Title 16, Crimes and Offenses

It is unlawful for a person to (a) wilfully and maliciously set fire to or burn or cause to be burned, or (b) aid, counsel, or procure the burning of any: (1) barracks, cock, crib, rick or stack of hay, corn, wheat, oats, barley, or other grain or vegetable product of any kind; (…

It shall be unlawful for any person without prior written consent of the landowner or his agent to intentionally set fire to lands of another, or to intentionally cause or allow fire to spread to lands of another, whereby any woods, fields, fences or marshes of any other person a…

It shall be unlawful for any person to carry a lighted torch, chunk or coals of fire in or under any mill or wooden building or over and across any of the enclosed or unenclosed lands of another person at any time without the special permit of the owner of such lands, mill or woo…

It is unlawful for a person to wilfully and maliciously set fire to or burn any grass, brush, or other combustible matter, causing any woods, fields, fences, or marshes of another person to be set on fire or cause the burning or fire to spread to or to be transmitted to the lands…

Any person who carelessly or negligently sets fire to or burns any grass, brush, leaves, or other combustible matter on any lands so as to cause or allow fire to spread or to be transmitted to the lands or property of another, or to burn or injure the lands or property of another…

It is unlawful for a person to wilfully and maliciously attempt to set fire to, burn, or aid, counsel, or procure the burning of any of the buildings or property mentioned in Sections 16-11-110 to 16-11-140 or commit an act in furtherance of burning these buildings. A person who …

It is unlawful for a person to make or mend, cause to be made or mended, or have in his possession any engine, machine, tool, false key, picklock, bit, nippers, nitroglycerine, dynamite cap, coil or fuse, steel wedge, drill, tap-pin, or other implement or thing adapted, designed,…

The placing or distributing of any inflammable, explosive or combustible materials or substance or any device in any building or property mentioned in Sections 16-11-110 to 16-11-140 in an arrangement or preparation with intent eventually wilfully and maliciously to set fire to o…

(A) As used in this section: (1) "Master key" means a key which unlocks more than one locking device. (2) "Nonowner key sets" means a set of keys designed to open locking devices in a group of products, machines, or vehicles of a particular manufacturer, which differ in configura…

For purposes of Sections 16-11-311 through 16-11-313: (1) "Building" means any structure, vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft: (a) Where any person lodges or lives; or (b) Where people assemble for purposes of business, government, education, religion, entertainment, public transpor…

(A) A person is guilty of burglary in the first degree if the person enters a dwelling without consent and with intent to commit a crime in the dwelling, and either: (1) when, in effecting entry or while in the dwelling or in immediate flight, he or another participant in the cri…

(A) A person is guilty of burglary in the second degree if the person enters a dwelling without consent and with intent to commit a crime therein. (B) A person is guilty of burglary in the second degree if the person enters a building without consent and with intent to commit a c…

(A) A person is guilty of burglary in the third degree if the person enters a building without consent and with intent to commit a crime therein. (B) Burglary in the third degree is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years for conviction on a first offense…

The common law offense of robbery is a felony. Upon conviction, a person must be imprisoned not more than fifteen years.

(A) A person who commits robbery while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon, or while alleging, either by action or words, he was armed while using a representation of a deadly weapon or any object which a person present during the c…

The South Carolina Department of Revenue, with funds already appropriated to the department, shall print and distribute to each business establishment in this State, to which has been issued a retail sales tax license, a cardboard placard not less than eight inches by eleven inch…

The cardboard placard described in Section 16-11-340 also shall be provided to operators of motor vehicles being used for the transportation of passengers for hire by the Department of Revenue. The size of the placard for this purpose shall be approximately two and one-half inche…

Any person or persons who (a) may stop, cause to be stopped, impede or cause to be impeded any locomotive engine or any car on any railroad in this State by force or threats or by intimidation of those in charge thereof or otherwise for the purpose of taking therefrom or causing …

Any and all persons who may hereafter enter upon any locomotive engine or car on any railroad in this State and by threats, the exhibition of deadly weapons or the discharge of any pistol or gun on or near any such engine or car induce or compel any person on such engine or car t…

A person who, while armed with a pistol, dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon, robs or attempts the robbery of a person engaged in the performance of his duties as an operator of a motor vehicle being used for the transportation of passengers for hire is…

(A) It is unlawful for a person to enter a building or part of a building occupied as a bank, depository, or building and loan association with intent to steal money, securities for money, or property, either by force, intimidation, or threats. (B) It is unlawful for a person to …

It is unlawful for a person to use explosives, tools, or any other implement in or about a safe used for keeping money or other valuables with intent to commit larceny or any other crime. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon convict…

This article may be cited as the "Protection of Persons and Property Act".

