq., Chairman
Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct
P.O. Box 11208
Columbia, South Carolina 29211

A copy of Rule 503 is available upon request.