Title 17, Criminal Procedures

During the term of the circuit court for the county in which any prisoner is detained no person shall be removed from the common jail upon any writ of habeas corpus granted in pursuance of this chapter but, upon any such writ, shall be brought before the circuit judge, in open co…

No person shall be held to answer in any court for an alleged crime or offense, unless upon indictment by a grand jury, except in the following cases: (1) when a prosecution by information is expressly authorized by statute; (2) in proceedings before a police court or magistrate;…

If (a) there be any defect in form in any indictments or (b) on the trial of any case there shall appear to be any variance between the allegations of the indictment and the evidence offered in proof thereof, the court before which the trial shall be had may amend the indictment …

Every indictment shall be deemed and judged sufficient and good in law which, in addition to allegations as to time and place, as required by law, charges the crime substantially in the language of the common law or of the statute prohibiting the crime or so plainly that the natu…

Every indictment for murder shall be deemed and adjudged sufficient and good in law which, in addition to setting forth the time and place, together with a plain statement, divested of all useless phraseology, of the manner in which the death of the deceased was caused, charges t…

In every indictment for murder, manslaughter, assault and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and assault and assault and battery with intent to kill and in every case when the crime is charged to have been committed with a deadly weapon of the character specified…

In all cases whatsoever in which it shall be necessary to make any averment in any indictment as to any instrument, whether the instrument consists wholly or in part of writing, print or figures, it shall be sufficient to describe such instrument by any name or designation by whi…

In any indictment for perjury it shall not be necessary to set forth more than the substance of the oath and the fact concerning which the perjury is alleged to have been committed.

Whenever any corporation doing business in this State, whether incorporated under the laws of this State or not, shall be charged with any offense cognizable by the courts of general sessions the solicitor shall hand out a bill of indictment to the grand jury of the county in whi…

Whoever shall be accused and indicted for any capital offense whatsoever shall have a true copy of the whole indictment, but not the names of the witnesses, delivered to him, three days at least before he shall be tried for such offense, whereby to enable him to advise with couns…

Every objection to any indictment for any defect apparent on the face thereof shall be taken by demurrer or on motion to quash such indictment before the jury shall be sworn and not afterwards.

When any person shall be struck, wounded, poisoned or otherwise injured or ill-treated within the limits of this State and shall die thereof beyond the limits of this State, whether on the high seas or elsewhere, the person so striking, wounding, poisoning or otherwise causing de…

When any person shall be struck, wounded, poisoned or otherwise injured in one county and dies thereof in another any inquisition or indictment thereon found by jurors of either county shall be as good and effectual in law as if the stroke, wound, poisoning or other injury had be…

When any person within the limits of this State shall inflict an injury on any person who at the time the injury is inflicted is beyond the limits of this State or when any person beyond the limits of this State shall inflict an injury on any person at the time within the limits …

When an injury is inflicted by any person within the bounds of one county of this State on a person within the bounds of another county and death shall ensue therefrom within this State, indictment, trial and punishment shall be the same as if the homicide had been committed alto…

A person charged as an accessory before the fact may be indicted, tried and punished in the same court and county in which the principal felon might be indicted and tried, although the offense of counseling, hiring or procuring the commission of such felony is committed on the hi…

Whoever becomes an accessory to a felony after the fact may be indicted, convicted and punished, whether the principal felon has or has not been previously convicted or is or is not amenable to justice, by any court having jurisdiction to try the principal felon and either in the…

No criminal proceeding shall be instituted against any corporation unless the offense charged or some part thereof shall have been committed in the county in which the prosecution shall be instituted.

The circuit courts shall have power to change the venue in all criminal cases pending therein, and over which they have original jurisdiction, by ordering the record to be removed to another county in the same circuit. The application for removal must be made to the judge sitting…

A circuit judge may, in a criminal case in which he determines that an unbiased jury cannot be selected in the county in which the defendant was indicted, order that jury selection go forward in some other county and the jury, when selected, be transported to the county in which …

Whenever a criminal case is transferred from one county to another for trial all the costs and expenses of such trial shall be paid by the county in which the bill of indictment was found. The clerk of court of the county in which the bill of indictment was found, his deputy or s…

This article may be cited as the "Pretrial Intervention Act."

