H 4656 General Bill, By Haskins, Allison, Bailey, Cooper, Davenport, Easterday, 
R.J. Herdklotz, Inabinett, Kelley, Knotts, Law, Limehouse, Loftis, Rice, 
Meacham, Robinson, Simrill, R. Smith, Stille, Vaughn, D.C. Waldrop and 
D.A. Wright

Similar(S 1189)
 A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Section
 17-1-15 so as to provide that the South Carolina Supreme Court shall
 promulgate rules establishing time limits for the completion of certain
 criminal pretrial, trial, and appellate procedures, instances for which a
 continuance may be granted in circuit court; and by adding Section 17-1-17 so
 as to provide civil penalties to be levied upon officers of the court that
 violate the provisions of Section 17-1-15.

   02/22/96  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-2
   02/22/96  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-2

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 17-1-15 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT SHALL PROMULGATE RULES ESTABLISHING TIME LIMITS FOR THE COMPLETION OF CERTAIN CRIMINAL PRETRIAL, TRIAL, AND APPELLATE PROCEDURES, INSTANCES FOR WHICH A CONTINUANCE MAY BE GRANTED IN CIRCUIT COURT; AND BY ADDING SECTION 17-1-17 SO AS TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES TO BE LEVIED UPON OFFICERS OF THE COURT THAT VIOLATE THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 17-1-15.

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

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 17-1-15. The South Carolina Supreme Court shall promulgate rules that require:

(1) the period from the arrest of a person to his indictment shall not exceed thirty days;

(2) the period from the indictment of a person to the commencement of a trial shall not exceed ninety days in a case in which the solicitor is not seeking the death penalty;

(3) the period from the indictment of a person to the commencement of a trial of a person shall not exceed one hundred eighty days in a case in which the solicitor is seeking the death penalty;

(4) the period from the filing of a notice of appeal for a person who has been sentenced to death to the commencement of a hearing of the appeal by an appellate court shall not exceed ninety days;

(5) the period from the declaration of a mistrial to the commencement of a new trial for any defendant shall not exceed ninety days;

(6) the period from the notification of an appellate court ruling for a new trial and the commencement of a new trial shall not exceed ninety days;

(7) the General Sessions Court not to grant a continuance because of general court backlog. However, it may grant a continuance for:

(a) the examination of a defendant to determine his mental or physical competency to stand trial;

(b) the placement of a defendant in a pretrial intervention or pretrial diversion program;

(c) the processing of charges against a defendant by another county, state, or the federal government;

(d) the consideration of pretrial motions;

(e) the transfer of a defendant's case to another jurisdiction;

(f) the provision of medical or mental health treatment to a defendant;

(g) the disappearance of a defendant;

(h) the preparation of cases involving multiple defendants of a single crime;

(i) instances in which a case is unusual or complex and contains a novel question of fact or law, there is a large number of defendants, or the nature of the prosecution would make it unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings;

(j) a change in defense counsel; or

(k) instances in which a defendant cooperates with law enforcement officials during an investigation."

SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 17-1-17. The court may impose a civil fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars or more than five hundred dollars upon an officer of the court who violates a provision of Section 17-1-15, or require the court to ban the officer from appearing before the court for not more than ninety days."

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