2019 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 11 - Offenses Against Property
Section 16-11-625. Public library trespass; warning; appeal; penalties.

(A)(1) A person who enters a public library, without legal cause or good excuse, after having been warned not to do so by the library director, the branch manager, or the acting branch manager of the library in consultation with the library director is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more than thirty days.

(2) A copy of the warning provided for by subsection (A)(1) must be given to the person in writing, in the presence of a law enforcement officer, and must state:

(a) the alleged criminal law violation or the alleged violation of the library's code of conduct promulgated by the library's board of trustees under the authority provided by Section 4-9-37(b);

(b) the duration of the prohibition to return; and

(c) the procedure by which the person may appeal the warning to the library board of trustees. The person receiving notice of trespass wishing to appeal the notice must submit a request for a hearing to the board within five business days of receiving the notice. The board of trustees of the library must then provide a hearing within ten business days of the request for an appeal.

(B) A violation of the provisions of this section is triable in the appropriate municipal or magistrates court with jurisdiction over the offense. Any law enforcement officer of this State or a subdivision of this State may enforce the provisions of this section within their respective jurisdictions.

(C) The provisions of this section must be construed as in addition to, and not as superseding, another statute relating to trespass or unlawful entry on lands of another.

HISTORY: 2014 Act No. 296 (S.813), Section 1, eff August 27, 2014.