Political analysis that starts with the document, not the talking point

Cornerstonepolitics explains how government actually works, from the S.C. State House to Horry County Council to Congress. We read the bill, the vote and the budget line first, then report what each side says it means.

State Government

Civic Ground · Lead story

Statute, ordinance, courtroom: who writes the DUI rules

S.C. Code of Laws, Title 56, Chapter 5

Who Actually Makes DUI Laws in South Carolina? State Law, Local Government and the Courts Explained

The statute comes from Columbia, but the traffic stop, the courtroom and the license hearing each belong to a different part of government.

By Nathaniel Brooks · September 24, 2026 · 6 min read

The short answer is the General Assembly. The longer answer involves the Home Rule Act, a line in Article VIII of the state constitution, summary courts and a separate DMV hearing track. Read the full explainer.

What's moving this week

SC lawmakers start new committee to tackle AI regulationsSouth Carolina Public Radio
Trump’s Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden ActionsFactCheck.org
Gov defends National Guard troops in DC as SC high court hears case against deploymentSouth Carolina Public Radio
GOP Ads Mislead on Public Option Proposals’ Impact on Rural HospitalsFactCheck.org
South Carolina keeps ‘first in the South’ slot on GOP 2028 presidential calendarSouth Carolina Public Radio
FactChecking RFK Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense KeynoteFactCheck.org

More fact-checks from FactCheck.org

How we read a record

Authority first
Which office can legally act? A council can't change a state crime, and a governor can't pass a budget alone.
Document second
We link the bill, minutes, filing or code section so you can check our reading against the source.
Claims, sorted
Testable facts, disputed interpretations and open questions get labeled as exactly that.
No endorsements
We don't rank officials, predict winners or tell anyone how to vote. Read our standards.

Political Analysis

Political claims, checked against the public record

Claims get tested against votes, filings and transcripts here. We name who said it, what the record shows and what's still unsettled. You won't find a verdict on anyone's character.

From the wire: FactCheck.org

Trump’s Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden ActionsFactCheck.org
GOP Ads Mislead on Public Option Proposals’ Impact on Rural HospitalsFactCheck.org
FactChecking RFK Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense KeynoteFactCheck.org

What a policy does after the press conference ends

A policy is more than its press release. This section tracks what a law or program does after it passes: who pays, who's covered and what the data shows a year later.

From the wire: FactCheck.org

Trump’s Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden ActionsFactCheck.org
GOP Ads Mislead on Public Option Proposals’ Impact on Rural HospitalsFactCheck.org
FactChecking RFK Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense KeynoteFactCheck.org

Federal power, explained through the documents

Congress, federal agencies and the federal courts, explained through the documents they publish. We focus on authority first: which office can act, and under what law.

From the wire: FactCheck.org

Trump’s Ban of News Organizations Goes Beyond Obama, Biden ActionsFactCheck.org
GOP Ads Mislead on Public Option Proposals’ Impact on Rural HospitalsFactCheck.org
FactChecking RFK Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense KeynoteFactCheck.org

How Columbia writes the rules South Carolina lives by

The General Assembly in Columbia writes most of the rules South Carolinians live under, from DUI penalties to school funding. We read the bills and the roll calls so the debate starts from the same page.

Latest: Who actually makes DUI laws in South Carolina?

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

SC lawmakers start new committee to tackle AI regulationsSouth Carolina Public Radio
Gov defends National Guard troops in DC as SC high court hears case against deploymentSouth Carolina Public Radio
South Carolina keeps ‘first in the South’ slot on GOP 2028 presidential calendarSouth Carolina Public Radio

County councils, city halls and the decisions closest to home

Horry County Council, Myrtle Beach, Conway and the smaller towns along the Grand Strand make decisions that show up on tax bills and road signs. We follow the agendas, minutes and budget ordinances.

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

SC lawmakers start new committee to tackle AI regulationsSouth Carolina Public Radio
Gov defends National Guard troops in DC as SC high court hears case against deploymentSouth Carolina Public Radio
South Carolina keeps ‘first in the South’ slot on GOP 2028 presidential calendarSouth Carolina Public Radio

South Carolina politics, from the State House to Horry County

Campaigns, ballot questions and statewide races, covered with the same rule as everything else. We report what candidates and officials said and did, and we don't tell you how to vote.

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

SC lawmakers start new committee to tackle AI regulationsSouth Carolina Public Radio
Gov defends National Guard troops in DC as SC high court hears case against deploymentSouth Carolina Public Radio
South Carolina keeps ‘first in the South’ slot on GOP 2028 presidential calendarSouth Carolina Public Radio

Reader questions about how we work

What should I know before getting into political analysis?

Start with who has authority over the question, then find the primary document: the bill, the vote, the budget line or the court filing. Separate what happened from what people say it means. And expect some questions to stay open, because the record doesn't always settle them.

How much does political analysis cost in United States, South Carolina, Horry County, Myrtle Beach, Conway, Grand Strand, Southeast United States, state and local government markets, national U.S. political audience?

Reading Cornerstonepolitics costs nothing, wherever you live. There's no paywall and no paid tier. Most of the records we cite, from S.C. Code sections to Horry County Council minutes, are free to read online too. We don't sell consulting, opposition research or campaign services.

Political analysis that starts with the document, not the talking point

Who Actually Makes DUI Laws in South Carolina? State Law, Local Government and the Courts Explained

What's moving this week

Authority first

Document second

Claims, sorted

No endorsements

Political claims, checked against the public record

From the wire: FactCheck.org

What a policy does after the press conference ends

From the wire: FactCheck.org

Federal power, explained through the documents

From the wire: FactCheck.org

How Columbia writes the rules South Carolina lives by

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

County councils, city halls and the decisions closest to home

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

South Carolina politics, from the State House to Horry County

From the wire: South Carolina Public Radio

Reader questions about how we work

Get the week's votes, agendas and checked claims in one email