1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 119th Session, 2011-2012 3 4 S. 226 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senator Knotts 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5022cm11.docx 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on January 11, 2011 13 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Animal abusers 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 12/8/2010 Senate Prefiled 22 12/8/2010 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary 23 1/11/2011 Senate Introduced and read first time ( Senate Journalpage 104) 24 1/11/2011 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( Senate Journalpage 104) 25 1/28/2011 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: Knotts (ch), Massey, Coleman 26 27 28 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 29 30 12/8/2010 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 12 TO TITLE 23 SO AS TO 13 PROVIDE FOR THE REGISTRATION AND COMMUNITY 14 NOTIFICATION OF ANIMAL ABUSERS. 15 16 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 17 Carolina: 18 19 SECTION 1. Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 20 21 “CHAPTER 12 22 23 Animal Abuser Registration and Community Notification 24 25 Section 231210. (A) For purposes of this section, an ‘animal 26 abuser’ means a person over eighteen years of age who has been 27 convicted of a felony violation of any provision of this State 28 designed to protect animals from abuse. 29 (B) An animal abuser physically within the boundaries of this 30 State for more than ten consecutive days shall register with the 31 county sheriff for the county in which he is located before the end 32 of his eleventh day in the State. 33 (C) A previously registered animal abuser shall reregister with 34 the county sheriff for the county in which he is located no later 35 than ten days after moving to a new location within the State. 36 (D) When an animal abuser registers with a county sheriff, he 37 shall provide the following registration information: 38 (1) his legal name and any other names or aliases that he is 39 using or has used; 40 (2) his date of birth; 41 (3) his social security number; 42 (4) his current address or location;

[226] 2 1 (5) his place of employment; and 2 (6) the animal protection offense for which he was 3 convicted, and the date and place of the animal protection offense 4 conviction. 5 (E) When an animal abuser registers with a county sheriff, the 6 sheriff shall obtain: 7 (1) his photograph and a complete set of his fingerprints; and 8 (2) a description of any tattoos, scars or other distinguishing 9 features on his body that would assist in identifying him. 10 (F) Following an animal abuser’s initial registration pursuant to 11 the provisions of this section, he shall annually renew his 12 registration with the county sheriff before December thirty-first of 13 each subsequent calendar year for a period of fifteen years. 14 (G) An animal abuser who intentionally or knowingly fails to 15 comply with the registration requirements, or provides false 16 information when complying with the registration requirements 17 contained in this section, is guilty of a felony and, upon 18 conviction, must be imprisoned not more than five years. 19 (H) Each county sheriff shall maintain a local registry of animal 20 abusers in his jurisdiction who are required to register pursuant to 21 this section. 22 (I) The county sheriff shall forward all registration information 23 obtained from animal abusers to SLED. 24 (J) Within ten days of receiving initial registration information 25 from an animal abuser, the county sheriff shall contact every 26 residence, school, humane society, animal shelter and any other 27 business within a half mile radius of the animal abuser’s residence 28 or location and provide them with the animal abuser’s registration 29 information, with the exception of his social security number. 30 (K) SLED shall maintain a central registry of animal abusers 31 required to register pursuant to the provisions of this section. The 32 central registry of animal abusers may be made available to the 33 public through internet access, telephone access, written access 34 and in person. The information contained in an animal abuser’s 35 registration, with the exception of his social security number, may 36 be made available. Records of each animal abuser’s registration 37 may be maintained for the duration of the fifteen year period in 38 which he is required to be registered.” 39 40 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 41 Governor. 42 XX 43

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