A bill

 

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING ARTICLE 10 TO CHAPTER 3, TITLE 23 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS.

 

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

 

SECTION 1.  Chapter 3, Title 24 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 

Article 10

 

Electronic Recording of Interviews and Interrogations

 

    Section 24-3-1010. (A) The purpose of this article is to require the creation of an electronic record of an entire custodial interrogation in order to eliminate disputes about interrogations, thereby improving prosecution of the guilty while affording protection to the innocent and increasing court efficiency and confidence.

    (B) The provisions of this article shall apply to all law enforcement interviews and custodial interrogations in criminal investigations conducted at any place of detention.

 

    Section 24-3-1020. As contained in this article:

       (1) "Electronic recording" means an audio recording that is an authentic, accurate, unaltered record; or a visual recording that is an authentic, accurate, unaltered record. A visual and audio recording shall be simultaneously produced whenever reasonably feasible, provided that a defendant may not raise this as grounds for suppression of evidence.

       (2) "In its entirety" means an uninterrupted record that begins at the start of the interview or custodial interrogation, including a law enforcement officer's advice to the person in custody of that person's constitutional rights and ends when the interview or custodial interrogation has completely finished. If the record is a visual recording of an interview or custodial interrogation, the camera recording the interview or custodial interrogation must be placed so that the camera films both the interviewer and the suspect or the interrogator and the suspect. Brief periods of recess, upon request by the person being interviewed, the person in custody, or the law enforcement officer, do not constitute an "interruption" of the record. The record will reflect all starting and ending times and dates, including the starting time and date of the recess and the resumption of the interview or interrogation.

       (3) "Place of detention" means a jail, police or sheriff's station, correctional or detention facility, holding facility for prisoners, or other facility where persons are held in custody in connection with criminal charges.

 

    Section 24-3-1030. Any law enforcement officer conducting a custodial interrogation, in a place of detention, of a juvenile involved in a criminal investigation or any person involved in a felony criminal investigation shall make an electronic recording of the custodial interrogation in its entirety if the interview or custodial interrogation is conducted in a place of detention.

 

    Section 24-3-1040. (A) During the prosecution of any offense to which this article applies, an oral, written, nonverbal, or sign language statement of a defendant made in the course of an interview or custodial interrogation may be presented as evidence against the defendant if an electronic recording was made of the interview or custodial interrogation in its entirety and the statement is otherwise admissible. If the court finds that the defendant was subjected to an interview or custodial interrogation that was not electronically recorded in its entirety, any statements made by the defendant after that nonelectronically recorded interview or custodial interrogation, even if made during an interview or interrogation that is otherwise in compliance with this section, may be questioned with regard to the voluntariness and reliability of the statement. The State may establish through clear and convincing evidence that the statement was both voluntary and reliable and that law enforcement officers had good cause for failing to electronically record the interview or interrogation in its entirety. Good cause shall include, but not be limited to:

       (1) the accused refused to have the interview or interrogation electronically recorded, and the refusal was electronically recorded; or

       (2) the failure to electronically record an interview or interrogation in its entirety was the result of unforeseeable equipment failure, and obtaining replacement equipment was not feasible.

    (B) Recordings of nondefendant interviews or custodial interrogations under this article shall be provided to the juvenile or criminal defendant as part of the rules of discovery.

 

    Section 24-3-1050. The following remedies shall be granted as relief for compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of this section:

    (1) Failure to comply with any of the requirements of this section shall be considered by the court in adjudicating motions to suppress a statement of the defendant made during or after an interview or custodial interrogation.

    (2) Failure to comply with any of the requirements of this section shall be admissible in support of claims that the defendant's statement was involuntary or is unreliable, provided the evidence is otherwise admissible.

    (3) When evidence of compliance or noncompliance with the requirements of this section has been presented at trial, the jury shall be instructed that it may consider credible evidence of compliance or noncompliance to determine whether the defendant's statement was voluntary and reliable.

 

    Section 24-3-1060. Nothing in this article precludes the admission of:

    (1) a statement made by the accused in open court during trial, before a grand jury, or at a preliminary hearing;

    (2) a spontaneous statement that is not made in response to a question;

    (3) a statement made during arrest processing in response to a routine question;

    (4) a statement made during an interview or custodial interrogation that is conducted in another state by law enforcement officers of that state;

    (5) a statement obtained by a federal law enforcement officer; or

    (6) a statement used only for impeachment purposes and not as substantive evidence.

 

    Section 24-3-1070. The State shall not destroy or alter any electronic recording of an interview or custodial interrogation of a defendant convicted of any offense related to the interview or interrogation until one year after the completion of all state and federal appeals of the conviction, including the exhaustion of any appeal of any motion for appropriate relief or habeas corpus proceedings. Every electronic recording should be clearly identified and catalogued by law enforcement personnel. Every electronic recording of nondefendant custodial interrogations may be destroyed at the conclusion of all appeals.

 

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect on October 1, 2026, and applies to interviews and custodial interrogations occurring on or after that date.

 

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