Current Status Bill Number:3588 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19970303 Primary Sponsor:Sheheen All Sponsors:Sheheen Drafted Document Number:bbm\9201ac.97 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 25 HJ Subject:Juvenile criminal records, confidentiality of certain removed, Minors, Courts, Crimes and Offenses
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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House 19970303 Introduced, read first time, 25 HJ
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND SECTIONS 20-7-8505, 20-7-8510, AND 20-7-8520, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, ALL RELATING TO JUVENILE CRIMINAL RECORDS, INCLUDING FINGERPRINTING, AND THE CONFIDENTIALITY, DISCLOSURE, AND DESTRUCTION OF THESE RECORDS, SO AS TO REMOVE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THESE RECORDS FOR OFFENSES WHICH, IF COMMITTED BY AN ADULT, WOULD BE A CRIME FOR WHICH THE PENALTY COULD BE IMPRISONMENT FOR ONE YEAR OR MORE, TO AUTHORIZE THE FINGERPRINTS AND RELEASE TO THE PUBLIC OF THE NAME, IDENTITY, AND PICTURE OF A JUVENILE CHARGED WITH SUCH A CRIME, AND TO PROHIBIT EXPUNGEMENT OF THESE RECORDS EXCEPT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 20-7-8505 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-8505. Records and information of the department pertaining to juveniles shall be are confidential as provided in Section 20-7-8510; provided, however, that. However, where necessary and appropriate to ensure the provision and coordination of services and assistance to a juvenile under the custody or supervision of the department, the director must establish policies by which the department may transmit such information and records to another department or agency of state or local government, a school district, or a private institution or facility licensed by the State as a child-serving organization, where such is required for admission or enrollment of the juvenile into a program of services, treatment, training, or education. Records If a juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent and committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more, the records and information provided to a public or private school by the Department of Juvenile Justice must include in the case of an individual who has been adjudicated for having committed a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60, for a crime in which a weapon was used, or for distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44, a copy of and, if requested, information pertaining to that person's juvenile criminal record. The person's juvenile criminal record must be provided by the Department of Juvenile Justice to the principal of the school which the juvenile is eligible to attend immediately upon the person's release from the Department of Juvenile Justice. The person's juvenile criminal record must be provided by the Department of Juvenile Justice to the principal of any school to which the person is seeking enrollment, upon the principal's request. Each school district is responsible for developing a policy for schools to follow within the district which ensures that the confidential nature of these records and of the other information received is maintained. This policy must include at a minimum the retention of the juvenile's criminal record, and other information relating to his criminal record, in the juvenile's school disciplinary file, or in some other confidential location, restricting access to the file and to its contents to school personnel as deemed necessary and appropriate to meet and adequately address the educational needs of the juvenile and for the destruction of these records upon the juvenile's completion of secondary school, or upon reaching twenty-one years of age."
SECTION 2. Section 20-7-8510 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-8510. (A) The court shall make and keep records of all cases brought before it and shall devise and cause to be printed forms for social and legal records and other papers as may be required. The official juvenile records of the courts and the Department of Juvenile Justice are open to inspection only by consent of the judge to persons having a legitimate interest but always must be available to the legal counsel of the juvenile. Except as provided in subsection (B), all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty by an employee of the court or Department of Juvenile Justice are confidential and must not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone, other than the judge or others entitled under this article to receive this information, unless otherwise ordered by the judge. However, these records are open to inspection without the consent of the judge where the records are necessary to defend against an action initiated by a juvenile or if the records pertain to a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent for an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more.
(B) The When a juvenile is charged with an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more, the Department of Juvenile Justice, if requested, shall provide the victim of a the crime with the name and other basic descriptive information about the juvenile charged with the crime taken into custody for the offense and with information about the juvenile justice system, the status and disposition of the delinquency action including hearing dates, times, and locations, and services available to victims of juvenile crime. The name, identity, or picture of a child under the jurisdiction of the court, pursuant to this chapter, must not be provided to or made public by a newspaper or radio or television station except as authorized by order of the court or unless the juvenile has been bound over to a court which would have trial jurisdiction of the offense if committed by an adult or the juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent in family court for:
(1) a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(2) grand larceny of a motor vehicle;
(3) a crime in which a deadly weapon was used; or
(4) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44 an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more.
