1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 S. 734 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senators Fair, Scott, Bryant, Martin, O'Dell, Williams, Knotts, Cromer, Alexander and Setzler 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\6428cm05.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 3328 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on April 12, 2005 14 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary 15 16 Summary: Sex offender registry 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 4/12/2005 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-5 23 4/12/2005 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-5 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 4/12/2005 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-410, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE 13 OPERATION OF THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY BY THE 14 STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION (SLED), SO AS TO 15 PROVIDE THAT SLED SHALL INCLUDE AND 16 CROSS-REFERENCE ALIAS NAMES IN THE REGISTRY; TO 17 AMEND SECTION 23-3-430, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 18 PERSONS WHO MUST BE REFERRED TO AS SEX 19 OFFENDERS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A SEX OFFENDER 20 WHOSE NAME IS CONTAINED ON THE SEX OFFENDER 21 REGISTRY, AND WHO HAS BEEN GRANTED A PARDON, 22 MUST REMAIN ON THE REGISTRY AND MUST REGISTER 23 ANNUALLY; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-440, AS 24 AMENDED, RELATING TO THE NOTIFICATION A SHERIFF 25 MUST RECEIVE FROM CERTAIN CORRECTIONAL 26 AGENCIES REGARDING THE RELEASE OF A SEX 27 OFFENDER, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT AN OFFENDER’S 28 PHOTOGRAPH MUST BE PROVIDED TO SLED BEFORE HE 29 IS RELEASED OR AT THE TIME HE IS PLACED ON 30 PROBATION OR PAROLE; TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-450, 31 AS AMENDED, RELATING TO REQUIRING A SEX 32 OFFENDER TO REGISTER WITH THE SHERIFF OF THE 33 COUNTY IN WHICH HE RESIDES, SO AS TO PROVIDE 34 THAT THE OFFENDER ALSO MUST REGISTER WITH THE 35 SHERIFF OF THE COUNTY WHERE HE OWNS REAL 36 PROPERTY; AND TO AMEND SECTION 23-3-460, AS 37 AMENDED, RELATING TO REQUIRING A SEX OFFENDER 38 TO REGISTER ANNUALLY FOR LIFE, SO AS TO PROVIDE 39 THAT A REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO ACQUIRES 40 REAL PROPERTY WITHIN THIS STATE MUST PROVIDE 41 NOTICE OF THE ADDRESS TO THE SHERIFF IN THE 42 COUNTY WHERE THE REAL PROPERTY IS LOCATED,

1 [734] 1 1 AND TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO IS REQUIRED TO 2 REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER WHO MOVES TO THIS 3 STATE, ACQUIRES REAL PROPERTY IN THIS STATE, AND 4 IS NOT UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF CERTAIN 5 CORRECTIONAL AGENCIES, MUST REGISTER WITHIN 6 TEN DAYS OF ACQUIRING PROPERTY WITHIN THIS 7 STATE. 8 9 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 10 Carolina: 11 12 SECTION 1. Section 23-3-410 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 13 by Act 384 of 1998, is further amended to read: 14 15 “Section 23-3-410. (A) The registry is under the direction of the 16 chief of the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and shall 17 contain information the chief considers necessary to assist law 18 enforcement in the location of persons convicted of certain 19 offenses. SLED shall develop and operate the registry to: collect, 20 analyze, and maintain information; to make information available 21 to every enforcement agency in this State and in other states; and 22 to establish a security system to ensure that only authorized 23 persons may gain access to information gathered under this article. 24 (B) SLED shall include and cross - reference alias names in the 25 registry.” 26 27 SECTION 2. Section 23-3-430(E) of the 1976 Code, as added by 28 Act 497 of 1994, is amended to read: 29 30 “(E) SLED shall remove a person’s name and any other 31 information concerning that person from the sex offender registry 32 immediately upon notification by the Attorney General that the 33 person’s adjudication, conviction, guilty plea, or plea of nolo 34 contendere for an offense listed in Section 23-3-430(C) was 35 reversed, overturned, or vacated on appeal and a final judgment 36 has been rendered. However, an offender whose name is on the 37 registry, and who has been granted a pardon, must remain on the 38 registry and must register annually as required by Section 39 23 - 3 - 460.” 40 41 SECTION 3. Section 23-3-440(1) of the 1976 Code, as last 42 amended by Act 384 of 1998, is further amended to read: 43

