Title 16, Crimes and Offenses

Whoever shall be adventurer in or shall pay any moneys or other consideration or shall in any way contribute unto or upon account of any sales or lotteries shall forfeit for every such offense the sum of one hundred dollars to be recovered with costs of suit, by action or indictm…

It shall be unlawful to offer for sale any lottery tickets or to open or keep any office for the sale of lottery tickets, and if any person shall offend against any of the provisions of this section he shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit and pay to the State a sum not exceeding…

If any person shall play at any tavern, inn, store for the retailing of spirituous liquors or in any house used as a place of gaming, barn, kitchen, stable or other outhouse, street, highway, open wood, race field or open place at (a) any game with cards or dice, (b) any gaming t…

Any person who shall set up, keep, or use any (a) gaming table, commonly called A, B, C, or E, O, or any gaming table known or distinguished by any other letters or by any figures, (b) roley-poley table, (c) table to play at rouge et noir, (d) faro bank (e) any other gaming table…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, it is not unlawful for persons who are members of a club or other social organization to gather for the purpose of engaging in games of tiles, cards, or dice including, but not limited to, canasta, mahjong, and bridge, w…

Whoever shall keep or suffer to be kept any gaming table or permit any game or games to be played in his house on the Sabbath day, on conviction thereof before any court having jurisdiction, shall be fined in the sum of fifty dollars, to be sued for on behalf of, and to be recove…

All and every sum or sums of money staked, betted or pending on the event of any such game or games as aforesaid are hereby declared to be forfeited.

Any person who shall make any bet or wager of money or wager of any other thing of value or shall have any share or part in any bet or wager of money or wager of any other thing of value upon any election in this State shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall …

(A) It is unlawful for a person to: (1) alter, forge, or counterfeit a certificate of title, registration card, or license plate; (2) alter or forge an assignment of a certificate of title or an assignment or release of a security interest on a certificate of title or on a form t…

A person who knowingly makes a false report of the theft or conversion of a vehicle to a peace officer or to the Department is guilty of a misdemeanor.

A person who fails to report a vehicle as unclaimed in accordance with SECTION 56-19-840 is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars.

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor who wilfully violates any other provision of Chapter 19 of Title 56, except as otherwise provided therein.

A person who violates the provisions of this chapter, except as specifically provided, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

A person who, whether present or absent, aids, abets, induces, procures, or causes the commission of an act under a provision of this chapter is guilty of the principal offense and must be punished accordingly.

In a prosecution for a crime specified in this chapter evidence that the defendant has committed a prior act or acts of the same kind is admissible to prove criminal intent or knowledge.

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor who: (1) with fraudulent intent, permits another to use or have possession of a certificate of title, registration card, or license plate who is not entitled to it; (2) wilfully fails to mail or deliver a certificate of title or application to …

No person shall lend to another any certificate of title issued to him if the person desiring to borrow the certificate would not be entitled to the use thereof, nor shall any person knowingly permit the use of any such certificate by one not entitled thereto. Any violation of th…

(A) A person who: (1) wilfully removes or falsifies an identification number of a vehicle or an engine for a vehicle is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both. (2) wilfully and…

A person who removes a license plate from a vehicle or affixes to a vehicle a license plate not authorized by law for use on it, in either case with intent to conceal or misrepresent the identity of the vehicle or its owner, is guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section "re…

(A) It is unlawful for a person not entitled to possession of a vehicle to take, use, or drive a vehicle, without the consent of the owner and with intent to deprive him, temporarily or otherwise, of the vehicle or its possession. A person who violates the provisions of this sect…

Whoever knowingly and wilfully shall take and use any bicycle or other vehicle, except as defined in Section 56-19-10, without the consent of the owner thereof, but without intent to steal such vehicle, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a…

A person not entitled to the possession of a vehicle who receives, possesses, conceals, sells, or disposes of it, knowing it to be stolen or converted under circumstances constituting a crime, is guilty of a: (1) misdemeanor triable in magistrates court or municipal court, notwit…

A person who, with intent and without right to do so, damages a vehicle or damages or removes any of its parts or components is guilty of a misdemeanor. A person who, without right to do so and with intent to commit a crime, tampers with a vehicle or goes in or on it or works or …

