Rule 65.Injunctions; Mandamus, habeas corpus, and other remedial writs

Rule 65 is South Carolina's playbook for urgent civil relief: the temporary restraining order that stops harm before it happens, the temporary injunction that follows it, and — unusually for a state injunction rule — the writs of mandamus, habeas corpus, and other remedial writs that compel official action or challenge unlawful custody. It is the rule to look to for a TRO, a preliminary injunction, or a restraining order in South Carolina civil practice.

A temporary injunction, under subsection (a), always requires notice to the adverse party — there is no version of that remedy granted without notice. A temporary restraining order is different: subsection (b) lets a court issue one without notice, but only when specific facts shown by affidavit or a verified complaint establish that immediate and irreparable injury will occur before notice can be served and a hearing held. An ex parte TRO must carry the date and hour of issuance, be filed and entered of record at once, be served with the summons and complaint under Rule 4, describe the injury and explain both why it is irreparable and why notice was skipped, and expire within a period the court fixes that cannot exceed 10 days — extendable for one more like period for good cause shown, or for longer if the restrained party consents, with the reasons for any extension entered of record. Once a TRO issues without notice, the motion for a temporary injunction must be set for hearing at the earliest possible time, ahead of everything except older matters of the same kind; if the party who obtained the TRO does not pursue that injunction, the court dissolves the order. The restrained party can force an early test of the TRO by giving two days' notice — or less, if the court allows — of a motion to dissolve or modify it.

Subsection (c) requires security before any restraining order or temporary injunction issues, in an amount the court sets to cover costs and damages if the order turns out to have been wrongfully granted — except that security is discretionary rather than mandatory in divorce, child custody, and non-support cases, and the State never has to post it. A surety on such a bond submits to the court's jurisdiction and appoints the clerk of court as agent for service of papers affecting the surety's liability, which can be enforced on motion without a separate lawsuit.

Subsection (d) demands precision in the order itself: it must state the reasons for issuing it, use specific terms, describe the restrained act in reasonable detail without pointing back to the complaint, and it binds only the parties, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, plus anyone else acting in concert with them who has actual notice of the order. Subsection (e) adds a firm limit: a TRO alone can never suspend a person's or business's general and ordinary operations — only an injunction issued after notice can reach that far.

Subsection (f) is what sets Rule 65 apart from most states' injunction rules: it folds in mandamus, habeas corpus, and other remedial writs. Those, too, require notice of the motion served with the summons and complaint under Rules 4 and 5, supported by affidavit or a verified complaint laying out the facts entitling the movant to the writ, with the hearing held on whatever notice the court prescribes and resolved as expeditiously as the ends of justice require. A claim for damages or other relief can be joined with the writ claim, and the prevailing party on the motion recovers costs — including attorney's fees where proper — under existing South Carolina practice.