Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:240 Primary Sponsor:Gilbert Committee Number:03 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Pardon, expungement of records Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Corrections and Penology Computer Document Number:240 Introduced Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Body:Senate Last History Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Type:Introduced and read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Gilbert Stilwell Hinds Moore Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN
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240 Senate Jan 08, 1991 Introduced and read first 03
time, referred to Committee
240 Senate Oct 15, 1990 Prefiled, referred to 03
Committee
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TO AMEND SECTION 24-21-940, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR PURPOSES OF PARDONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE GRANTING OF A PARDON OPERATES AS AN ORDER OF EXPUNGEMENT OF ALL OFFICIAL RECORDS RELATING TO THE CONVICTION FOR WHICH THE PARDON IS GRANTED, TO PROVIDE THAT THE PERSON PARDONED MUST PRESENT THE PARDON CERTIFICATE TO THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIAL RECORDHOLDERS FOR THE EXPUNGEMENT TO BE ACCOMPLISHED, TO DEFINE 'PARTIAL PARDON' AS A PARDON WHICH DOES NOT OPERATE AS AN EXPUNGEMENT ORDER, TO PROVIDE FOR THE DUTIES OF RECORDHOLDERS WITH RESPECT TO THIS EXPUNGEMENT, AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 24-21-940 A. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"A. (1) 'Pardon' means that an individual is fully pardoned fully from all the legal consequences of his crime and of his conviction, direct and collateral, including the punishment, whether of imprisonment, pecuniary penalty, or whatever else the law has provided. A pardon also operates as an order of expungement of all official records relating to the arrest, indictment, trial, conviction, and sentence for the offense for which the pardon is granted. In order for local and state records to be expunged, the individual granted the pardon shall present the pardon certificate to the appropriate official recordholders.
(2) 'Partial pardon' means that an individual is pardoned from all the legal consequences of his crimes as provided in subsection A(1) of this section, except that a 'partial pardon' does not operate as an order of expungement. Where 'pardon' appears in this article, it includes a pardon or a partial pardon as determined by the board.
(3) The official state, county, or municipal recordholder as defined in Section 30-1-20 is responsible for the destruction of the records pertaining to the conviction for which the individual has been pardoned to include the arrest, conviction, and booking record, files, mug shots, and fingerprints and no evidence of the conviction may be retained by a state, county, or municipal state law enforcement entity. An official recordholder who refuses to destroy or expunge the records as required by this item, after proper presentation of an original pardon certificate, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.