Title 14, Courts

In indictments and penal actions for the recovery of sum of money or other thing forfeited, it is not a cause of challenge to a juror that he is liable to pay taxes in any county, city, or town which may be benefited by recovery.

In the trial of all actions at law in the courts of common pleas and issues ordered to be framed by the judge in equity cases in the courts, the clerk in the manner provided by Section 14-7-1060 shall furnish the parties or their attorneys with a list of twenty jurors from the wh…

If a computer is not used for the drawing of jurors pursuant to the provisions of Section 14-7-140, the clerk shall write or cause the names of the jurors in attendance to be written, each on a separate paper or ballot which must be white and plain, which must resemble each other…

When the list is prepared by the clerk and presented to the parties or their attorneys, objection for cause must be made before striking, and if the objection is sustained, the clerk shall fill up the list before it is stricken. If, after the jury has been struck as provided, it …

Should the jury charged with any case be delayed in rendering its verdict so that it could not be present to be drawn from in making the list to form a second jury, then the clerk shall present to the parties or their attorneys a list containing the names of twenty jurors to be d…

In all cases of default when it may be necessary to have the verdict of a jury or in the trial of cases when the parties or their attorneys shall waive the right to strike a jury, the clerk shall, under the direction of the judge, draw and impanel a jury who shall pass upon those…

The clerk of the court of common pleas of each county in this State shall perform the duties provided in this article for the summoning of jurors.

In impaneling juries in criminal cases, the jurors must be called, sworn, and impaneled anew for the trial of each case, according to the established practice.

Any person who is arraigned for the crime of murder, manslaughter, burglary, arson, criminal sexual conduct, armed robbery, grand larceny, or breach of trust when it is punishable as for grand larceny, perjury, or forgery is entitled to peremptory challenges not exceeding ten, an…

In criminal cases the prosecution is entitled to one and the defendant to two peremptory challenges for each alternate juror called under the provisions of Section 14-7-320 and in civil cases, each party shall have one strike for each alternate juror.

Any juror in any court of this State may make solemn and conscientious affirmation and declaration, according to the form of his religious belief or profession, as to any matter or thing whereof an oath is required and this affirmation and declaration must be held as valid and ef…

No irregularity in any writ of venire facias or in the drawing, summoning, returning, or impaneling of jurors is sufficient to set aside the verdict, unless the party making the objection was injured by the irregularity or unless the objection is made before the returning of the …

If there is a vacancy in the office of the clerk of court of common pleas, county auditor, or county treasurer at the time fixed for preparing the jury list or for drawing a jury or if any of these officers are disqualified or unable to serve for any reason, the county judge of p…

In September of each year, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall furnish the State Election Commission an electronic file of the name, address, date of birth, social security number, sex, and race of persons who are over the age of eighteen years and citizens of the United State…

The foreman of each jury, after the jury has been empanelled, may be appointed by the court or the jury may retire and choose its foreman.

The jury in any case may, at the request of either party, be taken to view the place or premises in question or any property, matter or thing relating to the controversy between the parties when it appears to the court that such view is necessary to a just decision, if the party …

When a jury, after due and thorough deliberation upon any cause, returns into court without having agreed upon a verdict, the court may state anew the evidence or any part of it and explain to it anew the law applicable to the case and may send it out for further deliberation. Bu…

Such alternate jurors shall sit near the jury panel charged with the case, shall have the same opportunities for seeing and hearing the proceedings in the case, and shall take the same oath as the jurors already sworn and shall attend at all times the trial of the cause in compan…

All jurors summoned to serve at any term of the courts of general sessions or common pleas may be held beyond the period for which they were summoned until all cases in both of such courts to be tried by jury are disposed of or until another jury shall have been empanelled to try…

If either party in a case in which a verdict is returned during the same term of the court, before the trial, gives to any of the jurors who try the cause anything by way of treat or gratuity the court may, on the motion of the adverse party, set aside the verdict and award a new…

Jurors serving in the circuit courts of this State shall, in addition to mileage at the rate of five cents per mile going to and returning from court, receive a per diem in the several counties of this State, as follows: (1) In the counties of Anderson, Calhoun, Clarendon, Dillon…

Whenever any circuit judge shall order food to be furnished by the sheriff to any jury charged with the consideration of a case, the expenses connected therewith shall be paid by the governing body of the county in which such case is being tried, upon presentation of the bill of …

If a person duly drawn and summoned to attend as a juror in any court neglects to attend, without sufficient excuse, he shall pay a civil penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars which must be imposed by the court to which the juror was summoned and paid into the county treasury…

