2021 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 11 - Public Finance
Chapter 48 - Tobacco Qualified Escrow Fund Enforcement
Section 11-48-40. Nonresident nonparticipating manufacturer not registered to do business in State; appointment of agent for service of process.
(A) A nonresident or foreign nonparticipating manufacturer that has not registered to do business in the State as a foreign corporation or business entity, as a condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory, shall appoint and continually engage without interruption the services of an agent in this State to act as agent for the service of process on whom all process and action or proceeding against it concerning or arising out of the enforcement of Chapter 47 of this title, may be served in a manner authorized by law. That service is legal and valid service of process on the nonparticipating manufacturer. The nonparticipating manufacturer shall provide the name, address, phone number, and proof of the appointment and availability of the agent to, and to the satisfaction of the Attorney General.
(B) The nonparticipating manufacturer shall provide notice to the Attorney General thirty calendar days before termination of the authority of an agent and proof to the satisfaction of the Attorney General of the appointment of a new agent no fewer than five calendar days before the termination of an existing agent appointment. If an agent terminates an agency appointment, the nonparticipating manufacturer shall notify the Attorney General of the termination within five calendar days and shall include proof to the satisfaction of the Attorney General of the appointment of a new agent.
(C) A nonparticipating manufacturer whose cigarettes are sold in this State without appointing or designating an agent as required by this section is deemed to have appointed the Secretary of State as the agent and may be proceeded against in courts of this State by service of process upon the Secretary of State; except that, appointment of the Secretary of State as the agent does not satisfy the condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory.
HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 61, Section 1.A.
