Title 17, Criminal Procedures

A person shall pay a two-hundred-fifty-dollar fee to enroll in an alcohol education program. All fees must be deposited into a special circuit solicitor's fund for operation of the alcohol education program. In cases when the solicitor contracts with education and supervision pro…

Each circuit solicitor shall submit to the Commission on Prosecution Coordination necessary identifying information on each enrollee for the creation and maintenance of a list of enrollees in alcohol education programs. This list is to be used by the commission for the sole purpo…

Intervention is appropriate only where: (1) there is substantial likelihood that justice will be served if the offender is placed in an intervention program; (2) it is determined that the needs of the offender and the State can better be met outside the traditional criminal justi…

Prior to admittance of an offender into an intervention program, the solicitor or judge, if application is made to the court pursuant to Section 17-22-100, may require the offender to furnish information concerning the offender's past criminal record, education and work record, f…

(A) A circuit solicitor may establish, under his direction and control and with the agreement of the county governing body, a Worthless Check Unit for the purpose of processing worthless checks and to assist the victims of these cases in the collection of restitution. The fee sch…

Prior to any person being admitted to a pretrial intervention program the victim, if any, of the crime for which the applicant is charged and the law enforcement agency employing the arresting officer shall be asked to comment in writing as to whether or not the applicant should …

An offender who enters an intervention program shall: (1) waive, in writing and contingent upon his successful completion of the program, his right to a speedy trial; (2) agree, in writing, to the tolling while in the program of all periods of limitation established by statutes o…

(A) Applications for expungement of all criminal records must be administered by the solicitor's office in each circuit in the State as authorized pursuant to: (1) Section 34-11-90(e), first offense misdemeanor fraudulent check; (2) Section 44-53-450(b), conditional discharge; (3…

The clerk of court shall direct all inquiries concerning the expungement process to the corresponding solicitor's office to make application for expungement.

A person applying to expunge a criminal record shall obtain the appropriate blank expungement order form from the solicitor's office in the judicial circuit where the charge originated. The use of this form is mandatory and to the exclusion of all other expungement forms.

(A) In exchange for the expungement service that is provided by the solicitor's office, the applicant is responsible for payment to the solicitor's office of an administrative fee in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars per individual order, which must be retained by that offi…

(A) If criminal charges are brought in a summary court, the accused person is found not guilty or the charges are dismissed or nolle prossed, and the accused person was fingerprinted for the charges, the summary court, at no cost to the accused person, immediately shall issue an …

Any employer that employs a worker who has had an expungement shall not, at any time, be subject to any administrative or legal claim or cause of action related to the worker's expunged offense. Except for criminal justice agencies, employers shall not use expunged information ad…

In any plea of autrefois acquit or autrefois convict it shall be sufficient for any defendant to state that he has been lawfully acquitted or convicted, as the case may be, of the offense charged in the indictment.

In all cases tried before a jury, other than cases in a magistrates or municipal court, after the court has delivered to the jury a charge on the law in the case, the court shall temporarily excuse the jury from the presence of counsel and litigants in order to give counsel and l…

All the circuit courts of this State shall have power to grant new trials in cases in which there has been a trial by jury for reasons for which new trials have usually been granted in the courts of law of the United States.

When any defendant is arrested upon a warrant charging a misdemeanor which is not within the jurisdiction of the magistrates court or, notwithstanding any other provision of law, when any defendant is arrested upon a warrant charging a felony, he may apply to the clerk of court o…

Upon receipt by the solicitor of the warrant forwarded to him pursuant to the provisions of Section 17-23-120, he may forthwith prepare a formal indictment as now provided by law in such cases and shall return it to the clerk of court. The clerk of court shall then notify the she…

Upon the defendant's signing the waiver of presentment and the plea of guilty the clerk of court shall deliver the indictment to the sheriff or one of his duly authorized deputies whose duty it shall be to appear before the resident judge of the circuit or presiding judge therein…

Except as otherwise provided in SECTION 17-23-140, as to such cases as are herein referred to in SECTIONS 17-23-120 to 17-23-140 the circuit judges shall have the same powers at chambers as they have in open court.

When any person charged with a crime who is entitled to a preliminary hearing on such charges appears in person or by counsel in a hearing to set bond, he shall be notified by a magistrate orally and in writing of his right to such preliminary hearing. When a person is notified o…

The affiant listed on an arrest warrant or the chief investigating officer for the case must be present to testify at the preliminary hearing of the person arrested pursuant to the warrant.