(C) A juvenile charged with committing an offense must be fingerprinted by the law enforcement agency who takes the juvenile into custody if the juvenile is charged with:
(1) a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(2) grand larceny of a motor vehicle;
(3) a crime in which a deadly weapon was used; or
(4) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44 an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more.
In addition, a juvenile under criminal investigation may be fingerprinted by a law enforcement agency upon an order from a family court judge for the offenses enumerated above.
A juvenile under criminal investigation or charged with committing an offense other than those enumerated above in this subsection an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more or a status offense may not be fingerprinted by law enforcement except upon order of a family court judge. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must be kept separate from the fingerprint records of adults. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must be transmitted to the files of the State Law Enforcement Division. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must not be transmitted to the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or otherwise distributed or provided to another law enforcement agency unless the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent for having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, for grand larceny of a motor vehicle, for a crime in which a weapon was used, or for distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44 an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more. The fingerprint records of a juvenile who is not adjudicated delinquent for having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60 for grand larceny of a motor vehicle, for a crime in which a weapon was used, or for distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44 an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more, upon notification to law enforcement, must be destroyed or otherwise expunged by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the law enforcement agency who took the juvenile into custody.
The fingerprints and any record created by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as a result of the receipt of fingerprints of a juvenile pursuant to this subsection must not be disclosed for any purpose not specifically authorized by law or by a court order. The fingerprints of a juvenile adjudicated as delinquent for the commission of any of these crimes an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more and any record created as a result of such this information must be made available for criminal justice purposes. For the purposes of this section subsection, 'criminal justice purposes' means the performance of any activity directly involving the detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused or convicted persons or criminal offenders, or the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information.
The Department of Juvenile Justice may fingerprint and photograph a juvenile upon the filing of a petition, release from detention, release on house arrest, or commitment to a juvenile correctional institution. Fingerprints and photographs taken by the department remain confidential and must not be transmitted to the State Law Enforcement Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or another agency or person, except for the purpose of aiding the department in apprehending an escapee from the department, assisting the Missing Persons Information Center in the location or identification of a missing or runaway child, in locating and identifying a child who fails to appear in court as summoned or who is the subject of a house arrest order, or except as otherwise provided in this section.
(D) Law enforcement agencies shall maintain admission and release records on juveniles held in either secure or nonsecure custody, or both, which must include the times and dates of admission and release from secure and nonsecure custody and, if appropriate, the times and dates of transfer from one custody status to another.
(E) Peace officers' records of children must be kept separate from records of adults, must not be open to public inspection, and may be open to inspection only by governmental agencies authorized by the judge; however, the record of a child is open to public inspection if the record pertains to an offense which, if committed by an adult, could be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more."
SECTION 3. Section 20-7-8520(A) and (B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, are amended to read:
"(A) A juvenile not previously adjudicated delinquent for committing an offense which would have been a crime if committed by an adult, who has been taken into custody, and charged with or adjudicated delinquent for having committed a status offense or a nonviolent criminal offense, not prohibited in subsection (B) from being expunged, may petition the family court for an order destroying all official records relating to being taken into custody, the charges filed against the juvenile, the adjudication, and disposition. The granting of the order is discretionary with the court. However, the court may not grant the order unless it finds that the person who is seeking to have the records destroyed is at least eighteen years of age, has fully and successfully completed any dispositional sentence imposed, and has neither been charged nor is not currently charged with committing any additional criminal offenses.
(B) Under no circumstances is a person allowed to expunge from the record an adjudication for having committed a violent crime, as that term is defined in Section 16-1-60 an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a crime for which the penalty could be imprisonment for one year or more unless the person is not more than twenty-five years of age and has not been adjudicated delinquent or convicted of such an offense within the preceding six years."
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.