Title 17, Criminal Procedures

South Carolina Court Administration shall include on all bond paperwork and courtesy summons the following notice: "If the charges that have been brought against you are discharged, dismissed, or nolle prossed or if you are found not guilty, you may have your record expunged."

(A) As used in this section: (1) "Certified interpreter" means an interpreter who meets the standards contained in subitem (A)(4) and is certified by the administrative office of the United States courts, by the office of the administrator for the state courts, or by a nationally…

(A) For purposes of this section, a person or entity who publishes on the person's or entity's website or any other publication the arrest and booking records, including booking photographs, of a person who is arrested and booked in South Carolina is deemed to be transacting busi…

A person may apply for an expungement of one conviction for unlawful possession of a handgun as provided in Section 16-23-20, if the conviction occurred prior to the enactment of the S.C. Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024. An application under this se…

Any person entitled to counsel under the Constitution of the United States shall be so advised and if it is determined that the person is financially unable to retain counsel then counsel shall be provided upon order of the appropriate judge unless such person voluntarily and int…

Nothing herein contained is designed to limit the discretionary authority of a judge to appoint counsel in any case and any such counsel shall be entitled to remuneration and reimbursement as provided in SECTIONS 17-3-50 and 17-3-80 hereof, so long as funds appropriated herein ar…

The Supreme Court of South Carolina is hereby empowered to establish such rules and regulations as are necessary for the proper administration of this chapter.

In the event any person who shall be charged with murder shall, after investigation by the court, be determined to be unable financially to retain adequate legal counsel, the court shall appoint such qualified and experienced counsel to defend such defendant in the trial of the a…

(A) A person to whom counsel has been provided shall execute an affidavit that he is financially unable to employ counsel and that affidavit must set forth all his assets. If it appears that the person has some assets but they are insufficient to employ private counsel, the court…

(A) There is created the Commission on Indigent Defense consisting of thirteen members. (B) Nine members shall be appointed by the Governor as follows: (1) One member from each of the four judicial regions of the State appointed upon recommendation of the South Carolina Public De…

(A) There is created the Office of Indigent Defense under the jurisdiction of the commission. The office must be administered by an executive director appointed by the commission. The executive director may hire other administrative, clerical, and legal staff and is authorized to…

(A) The Office of Indigent Defense shall: (1) serve as the entity which distributes all funds appropriated by the General Assembly for the defense of indigents, including funds allocated to public defender offices pursuant to the formula, funds for the defense of capital cases, f…

(A) All members of the commission shall at all times act in the best interest of indigent defendants who are receiving legal representation pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. (B) All members of the commission are entitled to vote on all matters before the commission unle…

The members of the commission and the Circuit Public Defender Selection Panel and other policy-making or administrative personnel acting in a policy-making or administrative capacity in connection with the commission or the panel are not subject to civil liability resulting from …

(A) There is created within the Office of Indigent Defense, the Division of Appellate Defense. All of the allied, advisory, affiliated, or related entities as well as the employees, funds, property, and all contractual rights and obligations associated with the commission and Off…

The provisions of this article shall not restrict a court in which an appeal is to be effected, from appointing counsel for indigent persons when the division is disqualified from representation for reasons of conflict or when the division deems it advisable that it not provide r…

The commission will be funded by appropriations to the commission in the state General Appropriations Act including federal funds as may be available.

(A) The appointment of counsel, as hereinbefore provided, creates a claim against the assets and estate of the person who is provided counsel in an amount equal to the costs of representation as determined pursuant to Sections 17-3-50 and 17-3-80, less that amount that the person…

(A) A person to whom counsel has been provided in any court in this State shall execute an affidavit that the person is financially unable to employ counsel and that affidavit shall set forth all of the person's assets. If it appears that the person has some assets but they are i…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) "Commission" means the Commission on Indigent Defense. (2) "Division of Appellate Defense" includes all attorneys and employees in the division. (3) "Assistant public defender" means an attorney who is employed by a circuit public defender o…

(A) When private counsel is appointed pursuant to this chapter, he must be paid a reasonable fee to be determined on the basis of forty dollars an hour for time spent out of court and sixty dollars an hour for time spent in court. The same hourly rates apply in post-conviction pr…

(A) There is created in each judicial circuit in the State a Circuit Public Defender Selection Panel, the membership of which is composed of, and must be elected by, the active, licensed attorneys who reside within the counties of each judicial circuit. Each county in each judici…

