Judicial Merit Selection Commission names candidates

The South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission recently released a list of candidates for judgeships.

Public hearings to discuss the qualifications of candidates will take place Nov. 13, beginning at 9 a.m.

Anyone wishing to testify at the hearings should provide written, notarized statements describing their testimony. This is in accordance with the Procedural Rules of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission.

All statements should be sent, in writing, to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission at:

Erin B. Crawford, Chief Counsel; 104 Gressette Building; P.O. Box 142; Columbia, SC 29202.

All statements must be received by 12 p.m. Oct. 29.

A witness affidavit form can be submitted upon request from the Commission.

All statements must be submitted under oath. Anyone who gives false information is subject to penalty.

Bar members should have received an electronic survey of judicial candidates in the past week.

All respondents should know that the survey is conducted by an out of state company and that all identifying information is scrubbed before being sent to the commission.

The following is a list of candidates for judicial positions:

Court of Appeals:

Seat 1: Blake Hewitt, of Conway; Judge Michael Hold, of Hartsville; Judge Alison Lee, of Columbia; and Judge Jerry Vinson Jr., of Florence

Seat 3: Judge John Geathers, of Ridgeway

Seat 4: Judge Paula Thomas, of Pawleys Island

Circuit Court:

5th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, of Columbia

7th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Joseph Cole, of Spartanburg

9th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Deadra Jefferson, of Charleston

9th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Elizabeth Bailey, of Charleston; Meredith Coker, of Charleston; Judge Michèle Forsythe, of Charleston; Judge W. Stephen Harris Jr., of Johns Island; Judge Ittriss Jenkins, of Charleston; Judge Bentley Price, of Charleston; Judge Dale Van Slambrook, of Goose Creek; Laura Waring, of Charleston; John Williams II, of Moncks Corner

10th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Rivers McIntosh, of Williamston

At-Large, Seat 2: Ryan Griffin, of Sumter; Jenny Horne, of Summerville; Kyliene L. Keesley, of West Columbia; Jason Luck, of Charleston; John (Jack) Riordan, of Greenville; Gregory Voigt, of Summerville

At-Large, Seat 14: Judge R. Keith Kelly, of Spartanburg

At-Large, Seat 15: Judge Maite Murphy, of North Charleston

At-Large, Seat 16: Judge Donald Hocker, of Laurens

Family Court:

1st Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Anne Jones, of Orangeburg

2nd Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Angela Abstance, of Barnwell

3rd Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Angela Taylor, of Sumter

3rd Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: Judge Gordon Jenkinson, of Kingstree

4th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Salley McIntyre, of Dillon

5th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Michelle M. Hurley, of Columbia,  

5th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: Judge Michael Scott Rankin, of Camden; Carrie Tanner, of Elgin

6th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Coreen Khoury, of Lancaster

7th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Phillip Sinclair, of Spartanburg,

7th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Jonathan Lounsberry, of Spartanburg; William Rhodes, of Spartanburg; Michael Thigpen, of Roebuck

8th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Matthew Turner, of Laurens

8th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: Judge Joseph Smithdeal, of Greenwood

9th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2; Judge Alice Richter, of Mount Pleasant

9th Judicial Circuit, Seat 4: Judge Wayne Creech, of Pinopolis

10th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Edgar Long Jr., of Anderson

10th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: David Brousseau, of Anderson; Rame Campbell, of Anderson; Floy Kenyon, of Anderson

11th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Huntley Crouch, of Lexington

11th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: Judge Robert Newton, of Lexington

12th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Timothy Pogue, of Marion

12th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge FitzLee McEachin, of Florence

13th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Rochelle Conits, of Greer

13th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge W. Marsh Robertson, of Greenville

13th Judicial Circuit, Seat 6: Allison Dunham, of Taylors; Rosemerry Felder-Commander, of Pelzer; Kimaka (Kim) Nichols-Graham, of Greenville; Judge Jessica Salvini, of Greenville

14th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Gerald Smoak Jr., of Walterboro

14th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge Douglas Novak, of Bluffton; John Scoville, of Beaufort

14th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3: Judge Deborah Malphrus, of Ridgeland

15th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1: Judge Jan Holmes, of Georgetown

16th Judicial Circuit, Seat 2: Judge David Guyton, of Rock Hill

At-Large, Seat 1: David Collins Jr., of Landrum; Judge Pope-Black, of Campobello

At-Large, Seat 2: Judge Tony Jones, of Rock Hill

At-Large, Seat 3: Judge James McGee III, of Florence

At-Large, Seat 4: Judge Monet Pincus, of Columbia

At-Large, Seat 5: Judge Randall McGee, of St. Matthews

At-Large, Seat 6: Judge David Phillips, of Easley

Administrative Law Court:

Seat 1: Judge Ralph (Tripp) Anderson III, of Columbia; Thomas Smith, of Columbia

SC Master-in-Equity:

Abbeville County: Roy Hemphill, of Greenwood

Aiken County: Judge Maurice Griffith, of Aiken

Georgetown County: Judge Joe Crosby, of Pawleys Island

Kershaw County: Judge Jeffrey Tzerman, of Lugoff

Lee County: Judge Stephen Doby, of Bishopville

Lexington County: Judge James Spence, of Lexington

Sumter County: Michael Jordan, of Sumter; A. Paul Weissenstein Jr., of Sumter