When used in this article: (1) "Handgun" means any firearm designed to expel a projectile and designed to be fired from the hand, but shall not include any firearm generally recognized or classified as an antique, curiosity, or collector's item, or any that does not fire fixed ca…

(A) It is unlawful, whether or not the person has a concealed weapon permit, for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law into a: (1) law enforcement, correctional, or detention facility; (2) courthous…

When used in this article: (a) "Machine gun" applies to and includes any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term shall also include th…

It is unlawful for a person to transport from one place to another in this State or for any railroad company, express company, or other common carrier or any officer, agent, or employee of any of them or other person acting in their behalf knowingly to ship or to transport from o…

It is unlawful for a person to store, keep, possess, or have in possession or permit another to store, keep, possess, or have in possession a machine gun or firearm commonly known as a machine gun, military firearm, sawed-off shotgun, or sawed-off rifle, except as provided in Sec…

It is unlawful for a person to sell, rent, give away, or participate in any manner, directly or indirectly, in the sale, renting, giving away, or otherwise disposing of a machine gun, or firearm commonly known as a machine gun, military firearm, sawed-off shotgun, or sawed-off ri…

The provisions of this article do not apply to the Army, Navy, or Air Force of the United States, the National Guard, and organizations authorized by law to purchase or receive machine guns, military firearms, or sawed-off shotguns or sawed-off rifles, from the United States or f…

A person violating the provisions of this article is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

The provisions of this article shall not apply to antique firearms.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, machine guns or military firearms manufactured by a firm licensed by the federal government and subject to the Federal Gun Control Act may be legally manufactured, transported, possessed, and sold within the State by the manufacture…

(A) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly sell, offer to sell, deliver, lease, rent, barter, exchange, or transport for sale into this State any handgun to: (1) a person who has been convicted of a crime of violence in any court of the United States, the several states, common…

(A) Except for the provisions relating to rifles and shotguns in Section 16-23-460, as used in this chapter, "weapon" means firearm (rifle, shotgun, pistol, or similar device that propels a projectile through the energy of an explosive), a blackjack, a metal pipe or pole, or any …

It is unlawful for a person to present or point at another person a loaded or unloaded firearm. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than five years. Th…

An individual who takes a firearm, stun gun, or taser device from the person of a law enforcement officer or a corrections officer is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both, i…

(A) It is unlawful for a person to possess a firearm of any kind on any premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or in any publicly owned building, without the expr…

(A) It shall be unlawful for any person, except state, county, or municipal law enforcement officers or personnel authorized by school officials, to carry on his person, while on any elementary or secondary school property, a knife, with a blade over two inches long, a blackjack,…

(A) It is unlawful for a person to discharge or cause to be discharged unlawfully firearms at or into a dwelling house, other building, structure, or enclosure regularly occupied by persons. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon c…

It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, set or place a loaded trap gun, spring gun or any like device in any manner in any building or in any place within this State, and any violation of the provisions of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and be punished by a…

(A) In addition to the penalties provided for by Sections 16-11-330, 16-11-620, 23-31-220, and Article 1, Chapter 23, Title 16, a person convicted of knowingly carrying a firearm into a business which sells alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine for consumption on the premises is guilty…

(A) It is unlawful for anyone except an authorized law enforcement officer to possess, use, transport, sell, or buy a tear-gas machine or gun, or its parts, or any ammunition, shells, or equipment that may be used in a tear-gas gun or machine. It is lawful for a person for self-d…

It is unlawful for a person to manufacture, cause to be manufactured, or possess any object or article which is designed to cause damage by fire or any other means to person or property either by ignition, detonation, or other means. It is unlawful for a person to possess any obj…

(A) If a person is in possession of a firearm or visibly displays what appears to be a firearm or visibly displays a knife during the commission of a violent crime and is convicted of committing or attempting to commit a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60, he must be imp…

(A) A person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a crime involving a concealable weapon, as defined by Section 23-31-210(5), in violation of an offense listed in Chapter 23, Title 16, or a violation of Section 10-11-320, must be imprisoned not to exceed three years. A…