South Carolina General Assembly
120th Session, 2013-2014

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H. 3534

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Hardwick, Erickson, Long, Munnerlyn, J.R. Smith, Allison, M.S. McLeod, Patrick, Huggins, Atwater, Dillard and Tallon
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7118ahb13.docx

Introduced in the House on February 7, 2013
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: State Grand Jury

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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    2/7/2013  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 21)
    2/7/2013  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 21)

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

2/7/2013

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

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 14-7-1630, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE STATE GRAND JURY, SO AS TO ADD TO THE STATE GRAND JURY'S JURISDICTION A CRIME INVOLVING OR RELATING TO THE OFFENSE OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS WHEN A VICTIM IS TRAFFICKED IN MORE THAN ONE COUNTY OR WHEN THE TRAFFICKER COMMITS THE OFFENSE IN MORE THAN ONE COUNTY.

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

SECTION    1.    Section 14-7-1630(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 280 of 2008, is further amended to read:

"(A)    The jurisdiction of a state grand jury impaneled pursuant to the provisions of this article extends throughout the State. The subject matter jurisdiction of a state grand jury in all cases is limited to the following offenses:

(1)    a crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances, or a crime arising out of or in connection with a crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances including, but not limited to, money laundering as specified in Section 44-53-475, obstruction of justice, perjury or subornation of perjury, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit one of the aforementioned crimes if the crime is of a multi-county nature or has transpired or is transpiring or has significance in more than one county of this State;

(2)    a crime involving criminal gang activity or a pattern of criminal gang activity pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 8, Title 16;

(3)    a crime, statutory, common law or other, involving public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615, a crime, statutory, common law or other, arising out of or in connection with a crime involving public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615, and any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime, statutory, common law or other, involving public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615;

(4)    a crime involving the election laws including, but not limited to, those named offenses as specified in Title 7, or a common law crime involving the election laws if not superseded, or a crime arising out of or in connection with the election laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws;

(5)    a crime involving computer crimes, pursuant to Chapter 16, Title 16, or a conspiracy or solicitation to commit a crime involving computer crimes;

(6)    a crime involving terrorism, or a conspiracy or solicitation to commit a crime involving terrorism. Terrorism includes an activity that:

(a)    involves an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of this State;

(b)    appears to be intended to:

(i)     intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(ii)    influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(iii)    affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

(c)    occurs primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of this State;

(7)    a crime involving a violation of Chapter 1, Title 35 of the Uniform Securities Act, or a crime related to securities fraud or a violation of the securities laws;

(8)    a crime involving obscenity including, but not limited to, a crime as provided in Article 3, Chapter 15, Title 16 or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime involving obscenity;

(9)    a crime involving the knowing and wilful making of, aiding and abetting in the making of, or soliciting or conspiring to make a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in an affidavit regarding an alien's lawful presence in the United States, as defined by law, if the number of violations exceeds twenty or if the public benefit received by a person from a violation or combination of violations exceeds twenty thousand dollars;

(10)    a crime involving financial identity fraud or identity fraud involving the false, fictitious, or fraudulent creation or use of documents used in an immigration matter as defined in Section 16-13-525, if the number of violations exceeds twenty, or if the value of the ascertainable loss of money or property suffered by a person or persons from a violation or combination of violations exceeds twenty thousand dollars;

(11)    a crime involving the knowing and wilful making of, aiding or abetting in the making of, or soliciting or conspiring to make a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in a document prepared or executed as part of the provision of immigration assistance services in an immigration matter, as defined by law, if the number of violations exceeds twenty, or if a benefit received by a person from a violation or combination of violations exceeds twenty thousand dollars; and

(12)    a knowing and wilful crime involving actual and substantial harm to the water, ambient air, soil or land, or both soil and land. This crime includes a knowing and wilful violation of the Pollution Control Act, the Atomic Energy and Radiation Control Act, the State Underground Petroleum Environmental Response Bank Act, the State Safe Drinking Water Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Infectious Waste Management Act, the Solid Waste Policy and Management Act, the Erosion and Sediment Control Act, the South Carolina Mining Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act, or a knowing and wilful crime arising out of or in connection with environmental laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a knowing and wilful crime involving the environment if the anticipated actual damages including, but not limited to, the cost of remediation, are two million dollars or more, as certified by an independent environmental engineer who must be contracted by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. If the knowing and wilful crime is a violation of federal law, then a conviction or an acquittal pursuant to federal law for the same act is a bar to the impaneling of a state grand jury pursuant to this section.; and

(13)    a crime involving or relating to the offense of trafficking in persons, as defined in Section 16-3-2020, when a victim is trafficked in more than one county or a trafficker commits the offense of trafficking in persons in more than one county."

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.

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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