S.C. Code § 14-23-1040
No person is eligible to hold the office of judge of probate who is not at the time of his election a citizen of the United States and of this State, has not attained the age of twenty-one years upon his election, has not become a qualified elector of the county in which he is to be a judge, and has not received a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited post-secondary institution or if he has received no degree he must have four years' experience as an employee in a probate judge's office in this State.
S.C. Code § 14-23-1040
NOTE: The provision of Section 14-23-1040 requiring a four-year college degree or four years' experience as an employee in a probate judge's office in the State in order to serve as a probate judge has not been precleared by the U.S. Department of Justice and cannot be put into effect. See Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.
1988 Act No. 678, Part II, Section 4, provides as follows:
Section 14-23-1040 of the 1976 Code does not apply to probate judges presently holding office upon January 1, 1989.