Reference is to Printer's Date 5/6/15-S.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by by inserting an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION __. Article 9, Chapter 22, Title 17 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 17-22-960.
(A)(1) A person who is applying for an
order of pardon for an offense pursuant to Article 11, Chapter
9, Title 24 may request that the South Carolina Board of Paroles
and Pardons recommend the expungement of records related to the
offense.
(2)
A person who has received an order of pardon for an
offense as provided by law prior to the effective date of this
section may apply to the South Carolina Board of Paroles and
Pardons to request that the board recommend the expungement of
records related to the offense.
(B) This section does
not apply to a person who is applying for an order of pardon or
has received an order of pardon for a crime of violence as
provided in Section 16-23-10 or for breach of trust as provided
in Sections 16-13-230(B) and (C).
(C) The applicant shall
pay a recommendation of expungement application fee of one
hundred-fifty dollars, which must be retained by the South
Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and
used to defray the costs associated with the expungement
process. The fee is nonrefundable, regardless of whether the
offense is later determined to be ineligible for expungement. If
the applicant is applying for an order of pardon and a
recommendation of expungement at the same time, the applicant
shall pay both the order of pardon application fee and the
recommendation of expungement application fee.
(D) The South Carolina
Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services shall
implement policies and procedures consistent with this section
to ensure that the recommendation of expungement process is
properly conducted. Such policies and procedures must include,
but are not limited to:
(1)
assisting the applicant in completing the recommendation
of expungement application;
(2)
collecting from the applicant and distributing to the
appropriate agencies separate certified checks or money orders
for charges prescribed by this section;
(3)
notifying the appropriate victim of the application
pursuant to Section 16-3-1560, and the appropriate prosecuting
or law enforcement agency;
(4)
coordinating with the South Carolina Law Enforcement
Division to confirm that the offense is statutorily appropriate
for expungement;
(5)
obtaining and verifying the presence of all necessary
signatures; and
(6)
providing copies of the completed recommendation of
expungement to the applicant.
(E) The South Carolina
Law Enforcement Division shall verify and document that the
offense sought to be expunged is appropriate for expungement.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the appropriate
solicitor's office with jurisdiction over the offense shall each
receive a twenty-five dollar certified check or money order from
the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon
Services on behalf of the applicant made payable to the South
Carolina Law Enforcement Division and to the appropriate
solicitor's office with jurisdiction over the offense. The
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division shall forward the
necessary documentation back to the South Carolina Department of
Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Neither the South
Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services nor
the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division shall allow the
applicant to take possession of the application during the
recommendation of expungement application process.
(F)(1) The appropriate
prosecuting or law enforcement agency may file an objection to
the recommendation of expungement with the South Carolina Board
of Paroles and Pardons within sixty days of receiving notice of
the application. The prosecuting or law enforcement agency's
reason for objecting must be that the:
(a)
applicant has other charges pending;
(b)
prosecuting or law enforcement agency believes that the
evidence in the case needs to be preserved; or
(c)
applicant's charges were dismissed as a part of a plea
agreement.
(2)
The prosecuting or law enforcement agency must notify the
applicant of the objection in writing at the address listed on
the application.
(G) The appropriate
victim may file an objection to the recommendation of
expungement with the Board of Paroles and Pardon within one year
of receiving notice of the application.
(H) If an objection is
filed by the prosecuting agency, law enforcement agency, or the
victim, the objection must be heard by the South Carolina Board
of Paroles and Pardons, acting in a three-member panel or
meeting as a full board, and taken into consideration when the
board is making a determination as to whether to recommend
expungement of the applicant's records.
(I) If no objection is
filed by the prosecuting agency, law enforcement agency, or the
victim, an administrative hearing officer, appointed by the
Director of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole
and Pardon Services, may review the application and submit to
the South Carolina Board of Paroles and Pardons written findings
of fact and recommendations which must be taken into
consideration when the board is making a determination as to
whether to recommend expungement of the applicant's records.
(J) If the South
Carolina Board of Paroles and Pardons, acting in a three-member
panel or meeting as a full board, recommends expungement of the
applicant's records, five years have passed since the completion
of all terms and conditions of the person's sentence, including
payment of restitution, and the person has had no other
convictions other than minor traffic offenses during the
five-year period, the person may apply to the appropriate
solicitor's office for expungement pursuant to this article.
(K)(1) No person may
have the person's records expunged pursuant to this section more
than once.
(2)
After the expungement, the South Carolina Department of
Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the South Carolina Law
Enforcement Division shall keep a nonpublic record of the
offense and the order of expungement to ensure that no person
takes advantage of the rights of this section more than once.
The nonpublic record is not subject to release pursuant to
Section 34-11-95, the Freedom of Information Act, or any other
provision of law except to those authorized law or court
officials who need to know the information in order to prevent
the rights afforded by this section from being taken advantage
of more than once."
/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.