Lowcountry residents likely didn’t notice, but Jasper County, South Carolina recently grew a bit, while neighboring Beaufort County shrank. On February 7, Governor Henry McMaster signed S.C. Act 130, effective immediately, to adjust the boundary lines between the two Counties as agreed between them. In all, Jasper County has annexed 22.34 acres from Beaufort County and Beaufort County has annexed 5.95 acres from Jasper County along the existing County lines near U.S. 278 and S.C. 170. The movement is part of the South Carolina Boundary Program, a review of boundary lines between counties throughout South Carolina due to advances in surveying technology, also including the Aiken/Edgefield/Saluda, Berkeley/Dorchester, Charleston/Dorchester, Cherokee/Spartanburg, Cherokee/York, Florence/Williamsburg borders. A map showing all of the current projects can be found here.
The legislature found that there were “no inhabitants” of the annexed territory. As such, no election is needed for annexation as would otherwise be required pursuant to Article VII, § 7 of the South Carolina Constitution or S.C. Code § 4-5-120, et seq. See Op. Atty. Gen., 90‑67 (November 21, 1990).