South Carolina Ordinances (2026)

South Carolina regulates the movement and disease inspection of honey bees under Title 46, Chapter 37, administered by Clemson's Department of Plant Industry. Bees brought into the…

South Carolina regulates dangerous dogs at the state level under Title 47, Chapter 3. The state does not impose breed-specific bans, leaving most breed restrictions to local…

South Carolina is a closed-range "fence-in" state. Section 47-7-110 makes it unlawful for the owner of any domestic animal to willfully or negligently let it run at large beyond his…

South Carolina bans private possession of large wild cats, non-native bears, and great apes under the 2017 Large Wild Cats, Non-native Bears and Great Apes Act (Title 47, Chapter 2)…

South Carolina has no standalone hoarding statute; hoarding is prosecuted under the general ill-treatment law, Section 47-1-40, which criminalizes depriving an animal of necessary…

South Carolina bans intentionally feeding black bears statewide under S.C. Code § 50-11-440 and restricts deer baiting by region under Department of Natural Resources rules. These…

South Carolina regulates vape and e-cigarette retail through its tobacco and alternative-nicotine laws in Title 16, Chapter 17. Retailers may not sell to anyone under 21 under federal…

South Carolina state law prohibits cultivation, possession, and use of marijuana for any purpose, including medical and personal home grow. Cities cannot legalize home cultivation…

South Carolina state law restricts recreational drone use over correctional facilities and prohibits drone harassment of hunters and anglers. Federal FAA rules govern airspace, but…

South Carolina preempts local governments from setting minimum wage rates above the federal floor under Section 6-1-130 of the state code.

South Carolina has no statewide paid sick-leave or paid family-leave mandate, and no city has adopted one. Section 6-1-130 preempts only local minimum-wage rules, so no statute…

South Carolina's Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act gives SCDES (formerly DHEC's OCRM) exclusive permit authority over critical areas in the eight coastal counties. State critical-area…

South Carolina's Sediment Reduction Act sets statewide minimum erosion and sediment-control standards for construction sites. SCDES (formerly DHEC) enforces uniform technical…

South Carolina bars altering or building in any coastal critical area, beaches, the beach/dune system, tidelands, and coastal waters, without a permit from the Department of…

South Carolina's Stormwater Management and Sediment Reduction Act sets statewide minimum standards for land-disturbing activities. SCDES (formerly DHEC) implements the program, with…

South Carolina is a closed-range, fence-in state. Under S.C. Code Section 47-7-110 the livestock owner, not the adjoining neighbor, must confine animals; letting them run at large is a…

South Carolina permits year-round sale and use of consumer fireworks to buyers 16 and older. Licensing sits with the State Board of Pyrotechnic Safety under Title 40, Chapter 56…

South Carolina law requires anyone burning yard debris outdoors to notify the SC Forestry Commission before ignition. Burning trash, building materials, or debris during a state burn…

South Carolina regulates LP-gas (propane) storage, transport, and installation under Title 40 Chapter 82. The LP-Gas Board licenses dealers and enforces NFPA 58 standards uniformly…

The South Carolina Forestry Commission has statewide authority to declare wildfire emergencies, issue burn bans, and suppress forest fires. Title 48 designates protected forestland and…

South Carolina allows concealed carry under permit and, since 2024, lawful permitless carry by eligible adults aged 18 or older.

South Carolina law preempts local governments from regulating firearms, ammunition, components, and related accessories beyond what state law expressly authorizes.

South Carolina permits open carry of handguns by eligible adults under the 2021 Open Carry With Training Act and the 2024 permitless carry law.

South Carolina allows lawful adults to carry a loaded handgun in a private vehicle without a permit under the 2024 constitutional carry expansion of Section 23-31-215.

Every food truck in South Carolina is a mobile food establishment that must hold a valid permit under Regulation 61-25 before serving the public. Each unit runs from an approved…

South Carolina outlaws lotteries and raffles unless conducted under one of three authorized programs: the state Education Lottery, Charitable Bingo (S.C. Code § 12-21-3910 et seq.), or…

South Carolina's 1802 gaming law, Section 16-19-40, makes it a crime to play cards or dice for money in a private home, kitchen, or barn -- there is no exception for a friendly poker…

South Carolina bans sports betting outright. S.C. Code § 16-19-130 makes it a crime to bet at a race track, sell pools, run a bookmaking operation, or record wagers on the outcome of…

South Carolina's Homeowners Association Act imposes only one meeting rule and one records rule. Section 27-30-140 requires at least forty-eight hours' notice before the meeting at…

South Carolina protects exactly one flag. S.C. Code Section 27-1-60 overrides any restrictive covenant, declaration, rule, contract, lease or homeowners' association document that…

South Carolina sets no dollar cap on homeowners association fines and requires no notice, hearing or cure period before one is imposed. The Homeowners Association Act, S.C. Code…

South Carolina gives condominium associations a statutory assessment lien but denies it any priority over a mortgage. S.C. Code Section 27-31-210(a) makes unpaid common-expense…