1 [734] 2 1 “Section 23-3-440. (1) Prior to Before an offender’s release 2 from the Department of Corrections after completion of the term of 3 imprisonment, or being placed on parole, the Department of 4 Corrections or the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon 5 Services, as applicable, shall notify the sheriff of the county where 6 the offender intends to reside and SLED that the offender is being 7 released and has provided an address within the jurisdiction of the 8 sheriff for that county. The Department of Corrections shall 9 provide verbal and written notification to the offender that he must 10 register with the sheriff of the county in which he intends to reside 11 within twenty-four hours of his release. Further, the Department of 12 Corrections shall obtain descriptive information of the offender, 13 including a current photograph prior to release. The offender’s 14 photograph must be provided to SLED before he is released or at 15 the time he is placed on probation or parole.” 16 17 SECTION 4. Section 23-3-450 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 18 by Act 384 of 1998, is further amended to read: 19 20 “Section 23-3-450. The offender shall register with the sheriff of 21 the county counties in which he resides or owns real property, or 22 both. To register, the offender must provide information as 23 prescribed by SLED. The sheriff in the county in which the 24 offender resides or owns real property, or both shall forward all 25 required registration information to SLED within five business 26 days. A copy of this information must be kept by the sheriff’s 27 department. The county sheriff shall ensure that all information 28 required by SLED is secured and shall establish specific times of 29 the day during which an offender may register. An offender shall 30 not be considered to have registered until all information 31 prescribed by SLED has been provided to the sheriff.” 32 33 SECTION 5. Section 23-3-460 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 34 by Act 310 of 2002, is further amended to read: 35 36 “Section 23-3-460. Any A person required to register under this 37 article shall be is required to register annually for life. For 38 purposes of this article, ‘annually’ means each year within thirty 39 days after the anniversary date of the offender’s last registration. 40 The offender shall register at the sheriff’s department in the county 41 where he resides or owns real property, or both. A person 42 determined by a court to be a sexually violent predator pursuant to 43 state law is required to verify registration and be photographed

1 [734] 3 1 every ninety days by the sheriff’s department in the county in 2 which he resides unless the person is committed to the custody of 3 the State, whereby verification shall be held in abeyance until his 4 release. 5 If any a person required to register under this article changes his 6 address within the same county, that person must send written 7 notice of the change of address to the county sheriff within ten 8 days of establishing the new residence. If a person required to 9 register under this article acquires real property within a county in 10 this State, he must send written notice of the address of the 11 property to the sheriff in the county where the real property is 12 located within ten days of acquiring the real property and to the 13 sheriff with whom the person last registered. 14 If any a person required to register under this article changes his 15 address into another county in South Carolina, the person must 16 register with the county sheriff in the new county within ten days 17 of establishing the new residence. The person must also provide 18 written notice within ten days of the change of address in the 19 previous county to the county sheriff with whom the person last 20 registered. 21 Any A person required to register under this article and who is 22 employed by, enrolled at, or carries on a vocation at an institution 23 of higher education must provide written notice within ten days of 24 each change in enrollment, employment, or vocation status at an 25 institution of higher education in this State. For purposes of this 26 section: ‘employed and carries on a vocation’ means employment 27 that is full-time or part-time for a period of time exceeding 28 fourteen days or for an aggregate period of time exceeding thirty 29 days during any calendar year, whether financially compensated, 30 volunteered, or for the purpose of government or educational 31 benefit; and ‘student’ means a person who is enrolled on a 32 full-time or part-time basis, in any public or private educational 33 institution, including any secondary school, trade, professional 34 institution, or institution of higher education. 35 If any a person required to register under this article moves 36 outside of South Carolina, the person must provide written notice 37 within ten days of the change of address to a new state to the 38 county sheriff with whom the person last registered. 39 Any A person required to register under this article who moves 40 to South Carolina from another state, or moves to South Carolina 41 from another state and acquires real property in South Carolina, 42 and is not under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, 43 the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, or the

1 [734] 4 1 Department of Juvenile Justice at the time of moving to South 2 Carolina must register within ten days of establishing residence or 3 acquiring real property in this State. 4 The sheriff of the county in which the person resides must 5 forward all changes to any information provided by a person 6 required to register under this article to SLED within five business 7 days. 8 The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, shall 9 inform, in writing, any new resident who applies for a driver’s 10 license, chauffeur’s license, vehicle tag, or state identification card 11 of the obligation of sex offenders to register. The department also 12 shall inform, in writing, a person renewing a driver’s license, 13 chauffeur’s license, vehicle tag, or state identification card of the 14 requirement for sex offenders to register.” 15 16 SECTION 6. The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, 17 whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not 18 affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, 19 or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or 20 liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the 21 repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After 22 the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this 23 act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect 24 for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil 25 action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing 26 as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of 27 rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood 28 under the repealed or amended laws. 29 30 SECTION 7. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, 31 sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held 32 to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the 33 constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, 34 the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed, 35 and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, 36 sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact 37 that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, 38 subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may 39 be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise 40 ineffective. 41 42 SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon approval by the 43 Governor.

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