(A) It is the intent of the General Assembly to codify the common law Castle Doctrine which recognizes that a person's home is his castle and to extend the doctrine to include an occupied vehicle and the person's place of business. (B) The General Assembly finds that it is proper…

As used in this article, the term: (1) "Dwelling" means a building or conveyance of any kind, including an attached porch, whether the building or conveyance is temporary or permanent, mobile or immobile, which has a roof over it, including a tent, and is designed to be occupied …

(A) A person is presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to himself or another person when using deadly force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury to another person if the person: (1) against whom the deadly …

(A) A person who uses deadly force as permitted by the provisions of this article or another applicable provision of law is justified in using deadly force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of deadly force, unless the person against whom deadly …

(A) It is unlawful for a person to wilfully and maliciously cut, shoot, maim, wound, or otherwise injure or destroy any horse, mule, cattle, hog, sheep, goat, or any other kind, class, article, or description of personal property, or the goods and chattels of another. (B) A perso…

(A) It is unlawful for a person to wilfully and maliciously cut, mutilate, deface, or otherwise injure a tree, house, outside fence, or fixture of another or commit any other trespass upon real property of another. (B) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilt…

(A) For purposes of this section, "nonferrous metals" means metals not containing significant quantities of iron or steel, including, but not limited to, copper wire, copper clad steel wire, copper pipe, copper bars, copper sheeting, aluminum other than aluminum cans, a product t…

For the sole purpose of determining whether or not any public housing authority property has been maliciously injured as the offense of malicious mischief is defined in Section 16-11-520, and as to whether or not there has been a trespass upon the property as this offense is defi…

For the purpose of determining whether or not any school property has been maliciously injured as the offense of malicious mischief is defined in Section 16-11-520 and as to whether or not there has been a trespass upon such property as this offense is defined in Section 16-11-60…

Whoever shall wilfully, unlawfully, and maliciously vandalize, deface, damage, or destroy or attempt to vandalize, deface, damage, or destroy any place, structure, or building of worship or aid, agree with, employ, or conspire with any person to do or cause to be done any of the …

It is unlawful for a person to maliciously, unlawfully, and wilfully burn or cause to be burned, cut or cause to be cut, or destroyed any untenanted or unfinished house or building or any frame of timber of another person made and prepared for or towards the making of a house, so…

It is unlawful for a tenant to wilfully and maliciously cut, deface, mutilate, burn, destroy, or otherwise injure a dwelling house, outhouse, erection, building, or crops in his possession. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon …

(A) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly and wilfully: (1) cut, destroy, or remove forest products without the consent of the landowner; (2) aid, hire, or counsel another person to cut, destroy, or remove forest products without the consent of the landowner; (3) obtain or acq…

It shall be unlawful for any person to cut, collect, break or otherwise destroy sea oat plants, Venus's-flytrap plants or any part on public property or on private property without the owner's consent. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misde…

(A) Every entry upon the lands of another, after notice from the owner or tenant has been posted or given prohibiting such entry, is a misdemeanor and must be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment not more than thirty days. (B) The owner or te…

Any person entering upon the lands of another for the purpose of hunting, fishing, trapping, netting; for gathering fruit, wild flowers, cultivated flowers, shrubbery, straw, turf, vegetables or herbs; or for cutting timber on such land, without the consent of the owner or manage…

In all criminal prosecutions for violation of the provisions of Sections 16-11-520, 16-11-580, and 16-11-610, relating to cutting or destroying timber, the defendant may plead the payment of not to exceed exactly three times the fair market value of the timber as determined by a …

It is unlawful for a person to enter on the land of another for the purpose of cultivating or attempting to cultivate marijuana. The provisions of this section are cumulative to other provisions of law. To constitute a violation of this section, a minimum of twenty-five marijuana…

Any person who, without legal cause or good excuse, enters into the dwelling house, place of business, or on the premises of another person after having been warned not to do so or any person who, having entered into the dwelling house, place of business, or on the premises of an…

(A)(1) A person who enters a public library, without legal cause or good excuse, after having been warned not to do so by the library director, the branch manager, or the acting branch manager of the library in consultation with the library director is guilty of a misdemeanor and…

Any person who, during those hours of the day or night when the premises owned or occupied by a state, county or municipal agency are regularly closed to the public, shall refuse or fail, without justifiable cause, to leave those premises upon being requested to do so by a law en…

It shall be unlawful for any person not an occupant, owner or invitee to enter any private property enclosed by walls or fences with closed gates between the hours of six P.M. and six A.M. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any justifiable emergency entry or to pre…

(A) A person, other than the owner or a person acting under the authority of the owner, who wilfully and knowingly removes, destroys, or leaves down any portion of a fence in this State intended to enclose animals of any kind or crops or uncultivated lands or who wilfully and kno…