2022 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 17 - Criminal Procedures
Chapter 22 - Intervention Programs
Section 17-22-910. Applications for expungement; administration.

(A) Applications for expungement of all criminal records must be administered by the solicitor's office in each circuit in the State as authorized pursuant to:

(1) Section 34-11-90(e), first offense misdemeanor fraudulent check;

(2) Section 44-53-450(b), conditional discharge;

(3) Section 22-5-910, first offense conviction in magistrates court;

(4) Section 22-5-920, youthful offender act;

(5) Section 22-5-930, first offense simple possession or possession with intent to distribute drug convictions;

(6) Section 56-5-750(F), first offense failure to stop when signaled by a law enforcement vehicle;

(7) Section 17-22-150(a), pretrial intervention;

(8) Section 17-1-40, criminal records destruction, except as provided in Section 17-22-950;

(9) Section 63-19-2050, juvenile expungements;

(10) Section 17-22-530(A), alcohol education program;

(11) Section 17-22-330(A), traffic education program;

(12) Section 17-22-1010, Youth Challenge Academy and Jobs Challenge Program; and

(13) any other statutory authorization.

(B) A person's eligibility for expungement of an offense contained in this section, or authorized by any other provision of law, must be based on the offense that the person pled guilty to or was convicted of committing and not on an offense for which the person may have been charged. In addition, if an offense for which a person was convicted is subsequently repealed and the elements of the offense are consistent with an existing similar offense which is currently eligible for expungement, a person's eligibility for expungement of an offense must be based on the existing similar offense.

(C) The provisions of this section apply retroactively to allow expungement as provided by law for each offense delineated in subsection (A) by persons convicted prior to the enactment of this section or the addition of a specific item contained in subsection (A).

HISTORY: 2009 Act No. 36, Section 2, eff June 2, 2009; 2014 Act No. 276 (H.4560), Section 3, eff June 9, 2014; 2015 Act No. 22 (S.133), Section 1, eff June 1, 2015; 2018 Act No. 254 (H.3209), Section 1, eff December 27, 2018; 2018 Act No. 262 (H.3789), Section 3, eff July 2, 2018.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the amendments to (A) made by 2018 Act No. 254 and 2018 Act No. 262 were read together and renumbered appropriately.

Editor's Note

2018 Act No. 262, Section 1, provides as follows:

"SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the South Carolina Youth Challenge Academy and South Carolina Jobs Challenge Program Expungement Act."

Effect of Amendment

2014 Act No. 276, Section 3, in paragraph (2), deleted "for simple possession of marijuana or hashish"; added paragraph (10), relating to Section 17-22-330; and redesignated former paragraph (10) as (11).

2015 Act No. 22, Section 1, designated (A); in (A)(8), substituted "63-19-2050" for "20-7-8525"; in (A)(9), substituted "17-22-530(A)" for "17-22-530(a)"; and added (B).

2018 Act No. 254, Section 1, in (A), inserted (5), relating to first offense simple possession or possession with intent to distribute drug convictions, and redesignated (5) to (12) as (6) to (13).

2018 Act No. 262, Section 3, in (A), in (5), substituted "Section 56-5-750(F)" for "Section 56-5-750(f)", inserted (11), relating to the Youth Challenge Academy and Jobs Challenge Program, and redesignated (11) as (12); in (B), added the second sentence, providing for eligibility for expungement of offenses subsequently repealed when elements of the offense are consistent with an existing similar offense which is subject to expungement; and added (C), providing that expungement provisions apply retroactively to the offenses delineated.