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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.214 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19990112 Primary Sponsor:Wilson All Sponsors:Wilson, Giese Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\psd\7099ac99.doc Companion Bill Number:3210 Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:Juvenile criminal records, fingerprinting, investigations; law enforcement agencies to share files; Minors, Crimes History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ Senate 19990112 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ referred to Committee Senate 19981216 Prefiled, referred to Committee 11 SJ Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 20-7-8525 SO AS TO AUTHORIZE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND OTHER STATE OFFICIALS AND ENTITIES TO SHARE INFORMATION AND CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE FILES WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH INFORMATION IS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-8510, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF JUVENILE CRIMINAL RECORDS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A JUVENILE UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR CERTAIN CRIMES MAY BE FINGERPRINTED WITHOUT AN ORDER OF A FAMILY COURT JUDGE AND THAT A JUVENILE UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR OTHER CRIMES MAY ALSO BE FINGERPRINTED WITHOUT AN ORDER OF A FAMILY COURT JUDGE IF THE JUVENILE IS A SUSPECT IN AN INVESTIGATION FOR ONE OF THE CERTAIN CRIMES; TO ONLY PROHIBIT TRANSMISSION OF JUVENILE FINGERPRINT RECORDS TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION RATHER THAN PROHIBITING TRANSMISSION TO OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES; TO DELETE PROVISIONS REQUIRING THE DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN JUVENILE FINGERPRINT RECORDS; AND TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT PEACE OFFICERS' RECORDS OF CHILDREN MAY ONLY BE OPEN TO INSPECTION BY GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES IF AUTHORIZED BY A JUDGE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 20-7-8525. Law enforcement agencies, solicitors' offices, the attorney general, and any state or local agency involved in the performance of any activity directly involving the detection, apprehension, detention, pre-trial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision or rehabilitation of accused or convicted persons or criminal offenders may readily share information and criminal intelligence files. The senior official of each agency shall establish security procedures for the safeguarding of this information and these files. Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit the gathering of information by law enforcement or the maintenance of criminal intelligence files, including photographs of persons for the purpose of investigating crimes. This information and these files are not accessible by the public."
SECTION 2. Section 20-7-8510(C) and (E) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, is amended to read:
"(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 weapon was used; or
(4) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44.
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 a status offense or an offense other than those enumerated above in this subsection or a status offense may not be fingerprinted by law enforcement except upon order of a family court judge if the juvenile is a suspect in an investigation that involves the commission of an offense enumerated above. 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 an 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. 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, 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 enumerated above.
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 and any record created as a result of such information must be made available for criminal justice purposes. For the purposes of this section, "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."
"(E) Peace officers' records of children must be kept separate from records of adults, and must not be open to public inspection, and may be open to inspection only by governmental agencies authorized by the judge."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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