The appearance by an attorney on behalf of a defendant in a preliminary hearing shall not in and of itself obligate that attorney to continue the representation of that defendant beyond the preliminary hearing.

(A) Evidence that the actor was suffering from the battered spouse syndrome is admissible in a criminal action on the issue of whether the actor lawfully acted in self-defense, defense of another, defense of necessity, or defense of duress. This section does not preclude the admi…

(A) In a general sessions court proceeding or a delinquency proceeding in family court, an out-of-court statement of a child is admissible if: (1) the statement was given in response to questioning conducted during an investigative interview of the child; (2) an audio and visual …

Whenever a municipal court or a magistrates court shall have acquired jurisdiction by reason of a person committing an act which is alleged to be in violation of a municipal ordinance and which is in violation of the criminal law of this State a conviction or an acquittal by the …

If a person on his trial be acquitted upon the ground of a variance between the indictment and the proof or upon an exception to the form or substance of the indictment he may be arraigned again on a new indictment and tried and convicted for the same offense, notwithstanding suc…

The defendant in any misdemeanor case in any of the courts of this State may, with the consent of the court, enter a plea of "nolo contendere" thereto and upon so doing such defendant shall be dealt with in like manner as if he had entered a plea of guilty thereto.

A traverse of any indictment shall not, in any court of criminal jurisdiction in this State, of itself operate to continue the case.

Every person accused shall, at his trial, be allowed to be heard by counsel, may defend himself and shall have a right to produce witnesses and proofs in his favor and to meet the witnesses produced against him face to face.

No person indicted for an offense shall be convicted thereof unless by confession of his guilt in open court, by admitting the truth of the charge against him by his plea or demurrer, by the verdict of a jury accepted and recorded by the court or as provided in Section 17-23-40.

If any person committed for treason or felony, plainly and specially expressed in the warrant of commitment, upon his prayer or petition in open court the first week of the term to be brought to his trial shall not be indicted some time in the next term after such commitment, the…

(A) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a crime that, at the time of the commission of the act constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of mental disease or defect, lacked the capacity to distinguish moral or legal right from moral or legal wrong or to r…

(A) A defendant is guilty but mentally ill if, at the time of the commission of the act constituting the offense, he had the capacity to distinguish right from wrong or to recognize his act as being wrong as defined in Section 17-24-10(A), but because of mental disease or defect …

In a prosecution for a crime when the affirmative defense of insanity is raised sufficiently by the defendant, or when sufficient evidence of a mental disease or defect of the defendant is admitted into evidence, the trier of fact shall find under the applicable law, and the verd…

(A) In the event a verdict of "not guilty by reason of insanity" is returned, the trial judge must order the person who was the defendant committed to the South Carolina State Hospital for a period not to exceed one hundred twenty days. During that time, an examination must be ma…

In no case shall a defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity be confined or be under supervision longer than the maximum sentence for the crime with which he was charged without full civil commitment proceedings being held.

Two years from the date of commitment the defendant's attorney may petition the chief administrative judge to be relieved as counsel.

If a verdict is returned of "guilty but mentally ill" the defendant must be sentenced by the trial judge as provided by law for a defendant found guilty, however: (A) If the sentence imposed upon the defendant includes the incarceration of the defendant, the defendant must first …

(A) Should a defendant be released pursuant to SECTIONS 17-24-40(C)(2)(a), 17-24-40(C)(2)(c), or 17-24-70(B) herein, the solicitor shall immediately notify the local probation office and it shall then be the responsibility of the probation office to monitor compliance by the defe…

No person shall be punished for an offense unless duly and legally convicted thereof in a court having competent jurisdiction of the cause and of the person.

The circuit judges of this State may, in their discretion, suspend sentences imposed by them except in cases of felony upon such terms and upon such conditions as in their judgment may be fit and proper.

When the sentence of any person who has been sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction of this State shall be suspended by a judge of such court such suspension shall run for the period of time prescribed by such judge in the sentence or order of suspension and no person who…

If any person shall rob or take away any money, goods or chattels from any person, from their person or otherwise, and be found guilty thereof, such money, goods and chattels shall be restored to the party so robbed or the owner thereof and the judge before whom any such person s…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in every case in which a person is sentenced for a crime involving the unlawful taking or receiving of or malicious injury to another's property, and the judge sentences such person less than the maximum sentence prescribed by law, a po…

In all cases where by law the punishment is affected by the jury recommending the accused to the mercy of the court, and a plea of guilty is accepted with the approval of the court, the accused shall be sentenced in like manner as if the jury in a trial had recommended him to the…