(A) In order for a person to be eligible to fill the position of circuit public defender, the person must: (1) be at least twenty-five years of age; (2) have been admitted and licensed to practice law in all courts of the State for at least five years; (3) be a member in good sta…

(A) Each circuit public defender may employ, assign, and supervise one or more chief county public defenders in the counties within the circuit to assist in managing, supervising, and providing indigent defense representation in the circuit. (B) Each chief county public defender …

(A) Subject to the provisions of this section, the circuit public defender in each judicial circuit may maintain offices and employ chief county public defenders, assistant public defenders, investigators, and other staff as necessary to provide adequate and meaningful representa…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission on Indigent Defense is authorized to carry forward unpaid obligations incurred and received for payment in one fiscal year and to pay, to the extent possible, these obligations from funds appropriated in the next year's b…

No county may appropriate funds for public defender operations in a fiscal year below the amount it funded in the immediate previous fiscal year.

Each circuit public defender shall expend the funds received from the counties in the circuit, the State, and other sources for the general operations of the circuit defenders office including reimbursement to the administering county for employee compensation and fringe benefits…

(A) All public defenders and other personnel employed by a county public defender corporation on a full-time or a part-time basis are considered employees of the circuit public defenders office in the judicial circuit in which they serve. No employee currently employed pursuant t…

(A) A public defender employed full-time by the circuit public defender shall not engage in the private practice of law for profit. (B) A public defender employed by the circuit public defender must be a member of the South Carolina Bar and must be admitted to practice before all…

The governing body of the county shall provide, in conjunction and cooperation with the other counties in the judicial circuit and in a pro rata share according to the population of each county, appropriate offices, utilities, telephone expenses, materials, and supplies as are ne…

All contracts in force on the date this legislation is effective between private attorneys and county indigent defense corporations for the provision of indigent defense services within a county or counties shall remain in force and be recognized by the commission and circuit pub…

In addition to the appropriation as provided by law, there is appropriated for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1969, the sum of fifty thousand dollars for the establishment of the defense fund which must be administered by the Office of Indigent Defense. This fund must be used…

At the end of each fiscal year all funds appropriated for counties without public defender corporations which have not been exhausted shall be combined into one fund and any and all claims of private appointed counsel in other counties remaining unpaid by virtue of the exhaustion…

Private, appointed counsel shall submit a voucher to the Office of Indigent Defense setting forth all details of the appointment for purposes of remuneration pursuant to Section 17-3-50 and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to Section 17-3-80, and the public defender shall do li…

There must be an election for coroner by the qualified voters in each county at each alternate general election beginning with the election in the year 1948.

Coroners must execute all lawful orders directed to them by the respective governing bodies of their respective counties, or the chairmen thereof, and must receive the same fees and costs as are allowed in other cases.

A coroner or deputy coroner, while engaged in official duties of his office, is authorized to carry a pistol or other handgun. He is considered so engaged when going to or returning from the actual performance of his duties. However, coroners and deputy coroners must be certified…

(A) A person appointed by a coroner to the position of deputy coroner may, at the discretion of the coroner, attend the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy to be trained and certified as a Class III officer. (B) A law enforcement officer, as defined by Section 23-23-10(E)(1),…

Records, papers, or reports concerning the death of a person on file at any hospital, nursing home, or other medical facility in this State are available to a coroner of another state as they are to a coroner in this State if the deceased person was a resident of or is buried in …

(A)(1) A coroner in this State shall have all of the following qualifications, the person shall: (a) be a citizen of the United States; (b) be a resident of the county in which the person seeks the office of coroner for at least one year before qualifying for the election to the …

A coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner's designee may possess and administer an opioid antidote pursuant to the requirements of the South Carolina Overdose Prevention Act. The coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner's designee must comply with all of the requirements of Section 44-130…

(A) From the funds appropriated for the implementation of this section, and subject to the provisions of subsection (C), the State Treasurer shall disburse an equal amount to each county treasurer on a monthly basis. These funds must supplement, and not supplant, existing funds u…

Coroners and deputy coroners are considered public safety officers under 34 U.S.C. Section 10281, et seq., if killed in the line of duty.

Before receiving his commission, the coroner must post a bond, to be executed by him and at least two sureties, but not more than twelve, to be approved, recorded, and filed as prescribed in Chapter 3 of Title 8. The bond must be in the penal sum of two thousand dollars.

A county with a population of 100,000 or more, according to the last official United States census, may establish by appropriate implementing resolution a commission to be known as the medical examiner commission of that county, composed of five members, one of whom must be the c…