At the next ensuing general election after a majority of the electors in any county shall have voted for the establishment of a county court, and every four years thereafter, the qualified electors in such county shall elect a resident attorney at law thereof as county judge. Such county judge shall be the presiding judge of the county court and shall hold his office for four years and until his successor has been elected and has qualified. The county judge, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take the same oath of office as that required by law of circuit judges and shall be commissioned in the same manner as circuit judges.
S.C. Code § 14-9-50