S 0917 General Bill, By Washington
 A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 16-1-57 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO THE PENALTY FOR THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT CONVICTIONS OF CERTAIN
 PROPERTY OFFENSES, SO AS TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN SHOPLIFTING OFFENSES FROM THE
 PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, AND TO AMEND SECTION 16-13-110, RELATING TO
 SHOPLIFTING, SO AS TO REVISE THE PENALTIES AND TO PROVIDE THAT ONLY THOSE
 OFFENSES OCCURRING WITHIN A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS INCLUDING AND IMMEDIATELY
 PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE LAST OFFENSE SHALL CONSTITUTE PRIOR OFFENSES FOR
 PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.

   01/14/98  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-36
   01/14/98  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-36

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 16-1-57 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PENALTY FOR THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT CONVICTIONS OF CERTAIN PROPERTY OFFENSES, SO AS TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN SHOPLIFTING OFFENSES FROM THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, AND TO AMEND SECTION 16-13-110, RELATING TO SHOPLIFTING, SO AS TO REVISE THE PENALTIES AND TO PROVIDE THAT ONLY THOSE OFFENSES OCCURRING WITHIN A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS INCLUDING AND IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE LAST OFFENSE SHALL CONSTITUTE PRIOR OFFENSES FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION.

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

SECTION 1. Section 16-1-57 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-1-57. A Except as provided in Section 16-3-110 for shoplifting offenses, a person convicted of an offense for which the term of imprisonment is contingent upon the value of the property involved must, upon conviction for a third or subsequent offense, be punished as prescribed for a Class E felony."

SECTION 2. Section 16-13-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-13-110. (A) A person is guilty of shoplifting if he:

(1) takes possession of, carries away, transfers from one person to another or from one area of a store or other retail mercantile establishment to another area, or causes to be carried away or transferred any merchandise displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale by any store or other retail mercantile establishment with the intention of depriving the merchant of the possession, use, or benefit of the merchandise without paying the full retail value;

(2) alters, transfers, or removes any label, price tag marking, indicia of value, or any other markings which aid in determining value affixed to any merchandise displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale in a store or other retail mercantile establishment and attempts to purchase the merchandise personally or in consort with another at less than the full retail value with the intention of depriving the merchant of the full retail value of the merchandise;

(3) transfers any merchandise displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale by any store or other retail mercantile establishment from the container in which it is displayed to any other container with intent to deprive the merchant of the full retail value.

(B) A person who violates the provisions of this section for a first or second offense is guilty of a:

(1) misdemeanor triable exclusively in magistrate's court and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days if the value of the shoplifted merchandise is one thousand dollars or less;

(2) felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, if the value of the shoplifted merchandise is more than one thousand dollars but less than five thousand dollars;

(3) felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years if the value of the shoplifted merchandise is five thousand dollars or more.

(C)(1) A person violating this section for a third or subsequent offense must be punished as provided in Section 16-1-57, except that a third offense in which the value of the shoplifted merchandise is one thousand dollars or less must be tried exclusively in magistrate's court and must be punished as provided in subsection (B)(1).

(2) A fourth or subsequent offense in which the value of the shoplifted merchandise is one thousand dollars or less may be tried in either a magistrate's court or in the court of general sessions. An offense that is tried in magistrate's court must be punished as provided in subsection (B)(1). An offense that is tried in the court of general sessions must be punished as provided in Section 16-1-57. (D) Only those offenses which occurred within a period of ten years including and immediately preceding the date of the last offense shall constitute prior offenses for purposes of this section."

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