2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 56 - Motor Vehicles
Chapter 7 - TRAFFIC TICKETS
Section 56-7-30 - Printing and ordering traffic tickets; forwarding driver records and audit copies to Department of Motor Vehicles; electronic tickets.

(A) The Department of Public Safety shall have the traffic tickets printed. Law enforcement agencies shall order tickets from the Department of Public Safety and shall record the identifying numbers of the tickets received by them. The cost of the tickets must be paid by the law enforcement agency. The Department of Motor Vehicles records and audit copy must be forwarded to the Department of Motor Vehicles within ten days of the disposition of the case by final trial court action or by nolle prosequi. The head of each law enforcement agency is responsible for the forwarding of the driver records and audit copies to the Department of Motor Vehicles and for conducting an annual inventory on December thirty-first of all tickets received but not disposed of by final trial court action or by nolle prosequi, and for forwarding the results of the inventory on a form prescribed by the Department of Motor Vehicles to the Department of Motor Vehicles within ten days of the completion of the inventory.

(B) A law enforcement agency that issues uniform traffic tickets in an electronic format as provided in Section 56-7-10 may generate a printed copy of this ticket by using an in-car data terminal or hand held device. A copy of the ticket must be given to the offender. The agency may then transmit the ticket data electronically to the Department of Motor Vehicles for its records and for audit purposes, the law enforcement agency by which the arresting officer is employed, and the trial officer for his records. If any of these entities does not have the capability to accept the ticket data solely using electronic means, the arresting agency must provide the entity with a printed copy of the ticket generated by the in-car data terminal or hand held device. Data transmissions to the Department of Motor Vehicles must be made pursuant to that agency's electronic system specifications. Printed copies provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles must meet that agency's document processing requirements.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-873; 1967 (55) 203; 1980 Act No. 353, Section 3; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1470; 2005 Act No. 68, Section 3, eff May 23, 2005.


(A)(1) A law enforcement officer who issues a uniform traffic ticket for a violation of a local ordinance or traffic laws relating to speeding must do so incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop ">SECTION 56-7-35 Uniform traffic ticket for speeding or disregarding traffic control device; incident to and contemporaneous with traffic stop; delivery; use of photographic evidence; exception for toll collection violation

(A)(1) A law enforcement officer who issues a uniform traffic ticket for a violation of a local ordinance or traffic laws relating to speeding must do so incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop.

(2) A copy of the citation must be given directly to the offender by the law enforcement officer issuing the citation at the time of the traffic stop for the offense.

(3) A law enforcement agency may not utilize the United States mail, a parcel delivery service, electronic means, or otherwise to send to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle or motorcycle, as defined in Section 56-3-20, a uniform traffic citation alleging a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to speeding. This subsection does not prohibit the law enforcement agency from sending the operator or owner an additional copy of a uniform citation that was issued to the operator or owner during the traffic stop for the offense upon request of the operator or owner.

(4) A uniform traffic citation alleging the violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to speeding may not be issued based in whole or in part upon photographic evidence, whether gathered in conjunction with radar speed detection devices and whether the camera or other electronic device capturing the photographic evidence was attended or unattended at the time it captured the photographic evidence. This section does not prohibit the use of photographic or video evidence at any hearing related to the offense to corroborate the testimony of a law enforcement officer who personally observed the offense.

(B)(1) A law enforcement officer who issues a uniform traffic ticket for a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding a traffic control device must do so incident to and contemporaneous with a traffic stop.

(2) A copy of the citation must be given directly to the offender by the law enforcement officer issuing the citation at the time of the traffic stop for the offense.

(3) A law enforcement agency may not utilize the United States mail, a parcel delivery service, electronic means, or otherwise to send to the operator or owner of a motor vehicle or motorcycle, as defined in Section 56-3-20, a uniform traffic citation alleging a violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding traffic control devices. This subsection does not prohibit the law enforcement agency from sending the operator or owner an additional copy of a uniform citation that was issued to the operator or owner during the traffic stop for the offense upon request of the operator or owner.

(4) A uniform traffic citation alleging the violation of a local ordinance or the traffic laws relating to disregarding traffic control devices may not be issued based in whole upon photographic evidence, whether the camera or other electronic device capturing the photographic evidence was attended or unattended at the time it captured the photographic evidence. This section does not prohibit the use of photographic or video evidence at any hearing related to the offense to corroborate the testimony of a law enforcement officer who personally observed the offense.

(C) The provisions of this section do not apply to toll collection.

HISTORY: 2011 Act No. 65, Section 1, eff June 17, 2011.