South Carolina General Assembly
120th Session, 2013-2014

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Bill 284

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


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

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

COMMITTEE REPORT

March 20, 2013

S. 284

Introduced by Senator Hutto

S. Printed 3/20/13--S.

Read the first time January 23, 2013.

            

THE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

To whom was referred a Bill (S. 284) to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Section 16-3-2100 so as to require the posting of information regarding the national human trafficking, etc., respectfully

REPORT:

That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:

/    SECTION    1.    Section 14-7-1630(A) of the 1976 Code is 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 is 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.    Article 19, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 16-3-2100.    (A)    The following establishments are required to post the information contained in subsection (B) regarding the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline:

(1)    an establishment which has been declared a nuisance for prostitution pursuant to Chapter 43, Title 15;

(2)    an adult business, including a nightclub, bar, restaurant, or another similar establishment in which a person appears in a state of sexually explicit nudity, as defined in Section 16-15-375, or semi-nudity, as defined in Section 57-25-120; and

(3)    an airport, train station, and bus station.

(B)    The information must be posted in a prominent location conspicuous to the public at the entrance of the establishment where posters and notices are customarily posted on a poster no smaller than eight and one-half by eleven inches in size and must state the following:

'If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave, whether it is commercial sex, housework, farmwork, or any other activity, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to access help and services. Victims of human trafficking are protected under federal law and the laws of South Carolina. The hotline is:

(1)    available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week;

(2)    operated by a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization;

(3)    anonymous and confidential;

(4)    accessible in one hundred seventy languages;

(5)    able to provide help, referral to services, training, and general information.'

(C)    The Department of Revenue and the Department of Transportation, as appropriate depending on the regulatory control or authority the respective department exercises over the establishment, are directed to provide each establishment with the notice required to be posted by this section. The departments shall post on the departments' websites a sample of the notice required to be posted which must be accessible for download.

(D)    The Department of Revenue or the Department of Transportation, as appropriate, is authorized to issue a written warning to an establishment which fails to post the required notice provided in this section and may assess a fine of not more than fifty dollars for each subsequent violation. Each day that the establishment remains in violation of this section is considered a separate and distinct violation and the establishment may be fined accordingly.

(E)    The Department of Revenue and Department of Transportation are directed to collaborate on the design of the required notice to be posted and shall have the design finalized no later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. Establishments required to post the notice must be in compliance no later than six months after the effective date of this section.

(F)    This section does not apply to establishments providing entertainment in theatres, concert halls, art centers, museums, or similar establishments that are devoted primarily to the arts or theatrical performances when the performances presented are expressing matters of serious literary, artistic, scientific, or political value."

SECTION    3.    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    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.    /

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.

C. BRADLEY HUTTO for Committee.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-2100 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE POSTING OF INFORMATION REGARDING THE NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCE CENTER HOTLINE IN CERTAIN BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS, PROVIDE THE LANGUAGE FOR THE POSTING, AND PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO POST.

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

SECTION    1.    Article 19, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 16-3-2100.    (A)    The following establishments are required to post the information contained in subsection (B) regarding the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline, an:

(1)    establishment which has been declared a nuisance for prostitution pursuant to Chapter 43, Title 15;

(2)    adult business including a nightclub, bar, restaurant, or another similar establishment in which a person appears in a state of sexually explicit nudity, as defined in Section 16-15-375, or semi-nudity, as defined in Section 57-25-120; and

(3)    airport, train station, and bus station.

(B)    The posting required by the provisions of subsection (A) must be posted in a prominent location conspicuous to the public at the entrance of the establishment where posters and notices are customarily posted on a poster no smaller than 8.5 by 11 inches in size and stating the following:

'If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave, whether it is commercial sex, housework, farmwork, or any other activity, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to access help and services. Victims of human trafficking are protected under federal law and the laws of South Carolina. The hotline is:

(1)    available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week;

(2)    operated by a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization;

(3)    anonymous and confidential;

(4)    accessible in one hundred seventy languages;

(5)    able to provide help, referral to services, training, and general information.'

(C)    The Department of Revenue and the Department of Transportation, as appropriate depending on the regulatory control or authority the respective department exercises over the establishment, are directed to provide each establishment provided in subsection (A) with the notice required to be posted by this section. The departments shall post on their websites a sample of the notice required to be posted which must be accessible for download.

(D)    The Department of Revenue or the Department of Transportation, as appropriate, is authorized to issue a written warning to an establishment which fails to post the required notice provided in this section and may assess a fine of not more than fifty dollars for each subsequent violation. Each day that the establishment remains in violation of the provisions of this section is considered a separate and distinct violation and the establishment may be fined accordingly.

(E)    The Department of Revenue and Department of Transportation are directed to collaborate on the design of the required notice to be posted and shall have the design finalized no later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. Establishments required to post this notice must be in compliance not later than six months after the effective date of this section.

(F)    The provisions of this section do not apply to establishments providing entertainment in theatres, concert halls, art centers, museums, or similar establishments that are devoted primarily to the arts or theatrical performances when the performances presented are expressing matters of serious literary, artistic, scientific, or political value."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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