H 3329 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 3329 General Bill, By Sheheen
A Bill to amend Sections 20-7-600, 20-7-770, 20-7-780, and 20-7-3300, all as
amended, and Section 20-7-1335, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating
to the confidentiality of juvenile criminal records, so as to remove the
confidentiality of these records for violent crimes, for crimes in which an
illegal weapon was used, and for violations of the "Narcotics and Controlled
Substances" Article; to allow fingerprinting and the release to the public of
the name, identity, and picture of a juvenile charged with these crimes; and
to prohibit expungement of these records.
02/02/93 House Introduced and read first time HJ-9
02/02/93 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-10
02/03/94 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary HJ-2
02/09/94 House Amended HJ-70
02/09/94 House Read second time HJ-70
02/10/94 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-512
02/15/94 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-8
02/15/94 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-8
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
February 9, 1994
H. 3329
Introduced by REP. Sheheen
S. Printed 2/9/94--H.
Read the first time February 2, 1993.
A BILL
TO AMEND SECTIONS 20-7-600, 20-7-770, 20-7-780, AND 20-7-3300, ALL AS AMENDED, AND SECTION 20-7-1335, CODE OF
LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE
CONFIDENTIALITY OF JUVENILE CRIMINAL RECORDS, SO AS
TO REMOVE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THESE RECORDS FOR
VIOLENT CRIMES, FOR CRIMES IN WHICH AN ILLEGAL
WEAPON WAS USED, AND FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE
"NARCOTICS AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES"
ARTICLE; TO ALLOW FINGERPRINTING AND THE RELEASE TO
THE PUBLIC OF THE NAME, IDENTITY, AND PICTURE OF A
JUVENILE CHARGED WITH THESE CRIMES; AND TO PROHIBIT
EXPUNGEMENT OF THESE RECORDS.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 20-7-600(D) of the 1976 Code, as last amended
by Act 571 of 1990, is further amended to read:
"(D) Peace officers' records of children must be kept separate
from records of adults, must not be open to public inspection, and may
be open to inspection only by governmental agencies authorized by the
judge; however, the record of a child is open to public inspection if
the record pertains to a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60 or to
a crime in which an illegal weapon was used or to distribution or
trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53, Article
3, or to an alcohol related offense for which the penalty is more than one
year."
SECTION 2. Section 20-7-770 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by
Act 181, Section 285 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 20-7-770. Notwithstanding the right of a person
to petition the family court pursuant to Section 20-7-780 for the release
of a person's record of juvenile adjudications, upon the request of the
Attorney General or a circuit solicitor which is made pursuant to a
current criminal investigation or prosecution, the Department of Juvenile
Justice shall provide the requesting party with a copy of the juvenile
criminal record of a person adjudicated as a juvenile for the commission
of a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60, for a crime in
which an illegal weapon was used, for distribution or trafficking in
unlawful drugs as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53, Article 3, or for an
alcohol related offense for which the penalty is more than one year.
A person with a record for an adjudicated violent crime must have
his juvenile criminal record maintained by the Department of Juvenile
Justice for at least ten years after the date of the violent offense
adjudication. The juvenile record of a person must be
maintained by the Department of Juvenile Justice for the same period as
for offenses committed by an adult when the offense is one for which the
record must be provided pursuant to this section."
SECTION 3. Section 20-7-780 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by
Act 181, Section 286 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 20-7-780. (A) The court shall make and keep
records of all cases brought before it and shall devise and cause to be
printed forms for social and legal records and other papers as may be
required. The official juvenile records of the courts and the Department
of Juvenile Justice are open to inspection only by consent of the judge
to persons having a legitimate interest but always must be available to
the legal counsel of the juvenile. All information obtained and social
records prepared in the discharge of official duty by an employee of the
court or Department of Juvenile Justice is confidential and must not be
disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone, other than the judge or others
entitled under this chapter to receive this information unless otherwise
ordered by the judge. However, these records are open to inspection
without the consent of the judge where the records:
(1) are necessary to defend against an action initiated by
a juvenile.; or
(2) pertain to:
(a) a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(b) a crime in which an illegal weapon was used;
(c) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in
Title 44, Chapter 53, Article 3; or
(d) an alcohol related offense for which the penalty is more
than one year.
(B) The When a juvenile is charged with a violent crime
as defined in Section 16-1-60 or with a crime in which an illegal weapon
was used, the Department of Juvenile Justice, if requested, shall
provide the victim of a violent the crime, as defined
in Section 16-1-60, with the name and other basic descriptive
information about the juvenile charged with the crime and with
information about the juvenile justice system, the status and disposition
of the delinquency action, including hearing dates, times, and
locations, and with information concerning services
available to victims of juvenile crime. The name, identity, or picture of
a child under the jurisdiction of the court, pursuant to this chapter, must
not be made public by a newspaper, radio, or television station except
as authorized by order of the court or if the juvenile is charged with
a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60 or with a crime in which
an illegal weapon was used or with distribution or trafficking in
unlawful drugs as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53, Article 3 or to an
already related offense for which the penalty is more than one year.
(C) A juvenile charged with committing a violent an
offense as defined in Section 16-1-60, or charged with committing
grand larceny of a motor vehicle, may be fingerprinted by the law
enforcement agency who takes the juvenile into custody if the
juvenile is charged with:
(1) a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(2) grand larceny of a motor vehicle;
(3) a crime in which an illegal weapon was used; or
(4) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Title
44, Chapter 53, Article 3; or
(5) an alcohol related offense for which the penalty is more than
one year.