An offender must make application to an intervention program or to the chief administrative judge of the court of general sessions no later than seventy-five days after service of the warrant or within ten days following appointment of counsel for the charge for which he makes th…

(A) A person who is eligible for expungement of his criminal record pursuant to the provisions of Sections 22-5-910, 22-5-920, 34-11-90(e), and 56-5-750(F) may apply to have his record expunged pursuant to the procedures provided in Article 9 if he graduates and successfully comp…

An applicant to an intervention program or an offender who applies to the chief administrative judge of the court of general sessions for admission to a program pursuant to Section 17-22-100 shall pay a nonrefundable application fee of one hundred dollars and, if accepted into th…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Criminal risk factors" means characteristics and behaviors that, when addressed or changed, affect a person's risk for committing crimes. The characteristics may include, but not be limited to, the following risk and criminogenic need factors: antiso…

(A) In addition to the information collected and processed by the Office of Pretrial Intervention Coordinator within the Commission on Prosecution Coordination pursuant to Articles 1, 3, 5, and 7, Chapter 22, Title 17, the Office of Pretrial Intervention Coordinator shall be resp…

In any case in which an offender agrees to an intervention program, a specific agreement must be made between the solicitor and the offender. This agreement shall include the terms of the intervention program, the length of the program and a section stating the period of time aft…

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 17-1-40, in all cases where an offender is accepted for intervention a report must be made and retained on file in the solicitor's office, regardless of whether or not the offender successfully completes the intervention program. All repo…

Prior to the completion of the pretrial intervention program the offender shall make restitution, as determined by the solicitor, to the victim, if any.

(a) In the event an offender successfully completes a pretrial intervention program, the solicitor shall effect a noncriminal disposition of the charge or charges pending against the offender. Upon such disposition, the offender may apply to the court for an order to destroy all …

Any municipal, county, or state entity or any individual who unlawfully retains or releases information on an offender's participation in a pretrial intervention program is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars…

When used in this chapter: (1) The term "prosecutorial discretion" shall mean the power of the circuit solicitor to consider all circumstances of criminal proceedings and to determine whether any legal action is to be taken and, if so taken, of what kind and degree and to what co…

(A) Each circuit solicitor shall have the prosecutorial discretion as defined herein and shall as a matter of such prosecutorial discretion establish a pretrial intervention program in the respective circuits. (B) The circuit solicitors are specifically endowed with and shall ret…

This article may be cited as the "Traffic Education Program Act".

(A) Each circuit solicitor has the prosecutorial discretion as defined in this chapter and shall as a matter of prosecutorial discretion establish a traffic education program in the respective circuits for persons who commit traffic-related offenses that are punishable only by a …

(A) A person may be considered for a traffic education program if he has no significant history of traffic violations. A person may not participate in a traffic education program more than once. (B) A person's participation in a traffic education program does not prevent his part…

(A) When a person successfully completes a traffic education program, the governmental agency administering the program shall effect a noncriminal disposition, as defined in this chapter, of the traffic-related offense, and there must be no record maintained of the traffic-relate…

Each circuit solicitor may establish an Office of Traffic Education Program Coordinator whose responsibility is to assist in the establishment and maintenance of the traffic education program.

(A) A person shall pay a nonrefundable one hundred forty-dollar fee to apply for a traffic education program that cannot be reduced or suspended. Additionally, a person shall pay a nonrefundable fee, not to exceed one hundred forty dollars, to participate in a traffic education p…

Each governmental agency that administers a traffic education program shall submit a traffic education program annual report, by the first day of August, to the Commission on Prosecution Coordination providing the total number of participants by original traffic-related offenses,…

Each governmental agency that administers a traffic education program shall submit to the Commission on Prosecution Coordination necessary identifying information on each participant for the creation and maintenance of a list of participants in traffic education programs. This li…

There is established the office of Pretrial Intervention Coordinator whose responsibility is to assist the solicitor in each judicial circuit in establishing and maintaining a pretrial intervention program. The office of Pretrial Intervention Coordinator must be within the South …

(A) A person must not be considered for intervention if: (1) he previously has been accepted into an intervention program; or (2) the person is charged with: (a) blackmail; (b) driving under the influence or driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration; (c) a traffic-related of…

This article may be cited as the "Alcohol Education Program Act".

(A) Each circuit solicitor has the prosecutorial discretion as defined in this chapter and shall as a matter of prosecutorial discretion establish an alcohol education program in the respective circuits for persons who commit certain alcohol-related offenses. (B) The circuit soli…