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Expungement
Information
An "Expungement" is the destruction or
obliteration of criminal records relating to an arrest or a conviction. South Carolina law
allows for the destruction of arrest and/or conviction information under the following
limited circumstances.
DISMISSAL OR NON CONVICTION OF OFFENSE
Pursuant to South Carolina Code of Laws § 17-1-40, the
arrest and booking record, files, mug shots, and fingerprints of any person, who after
being charged with a criminal offense and such charge is discharged or proceedings against
such person dismissed or is found to be innocent of such charge, shall be destroyed and no
evidence of such record pertaining to such charge shall be retained by any municipal,
county or State law enforcement agency
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PRE-TRIAL INTERVENTION
Pre-trial Intervention is a diversion program for
first-time non-violent criminal offenders. Participants are required to perform, among
other things, community restitution and make monetary restitution to their victims. South
Carolina Code of Laws § 17-22-150 allows offenders, who successfully complete the
pretrial intervention program to apply to the court for an order to destroy all official
records relating to his arrest. The effect of the order is to restore the person, in the
contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied before the arrest. No person, as to
whom the order has been entered, may be held thereafter under any provision of any law to
be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his failure to
recite or acknowledge the arrest in response to any inquiry made of him for any purpose.
FRAUDULENT CHECKS
After a first offense conviction of fraudulent intent in
drawing check, draft or other written order, the defendant may, after one year from the
date of the conviction, apply, or cause someone acting on his behalf to apply, to the
court for an order expunging the records of the arrest and conviction. This provision does
not apply to any crime classified as a felony (that is, any check valued in excess of Five
Thousand Dollars). If the defendant has had no other conviction during the one-year period
following the conviction under this section, the court shall issue an order expunging the
records. No person has any rights under this section more than one time. See South
Carolina Code of Laws § 34-11-90(e).
SIMPLE POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA – First Offense
Pursuant to South Carolina Code of Laws § 44-53-450(b),
any person, not over the age of twenty-five, who has been sentenced to a "Conditional
Discharge" for their first offense of simple possession of marijuana, may, upon
completion of the sentencing requirements, apply to the court for an order to expunge from
all official records all information relating to his arrest, indictment, trial, finding of
guilty, and dismissal and discharge pursuant to this section. No person as to whom such
order has been entered shall be held thereafter under any provision of any law to be
guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his failures to
recite or acknowledge such arrest, or indictment or information, or trial in response to
any inquiry made of him for any purpose.
FIRST OFFENSE CONVICTIONS IN MAGISTRATE’S OR
MUNICIPAL COURT
Under South Carolina Code of Laws § 22-5-910, a defendant
may apply three years after the date of the conviction for an order expunging the records
of the arrest and conviction of a first offense conviction in a magistrate's court or a
municipal court. However, this section does not apply to any of the following offenses:
Offenses
involving the operation of a motor vehicle,
Violations
of Title 50 (Fish, Game and Watercraft) or the regulations promulgated under it for which
points are assessed, suspension provided for, or enhanced penalties for subsequent
offenses authorized,
Offenses
contained in Chapter 25 of Title 16 (Criminal Domestic Violence).
If the defendant has had no other conviction during the
three-year period following the first offense conviction in a magistrate's court or a
municipal court, the circuit court may issue an order expunging the records. No person may
have his records expunged under this section more than once.
The
office of the South Carolina Court Administration has designed a form Order which must be
used for all expungements. The Order must be consented to by the Circuit Solicitor and
approved and signed by the Circuit Judge.
The
Solicitor will consent to every case in which a properly completed proposed Order is
presented to him along with all documentation, certification from the Court, and prior
criminal record check necessary to confirm that the defendant is lawfully entitled to the
expungement. There is no charge for the Solicitor’s consent to the proposed Order.
Expungement Directions and Order
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