Aiken state rep looks to 'put teeth' in South Carolina Heritage Act

Dec. 23—A member of Aiken County's state legislative delegation wants to strengthen the South Carolina Heritage Act.

S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, introduced a bill Dec. 8 that would amend the law prohibiting the relocation of war memorials and the renaming of streets and bridges in South Carolina.

The Heritage Act was signed into law May 23, 2000 by Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges . It prohibits the relocation, removal, disturbing or alteration of memorials to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War (listed as the War Between the States), the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Native American or African American history. It also prohibits the renaming of streets, bridges, structures, parks, preserves, reserves or other public areas dedicated to a historic figure or event.

"This puts teeth into the Heritage Act," Taylor said

. "When a governmental agency — county, city, town — violates the Heritage Act, there needs to be some cost to them. The Heritage Act doesn't spell that out. It just says don't do it."

Taylor's bill does three things to strengthen the act.

First, it expands the act to include memorials to wars fought before the American Revolution and any war involving South Carolina residents. It adds installations and name plates to what can't be renamed. It expands the off-limits list to include areas named after public figures, people, a commemorated event, celebrated event, occurrence, commemoration, memorial and recognition.

Second, the bill requires state Treasurer Curtis Loftis to withhold all disbursements from the local government fund to any county or city that violates the act until the violation is corrected. It also establishes that an elected official who votes to remove an item covered by the act is guilty of misconduct in office.

And third, the bill allows a person "having an interest in caring for an item covered by the act" to sue the governmental entity violating the act to recover damages (including treble damages), the cost of restoration, attorney's fees and court costs. The definition of person is expanded to include an organization with a primary purpose to remember a particular event, time period or people.

"Local communities such as Charleston continue to violate the Heritage Act by removing monuments," Taylor said. "This legislation penalizes them with monetary damages by withholding funds that would be due to them from the Local Government Fund."

In June 2020, the Charleston City Council voted unanimously to remove a statue of John C. Calhoun — the only South Carolina resident to serve as vice president — after the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson wrote an opinion saying that the removal did not violate the Heritage Act because Calhoun didn't fall under one of the protected categories and the statue was located on private property.

A lawsuit challenging the removal was filed in November.

Also, last year, Charleston removed a marker dedicating a highway to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and placed it in storage. A lawsuit challenging this removal was dropped.

Taylor's bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee.