South Carolina General Assembly
119th Session, 2011-2012

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A225, R262, S168

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Shoopman, Verdin and Leventis
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7033ahb11.docx

Introduced in the Senate on January 11, 2011
Introduced in the House on April 17, 2012
Last Amended on March 28, 2012
Passed by the General Assembly on June 6, 2012
Governor's Action: June 18, 2012, Signed

Summary: Timber

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12/1/2010  Senate  Prefiled
   12/1/2010  Senate  Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Natural 
                        Resources
   1/11/2011  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 80)
   1/11/2011  Senate  Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Natural 
                        Resources (Senate Journal-page 80)
   1/12/2012  Senate  Committee report: Majority favorable with amend., 
                        minority unfavorable Agriculture and Natural Resources 
                        (Senate Journal-page 8)
   3/28/2012  Senate  Minority Report Removed (Senate Journal-page 39)
   3/28/2012  Senate  Committee Amendment Amended and Adopted 
                        (Senate Journal-page 39)
   3/29/2012  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 16)
   3/29/2012  Senate  Roll call Ayes-37  Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 16)
   3/29/2012          Scrivener's error corrected
   4/10/2012  Senate  Read third time and sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 14)
   4/17/2012  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 7)
   4/17/2012  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 7)
   5/30/2012  House   Committee report: Favorable Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 33)
    6/5/2012  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 83)
    6/5/2012  House   Roll call Yeas-111  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 83)
    6/6/2012  House   Read third time and enrolled (House Journal-page 34)
   6/12/2012          Ratified R 262
   6/18/2012          Signed By Governor
   6/20/2012          Effective date 07/01/12
   6/26/2012          Act No. 225

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/1/2010
1/12/2012
3/28/2012
3/29/2012
5/30/2012


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A225, R262, S168)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 16-11-580, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR CUTTING, REMOVING, OR TRANSPORTING FOREST PRODUCTS WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE LANDOWNER, SO AS TO REVISE THE PENALTIES AND PROVIDE GRADUATED PENALTIES FOR FIRST AND SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES BASED ON THE VALUE OF THE FOREST PRODUCTS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Forest products, unlawful cutting, destroying, or removing, penalties revised

SECTION    1.    Section 16-11-580 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 273 of 2004, is further amended to read:

"Section 16-11-580.    (A)    It is unlawful for a person to knowingly and wilfully:

(1)    cut, destroy, or remove forest products without the consent of the landowner;

(2)    aid, hire, or counsel another person to cut, destroy, or remove forest products without the consent of the landowner;

(3)    obtain or acquire forest products under false pretenses or with fraudulent intent; or

(4)    transport forest products if the person knows that the forest products have been cut, removed, obtained, or acquired from the property of a landowner in violation of the provisions of this subsection.

(B)    If the value of the forest products is one thousand dollars or less, a person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction:

(1)    for a first offense, must be fined not more than fifteen hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both; and

(2)    for a second or subsequent offense, must be fined not less than two thousand dollars and not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than sixty days, or both.

(C)    If the value of the forest products is more than one thousand dollars but less than five thousand dollars, a person who violates the provisions of subsection (A):

(1)    for a first offense, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five thousand dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both; and

(2)    for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than ten thousand dollars and not more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years.

(D)    If the value of the forest products is five thousand dollars or more, a person who violates the provisions of subsection (A):

(1)    for a first offense, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than ten thousand dollars and not more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and

(2)    for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than ten thousand dollars and not more than twenty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years.

(E)    As used in this section, 'forest products' include, but are not limited to, timber, trees, logs, lumber, or pine straw or any other products in the forest, whether merchantable or nonmerchantable, and which are located on any land in this State, whether publicly or privately owned."

Savings clause

SECTION    2.    The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the repealed or amended laws.

Time effective

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect July 1, 2012.

Ratified the 12th day of June, 2012.

Approved the 18th day of June, 2012.

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