A juvenile charged with committing a nonviolent an
offense other than those enumerated above in this subsection or
a status offense must may not be fingerprinted
by law enforcement except upon order of a family court judge. The
fingerprint records of a juvenile must may be kept
separate from the fingerprint records of adults. The fingerprint records
of a juvenile must may not be transmitted to the files of
the State Law Enforcement Division or to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation or otherwise distributed or provided to another law
enforcement agency unless the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent for
having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60,
or for grand larceny of a motor vehicle, for a crime in which
an illegal weapon was used, for distribution or trafficking in unlawful
drugs as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53, Article 3, or for an alcohol
related offense for which the penalty is more than one year. The
fingerprint records of a juvenile who is not adjudicated delinquent for
having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60,
or for grand larceny of a motor vehicle, for a crime in which an
illegal weapon was used, for distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs
as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53, Article 3, or for an alcohol related
offense for which the penalty is more than one year, upon
notification to law enforcement, must be destroyed or otherwise
expunged by the law enforcement agency who took the juvenile into
custody. The Department of Juvenile Justice may fingerprint and
photograph a juvenile upon commitment to a juvenile correctional
institution. Fingerprints and photographs taken by the Department of
Juvenile Justice remain confidential and must may not
be transmitted to the State Law Enforcement Division, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, or another agency or person, except for the
purpose of aiding the department in apprehending an escapee from the
department or assisting the Missing Persons Information Center in the
location or identification of a missing or runaway child or except as
otherwise provided for in this section."
SECTION 4. Section 20-7-1335 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act
108 of 1987, is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-1335. (A) A juvenile not previously
adjudicated delinquent for committing an offense which would have
been a crime if committed by an adult, who has been taken into
custody, or charged with, or adjudicated
delinquent for having committed a status offense or a nonviolent
criminal offense, not prohibited in subsection (C) from being
expunged, may petition the family court for an order destroying all
official records relating to his being taken into custody, the
charges filed against him, his the adjudication,
and the disposition. The granting of the order is discretionary
with the court. However, the court may not grant the order unless it finds
that the person who is seeking to have his these records
destroyed is at least eighteen years of age, has fully and successfully
completed any dispositional sentence imposed upon him, and
has neither been charged nor is not currently charged
with committing any additional criminal offenses.
(B) For purposes of this section, an adjudication is
considered a previous adjudication only if it occurred prior to
before the date the subsequent offense was committed.
(C) Under no circumstances is a person allowed to expunge
from his record an adjudication for having committed a violent
crime, as that term is defined in Section 16-1-60, for a
criminal offense in which an illegal weapon was used, for distribution
or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Title 44, Chapter 53,
Article 3, or for an alcohol related offense for which the penalty is more
than one year unless the person is not more than twenty-five years of age
and has not been adjudicated delinquent or convicted of an offense
described in this subsection within the preceding six years.
(D) If the order is granted by the court, no evidence of the
records may be retained by any a law enforcement
agency or by any a municipal, county, or state agency
or department. The effect of the order is to restore the person in the
contemplation of the law to the status he the person
occupied before he was being taken into custody. No
person 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 false statement by reason of his the person's
failure to recite or acknowledge the charge or adjudication in response
to an inquiry made of him the person for any
purpose."
SECTION 5. Section 20-7-3300 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by
Act 181, Section 328 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3300. (A) Records and information
of the department pertaining to juveniles are confidential as provided in
Section 20-7-780. However, where necessary and appropriate to ensure
the provision and coordination of services and assistance to a juvenile
under the custody or supervision of the department, the director must
establish policies by which the department may transmit information and
records to another department, or agency, or school
district of state or local government, or to a school
district or to a private institution or facility licensed by the State as
a child serving organization, where the information is required for
admission or enrollment of the juvenile into a program of services,
treatment, training, or education. If requested, records a
juvenile has been adjudicated and committed to the Department of
Juvenile Justice for having committed a violent crime, as defined in
Section 16-1-60, for a crime in which an illegal weapon was used, for
distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Title 44,
Chapter 53, Article 3, or for an alcohol related offense for which the
penalty is more than one year, the record and information provided
to a public or private school by the Department of Juvenile Justice must
include in the case of an individual who has been adjudicated for
having committed a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, the
unlawful use of possession of a weapon, assault and battery of a high
and aggravated nature, or the unlawful sale of drugs whether or not it is
considered to be drug trafficking, a copy of, and, if requested,
information pertaining to that person's juvenile criminal record. A
request for information must be in writing from the principal of the
school the juvenile is attending or seeking to attend and must contain the
juvenile's name, address, and social security number as contained in the
records of the school district. If a juvenile has been adjudicated and
committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for such an offense, the
person's juvenile criminal record must be provided by the Department
of Juvenile Justice to the principal of the school which the juvenile is
eligible to attend immediately upon the person's release from the
Department of Juvenile Justice. Each school district is responsible for
developing a policy for schools to follow within the district which
ensures that the confidential nature of these records and of the other
information received is maintained. This policy must include at a
minimum the retention of the juvenile's criminal record, and other
information relating to his criminal record, in the juvenile's school
disciplinary file, or in some other confidential location, restricting access
to the file and to its contents to school personnel as considered necessary
and appropriate to meet and adequately address the educational needs of
the juvenile and for the destruction of these records upon the juvenile's
completion of secondary school, or upon reaching twenty-one years of
age."
SECTION 6. All references in this act to a violent crime as defined in
Section 16-1-60 of the 1976 Code is the definition existing on this act's
effective date or the definition as may be amended after this act's
effective date.
SECTION 7. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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