A shake-up on the Beaufort County Council after one member became a magistrate and another moved out of his district could be cleared up with a stroke of the governor's pen.

County Council Chairman Weston Newton has asked the governor's office to appoint him as Bluffton's representative after Peter Lamb's resignation from the council this month, but the governor hasn't made a decision.

Even though he moved to Bluffton in June, Newton has been representing the Hilton Head Island district he was elected to and had planned to stay in the role unless Gov. Mark Sanford made an interim appointment in advance of the November elections.

Newton was first elected to the council in 2000 and has served as council chairman since 2003.

The governor had made no move to replace Newton, but Lamb's exit to become a magistrate provides the chance for Newton to take the Bluffton seat early. He is running unopposed for the seat in November.

"It creates a vacancy," Newton said of Lamb's resignation. "I think it is appropriate to appoint me to that seat now."

A likely short-term replacement for Newton's Hilton Head seat would be former school board member Stu Rodman, who is running unopposed for the Hilton Head seat in November and resigned from the school board this month so voters could pick a replacement to finish his four-year term on election day.

Sanford has not decided whether he will fill the County Council seat representing Bluffton or wait until the November elections, spokesman Joel Sawyer said Wednesday.

Newton said a 2003 Attorney General opinion suggests he should be allowed to remain in his seat representing Hilton Head until he's replaced.

The similar McCormick County question cited a 1985 opinion that a council member who relocates outside of the district is no longer qualified to serve, but "while the individual in question has vacated his seat by his permanent change of residence, he would continue to serve on council until his successor has been elected and qualified."