South Carolina law requires that municipal councils meet at least once in every month, under SC Code Section 5-7-250(A).
Additionally, the SC Freedom of Information Act, under SC Code Section 30-4-80(A), requires each municipality to provide written public notice at the beginning of each calendar year of the dates, times, and places of its regular meetings.
Taken together, these provisions establish both an obligation to adopt a regular meeting calendar and a duty to ensure that the council convenes no less often than once each month.
Some municipalities schedule two regular meetings each month. Many municipalities schedule only one regular meeting per month, which can create a risk of noncompliance if the meeting is canceled for lack of a quorum, severe weather or other unusual circumstances. In such cases, the most prudent approach in light of the monthly meeting requirement is to formally cancel the regular meeting and to schedule a special meeting within the same calendar month. South Carolina law authorizes either the mayor or a majority of council to call a special meeting.
State law does not set direct consequences or penalties if a council fails to meet in a given month. The principal legal risk is that a resident might seek declaratory or injunctive relief to compel compliance. More practically, the failure to meet may result in delayed consideration of ordinances, contracts or other matters requiring timely action, and may also affect public confidence in the council’s adherence to its statutory duties.
The monthly meeting requirement is a clear statutory obligation. Municipal councils should therefore adopt calendars that provide sufficient opportunities to meet each month, and should use the statutory authority to call special meetings when a regular meeting must be canceled.