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, the clerk of court or deputy clerk of court of a county, when drawing and summoning jurors for the court of common pleas, general sessions, or the grand jury, may utilize a computer for this purpose at the discretion of the governin…

The jury box of a county shall contain the same number of capsules or containers as there are names on the jury list prepared by the jury commissioners from the latest official list furnished to the county by the State Election Commission each year and provided to the clerk of co…

(A) During the last term of the court of general sessions held in each county for any year, the clerk of court shall randomly draw from the twelve members serving their first year on the grand jury the names of six of the grand jurors who, together with twelve grand jurors select…

Not less than fifteen days before the convening of the first term of the court of general sessions for the calendar year, the jury commissioners shall proceed to draw from the jury box the number of grand jurors which the clerk of court or chief administrative judge for the circu…

On the first day of the term of court, the presiding judge shall ascertain the qualifications of those jurors who have appeared pursuant to the writs of venire facias. No juror may be excused or disqualified except in accordance with existing law as determined by the presiding ju…

After the grand jury venire has been duly qualified by the presiding judge, the clerk of court shall place the names of all qualified grand jurors in a container from which twelve grand jurors must be chosen. The clerk of court shall randomly draw twelve jurors from the container…

The foreman of the grand jury or acting foreman in the circuit courts of any county of the State may swear the witnesses whose names shall appear on the bill of indictment in the grand jury room. No witnesses shall be sworn except those who have been bound over or subpoenaed in t…

Grand juries may, whenever in their judgment it becomes necessary, employ one or more expert accountants to aid them to examine and investigate the offices, books, papers, vouchers, and accounts of any public officer of their respective counties and to fix the amount of compensat…

At the time provided by law for the drawing of jurors, the jury commissioners shall randomly withdraw from the jury box one capsule or container for each juror required by law to be drawn. The jury commissioners shall then open each capsule or container drawn and ascertain the nu…

This article may be cited as the "State Grand Jury Act", and any state grand jury which may be convened as provided herein to be known as a "State Grand Jury of South Carolina".

(A) It is the intent of the General Assembly to enhance the grand jury system and to improve the ability of the State to detect and eliminate criminal activity. The General Assembly recognizes the great importance of having the federal authorities available for certain investigat…

For purposes of this article: (A) the phrase "Attorney General or his designee" also includes: (1) the Attorney General or his designees; (2) the Attorney General and his designee or designees. (B) The term "public corruption" means any unlawful activity, under color of or in con…

There is established a state grand jury system, each state grand jury consisting of eighteen persons who shall meet in Columbia or at another suitable place in this State designated by the chief administrative judge of the judicial circuit in which the Attorney General seeks to i…

(A) The jurisdiction of a state grand jury impaneled pursuant to this article extends throughout the State. The subject matter jurisdiction of a state grand jury in all cases is limited to the following offenses: (1) a crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled sub…

A state grand jury may return indictments irrespective of the county or judicial circuit where the offense is committed or triable. If an indictment is returned, it must be certified and transferred for prosecution to the county where the offense was committed in accordance with …

(A) The Attorney General or his designee shall attend sessions of a state grand jury and shall serve as its legal advisor. The Attorney General or his designee shall examine witnesses, present evidence, and draft indictments and reports upon the direction of a state grand jury. (…

(A) In the January following the effective date of this article and each January thereafter, the jury commissioners for each county shall proceed to draw at random from the jury box the name of one person for each one thousand residents or fraction thereof of the county as determ…

The presiding judge shall appoint one of the jurors to be foreman and another to be deputy foreman. During the absence of the foreman, the deputy foreman shall act as foreman.

The clerk of the state grand jury, upon the request of the Attorney General or his designee, shall issue subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum to compel individuals, documents, or other materials to be brought from anywhere in this State to a state grand jury. In addition, a state g…

Once a state grand jury has entered into a term, the Attorney General or solicitor, in the appropriate case, may notify the presiding judge in writing as often as is necessary and appropriate that the state grand jury's areas of inquiry have been expanded or additional areas of i…

When the jury commissioners in a county in this State shall omit to prepare the list of jurors for the then ensuing year or to prepare the ballots of the names and place them in the boxes at the time and in the manner required in this article, the Chief Justice, any associate jus…

A court reporter shall record, either stenographically or by use of an electronic recording device, all proceedings except when a state grand jury is deliberating or voting. Subject to the limitations of Section 14-7-1720(A) and (D) and Rule 5, South Carolina Rules of Criminal Pr…

The foreman shall administer an oath or affirmation in the manner prescribed by law to any witness who testifies before a state grand jury.