Current Status Bill Number:619 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19950308 Primary Sponsor:Richter All Sponsors:Richter Drafted Document Number:RES9621.LER Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:Sex offender registry
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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Senate 19950308 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-3-410 AND 23-3-420, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE OPERATION AND REGULATION OF THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY BY THE STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION (SLED), SO AS TO MAKE TECHNICAL CHANGES; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-430, RELATING TO PARTICULAR CONVICTIONS WHICH RENDER A PERSON A "SEX OFFENDER", SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO REMAINS IN THIS STATE FOR THIRTY DAYS IS A RESIDENT; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-450, RELATING TO REGISTRATION WITH THE COUNTY SHERIFF, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE COUNTY SHERIFF TO ESTABLISH SPECIFIC TIMES OF THE DAY DURING WHICH AN OFFENDER MAY REGISTER; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-460, RELATING TO THE LIFETIME ANNUAL REGISTRATION BY AN OFFENDER, SO AS TO MAKE TECHNICAL CHANGES; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-470, RELATING TO THE PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO REGISTER, SO AS TO REVISE THE PENALTIES; AND TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-480, RELATING TO NOTICE OF THE DUTY TO REGISTER, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON CONVICTED OF AN OFFENSE PROVIDED IN SECTION 23-3-420 PRIOR TO JULY 1, 1994, AND WHO WAS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY PRIOR TO JULY 1, 1994, DOES NOT HAVE TO REGISTER UNLESS THE PERSON HAS BEEN SERVED NOTICE OF THE DUTY TO REGISTER BY THE SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE PERSON RESIDES, IN WHICH CASE SUCH PERSON SHALL REGISTER WITHIN TEN DAYS OF SUCH NOTIFICATION OF THE DUTY TO REGISTER.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Sections 23-3-410, 23-3-420, and 23-3-430 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:
"Section 23-3-410. The registry is under the direction of the chief of the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and may be organized and structured in a manner as shall contain information the chief considers appropriate to ensure the availability of information regarding necessary to assist law enforcement in the location of persons convicted of certain offenses. SLED shall develop and operate the registry to collect, analyze, and maintain information, to make information available to every enforcement agency in this State and in other states, and to establish a security system to ensure that only authorized personnel may gain access to information gathered under this article.
Section 23-3-420. The State Law Enforcement Division shall promulgate regulations prescribing:
(1) procedures for accepting and disseminating information maintained;
(2) the confidentiality of the data and information maintained in the registry;
(3) the proper disposition of all obsolete data;
(4) forms necessary for the efficient and proper operation of the registry to implement the provisions of this article.
Section 23-3-430. (A) Any person, regardless of age, residing in the State of South Carolina who has been convicted in this State, or who has been convicted in any comparable court in the United States, or who has been convicted in the United States federal courts, of the offenses described below or of similar offenses in other jurisdictions shall be required to register pursuant to the provisions of this Article article.
(B) For purposes of this article, a person who remains in this State for a total of thirty days during a twelve-month period is a resident of this State.
(C) For purposes of this article, a person convicted of any of these the following offenses shall be referred to as an offender.:
(1) criminal sexual conduct in the first degree (Section 16-3-652);
(2) criminal sexual conduct in the second degree (Section 16-3-653);
(3) criminal sexual conduct in the third degree (Section 16-3-654);
(4) criminal sexual conduct with minors (Section 16-3-655);
(5) engaging a child for sexual performance (Section 16-3-810);
(6) producing, directing, or promoting sexual performance by a child (Section 16-3-820);
(7) criminal sexual conduct: assaults with intent to commit (Section 16-3-656);
(8) kidnapping (Section 16-3-910);
(9) incest (Section 16-15-20);
(10) buggery (Section 16-15-120);
(11) indecent exposure (Section 16-15-130);
(12) committing or attempting lewd act upon child under fourteen (Section 16-15-140);
(13) eavesdropping or peeping (Section 16-17-470);
(14) conspiracy to kidnap (Section 16-3-920);
(15) violations of Article 3, Chapter 15 of Title 16 involving a minor which violations are felonies.
(D) Upon conviction of a person of an offense not listed in this article, the presiding judge may order as a condition of sentencing that the person be included in the sex offender registry, if good cause is shown by the solicitor."
SECTION 2. Sections 23-3-450, 23-3-460, 23-3-470, and 23-3-480 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:
"Section 23-3-450. The offender shall register with the sheriff of the county in which he resides. To register, the offender must provide information as prescribed by the SLED. The county sheriff shall then forward to SLED the registry information and any updated information regarding the offender. A copy of this information must be kept by the sheriff's department. The county sheriff shall ensure that all information required by SLED is secured, including the establishment of specific times of the day during an offender may register. An offender shall not be considered to have registered until all information prescribed by SLED has been obtained.
Section 23-3-460. Any person required to register under this article shall be required to register annually for a period of life. The offender shall register at the sheriff's department in the county where he resides.
If any person required to register under this article changes his address within the same county, that person must send written notice of the change of address to the county sheriff within ten days of establishing the new residence.
If any person required to register under this section changes his address into another county in South Carolina, the person must register with the county sheriff in the new county within ten days of establishing the new residence. The person must also provide written notice within ten days of the change of address in the previous county to the county sheriff with whom the person last registered.
If any person required to register under this article moves outside of South Carolina, the person must provide written notice within ten days of the change of address to a new state to the county sheriff with whom the person last registered.
If any Any person required to register under this article who moves to South Carolina from another state and is not under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Corrections, the State Department of Probation, and Parole, and Pardon Services, or the Department of Juvenile Justice at the time of moving to South Carolina, must register within sixty days of establishing residence, or re-establishing residence, if the person is a former South Carolina resident in this State.
The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles shall inform, in writing to, any new resident who applies for a drivers driver's license, a chauffeur's license, vehicle tag, or a state identification card of the obligation of those offenders to register.
Section 23-3-470. (A) It is the duty of the offender to contact the sheriff in order to register. The failure of an offender to register as required by this article is a felony and, upon conviction, the offender must be: shall be punished as provided in subsection (B).
(1) fined one thousand dollars and sentenced to a mandatory ninety days in jail for a first or second offense. In no event does the court have the power to absolve a person who willfully violates this section; and
(2) sentenced to a mandatory one year not to exceed five years imprisonment and may be fined one thousand dollars for a third or subsequent offense. In no event does the court have the power to absolve a person who willfully violates this section from the obligation of serving at least one year of imprisonment
(B)(1) A person convicted for a first offense is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory period of ninety days, no part of which shall be suspended or probation granted.
(2) A person convicted for a second offense is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory period of one year, no part of which shall be suspended or probation granted.
(3) A person convicted for a third or subsequent offense is guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a mandatory period of five years, three years of which shall not be suspended or probation granted.
Section 23-3-480. (A) An arrest on charges of failure to register, service of an information, or a complaint for failure to register, or arraignment on charges of failure to register, constitutes actual notice of the duty to register. A person charged with the crime of failure to register who asserts as a defense the lack of notice of the duty to register shall register immediately following actual notice through arrest, service, or arraignment. Failure to register after notice as required by this article constitutes grounds for filing another charge of failure to register. Registering following arrest, service, or arraignment on charges does not relieve the offender from the criminal penalty for failure to register before the filing of the original charge.
(B) Section 23-3-470 shall not apply to a person convicted of an offense provided in Section 23-3-420 prior to July 1, 1994, and who was released from custody prior to July 1, 1994, unless the person has been served notice of the duty to register by the sheriff of the county in which the person resides. Such person shall register within ten days of such notification of the duty to register."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.