True or False: “The burden of proving that an ordinance is lawful rests with the municipality.”
Answer: False
South Carolina courts have ruled that a local ordinance is a legislative enactment and presumed constitutional. If an ordinance is challenged as invalid, there is a two-step judicial review process that the courts follow to make a determination on its validity. The burden of proving that a local ordinance is invalid rests with the party that is challenging the local ordinance.
The Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government offers in-person and online courses. Elected officials who complete all of the required coursework graduate from the institute and are eligible to participate in the Advanced Institute. The next in-person courses, held September 18, will be Municipal Economic Development and Forms of Municipal Government. The next Advanced MEO Institute sessions on October 24 will be Advanced Budgeting and Finance and Advanced Leadership and Governance.