2013 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 22 - Magistrates and Constables
CHAPTER 5 - MAGISTRATES' POWERS AND DUTIES IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
SECTION 22-5-510. Bailing persons; bond hearing; information to be provided to court; contempt.

(A) Magistrates may admit to bail a person charged with an offense, the punishment of which is not death or imprisonment for life; provided, however, with respect to violent offenses as defined by the General Assembly pursuant to Section 15, Article I of the Constitution of South Carolina, magistrates may deny bail giving due weight to the evidence and to the nature and circumstances of the event, including, but not limited to, any charges pending against the person requesting bail. "Violent offenses" as used in this section means the offenses contained in Section 16-1-60. If a person under lawful arrest on a charge not bailable is brought before a magistrate, the magistrate shall commit the person to jail. If the offense charged is bailable, the magistrate shall take recognizance with sufficient surety, if it is offered, in default whereof the person must be incarcerated.

(B) A person charged with a bailable offense must have a bond hearing within twenty-four hours of his arrest and must be released within a reasonable time, not to exceed four hours, after the bond is delivered to the incarcerating facility.

(C) Prior to or at the time of the bond hearing, the law enforcement officer, local detention facility officer, or local jail officer, as applicable, attending the hearing shall provide the court with the following information if available:

(1) the person's criminal record;

(2) any charges pending against the person;

(3) all incident reports generated as a result of the offense charged; and

(4) any other information that will assist the court in determining bail.

(D) The law enforcement officer, local detention facility officer, or local jail officer, as applicable, shall inform the court if any of the information required in subsection (C) is not available at the time of the bond hearing and the reason the information is not available. Failure on the part of the law enforcement officer, local detention facility officer, or local jail officer, as applicable, to provide the court with the information required in subsection (C) does not constitute grounds for the postponement or delay of the person's bond hearing.

(E) A court hearing this matter has contempt powers to enforce these provisions.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 43-241; 1952 Code Section 43-241; 1942 Code Section 939; 1932 Code Section 939; Cr. P. '22 Section 35; Cr. C. '12 Section 36; Cr. C. '02 Section 28; G. S. 2621; R. S. 34; 1839 (11) 22; 1998 Act No. 425, Section 1; 2010 Act No. 273, Section 10, eff June 2, 2010.