South Carolina places no statutory limit on how far a homeowners association may restrict leasing. There is no grandfathering clause for owners already renting, no cap percentage, no…

South Carolina calls its cottage food law the Home-based Food Production Law, and it is one of the least paperwork-heavy in the country. S.C. Code Section 44-1-143 lets an individual…

South Carolina requires family childcare homes serving more than a limited number of unrelated children to register or be licensed by DSS. State law establishes uniform health, safety…

South Carolina has never created a microenterprise home kitchen permit, so there is no route for selling meals cooked to order out of your own house to the general public. Regulation…

No section of the South Carolina Code authorizes, defines, or regulates a DUI checkpoint. The words checkpoint and roadblock appear in exactly three sections of the whole code, and…

South Carolina has no statute granting a right to film police and no buffer-zone offense keeping bystanders back from an arrest. What protects you instead is the state wiretap chapter…

South Carolina has never enacted a general stop-and-identify statute. A pedestrian stopped on a Columbia sidewalk or outside a Charleston bar commits no offense by declining to give a…

South Carolina has not legalized cannabis, so it has none of the possession-is-not-probable-cause language other states built their vehicle-search pages on. What it has instead is a…

South Carolina's Drought Response Act establishes a statewide framework for declaring drought stages and implementing mandatory water-use restrictions through DNR and local water…

To drive a golf cart on a South Carolina public highway the owner must obtain a permit decal and registration certificate from the Department of Motor Vehicles, showing proof of…

South Carolina caps no towing charge. There is no statutory or regulatory ceiling on a hookup fee, mileage rate or daily storage rate, and no statewide drop fee for returning to your…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-710, a landlord may terminate for nonpayment if rent stays unpaid for 5 days after it is due and the landlord gives written notice. For other material lease…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-440, landlords must comply with building and housing codes, keep the premises fit and habitable, and maintain electrical, plumbing, heating, and other systems…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-530, a landlord must give the tenant at least 24 hours' notice before entering the unit and may enter only at reasonable times, except in an emergency. The…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-770, either the landlord or tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by giving the other at least 30 days' written notice before the termination date. A…

South Carolina law preempts local rent control. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 27-39-60, no county or municipal corporation may enact or enforce any ordinance regulating the rent charged for…

South Carolina sets no statutory cap on a residential security deposit. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-410, when a tenancy ends the landlord must refund the deposit, less any accrued…

Under S.C. Code § 15-67-210, occupation of land is presumed subordinate to the legal owner unless the property has been "held and possessed adversely" for 10 years before an action is…

South Carolina law limits how local zoning can restrict bona fide agricultural operations and farm-related activities on land used for farming.

South Carolina protects established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits when surrounding land uses change under the Right to Farm Act.

South Carolina imposes a statewide 7% sales and accommodations tax on short-term rentals of fewer than 90 continuous days. Hosts must register with SCDOR, collect the tax from guests…

South Carolina Code Section 57-25-10 makes it unlawful to place any sign, including a campaign or political sign, within a state highway right-of-way where it is visible from the…

South Carolina regulates public and semi-public swimming pools under Regulation 61-51, now administered by SCDES (formerly DHEC), applying uniform safety, sanitation, and operator…

South Carolina requires building permits for swimming pools under the statewide adoption of the International Residential Code. The Building Codes Council mandates uniform standards…

Federal Tobacco 21 law bars selling tobacco, vapor, or alternative nicotine products to anyone under 21, and this applies in South Carolina. South Carolina's own statute (§ 16-17-500)…

South Carolina has not enacted a statewide ban on flavored tobacco or vapor products, and local flavor bans face preemption challenges under state tobacco law.

The South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act (Title 44 Chapter 96) bans certain materials from landfills statewide and sets a 40% recycling goal. Lead-acid batteries, used…

South Carolina permits extra lamps only from a closed list with fixed counts and mounting heights: one spot lamp, two fog lamps, one auxiliary passing lamp and one auxiliary driving…

South Carolina never wrote a windshield allowance. Section 56-5-5000 simply forbids driving with any sign, poster or other nontransparent material on the front windshield, sidewings or…

Lane splitting is expressly illegal in South Carolina. S.C. Code Section 56-5-3640(c) states that no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic, or between adjacent…

A tinted licence plate cover is illegal in South Carolina by name. S.C. Code Section 56-3-1240(D) forbids displaying any other licence plate, lighting equipment, tag, sign, monogram…

A radar or laser detector is lawful in a private passenger vehicle in South Carolina. The phrase radar detector appears nowhere in the S.C. Code of Laws, and the word radar itself…

South Carolina has no studded tire season. S.C. Code Section 56-5-5040 makes it permissible to use regular and snow tires with studs on any vehicle for increased safety at any time of…

South Carolina sets one figure and applies it almost everywhere. Under S.C. Code Section 56-5-5015(C) and (D)(2), after-market film on the front side wings, the side windows beside and…