2003-2004 Bill 4790: State Grand Jury, Jurisdiction Revised to Include Environmental Offenses

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 H. 4790 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Merrill, Hinson, Harrison, Quinn, McLeod, J.E. Smith, Herbkersman, Lourie, Bingham, 10 Scarborough, Young, E.H. Pitts, Emory, McGee, Frye, J.H. Neal, Hagood, Allen, Altman, Bailey, 11 Barfield, Battle, Bowers, Cato, Ceips, Chellis, Cobb-Hunter, Coleman, Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, 12 Duncan, Edge, Hamilton, Keegan, Kennedy, Leach, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Martin, McCraw, Miller, 13 M.A. Pitts, Sandifer, G.M. Smith, W.D. Smith, Stille, Talley, Taylor, Umphlett, Viers, Weeks, Whitmire, 14 G.R. Smith, Cotty, Harvin and Toole 15 Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7129ahb04.doc 16 Companion/Similar bill(s): 21 17 18 Introduced in the House on February 18, 2004 19 Introduced in the Senate on April 20, 2004 20 Last Amended on April 15, 2004 21 Currently residing in the Senate 22 23 Summary: State grand jury, jurisdiction revised to include environmental offenses 24 25 26 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 27 28 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 29 2/18/2004 House Introduced and read first time HJ-58 30 2/18/2004 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-58 31 3/2/2004 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: G.R.Smith 32 3/9/2004 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cotty 33 3/16/2004 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Harvin 34 3/18/2004 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Toole 35 3/24/2004 House Member(s) request name removed as sponsor: Lucas 36 4/14/2004 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary HJ-7 37 4/15/2004 House Amended HJ-87 38 4/15/2004 House Read second time HJ-88 39 4/15/2004 House Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative day HJ-88 40 4/16/2004 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-2 41 4/20/2004 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-10 42 4/20/2004 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-10 43 5/26/2004 Senate Committee report: Majority favorable with amend., minority unfavorable Judiciary 44 SJ-15 45 5/27/2004 Scrivener's error corrected 46 5/27/2004 Senate Read second time SJ-211 47 5/27/2004 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of amendments SJ-211 48 49 50 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 51 52 2/18/2004 53 4/14/2004 54 4/15/2004 1 5/26/2004 2 5/27/2004 3 1 Indicates Matter Stricken 2 Indicates New Matter 3 4 COMMITTEE REPORT 5 May 26, 2004 6 7 H. 4790 8 9 Introduced by Reps. Merrill, Hinson, Harrison, Quinn, McLeod, 10 J.E. Smith, Herbkersman, Lourie, Bingham, Scarborough, Young, 11 E.H. Pitts, Emory, McGee, Frye, J.H. Neal, Hagood, Allen, 12 Altman, Bailey, Barfield, Battle, Bowers, Cato, Ceips, Chellis, 13 Cobb-Hunter, Coleman, Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, Duncan, 14 Edge, Hamilton, Keegan, Kennedy, Leach, G.R. Smith, Cotty, 15 Limehouse, Toole, Harvin, Littlejohn, Martin, McCraw, Miller, 16 M.A. Pitts, Sandifer, G.M. Smith, W.D. Smith, Stille, Talley, 17 Taylor, Umphlett, Viers, Weeks and Whitmire 18 19 S. Printed 5/26/04--S. [SEC 5/27/04 4:09 PM] 20 Read the first time April 20, 2004. 21 22 23 THE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY 24 To whom was referred a Bill (H. 4790) to amend Sections 25 14-7-1610, 14-7-1615, and 14-7-1630, all as amended, Code of 26 Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the State Grand Jury, 27 etc., respectfully 28 REPORT: 29 That they have duly and carefully considered the same and 30 recommend that the same do pass with amendment: 31 32 Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the 33 enacting words and inserting therein the following: 34 / SECTION 1. Section 14-7-1610 of the 1976 Code, as last 35 amended by Act 335 of 1992, is further amended to read: 36 “Section 14-7-1610. It is the intent of the General Assembly to 37 enhance the grand jury system and to improve the ability of the 38 State to detect and eliminate criminal activity. The General 39 Assembly recognizes the great importance of having the federal 40 authorities available for certain investigations. The General 41 Assembly finds that crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, 42 or controlled substances, as well as crimes involving obscenity,

1 [4790-1] 1 often transpire or have significance in more than one county of this 2 State. When this occurs, these crimes are most effectively detected 3 and investigated by a grand jury system which has the authority to 4 cross county lines. 5 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 6 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 7 detect and eliminate public corruption. Crimes involving public 8 corruption transpire at times in a single county, but often transpire 9 or have significance in more than one county of this State. The 10 General Assembly believes that a state grand jury, possessing 11 considerably broader investigative authority than individual county 12 grand juries, should be available to investigate public corruption 13 offenses in South Carolina. 14 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 15 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 16 detect and investigate crimes involving the election laws, 17 including, but not limited to, those named offenses as specified in 18 Title 7, or any common law crimes involving the election laws 19 where not superseded, or any crime arising out of or in connection 20 with the election laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, 21 or conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws. 22 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 23 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 24 detect and investigate wilfull acts which result in actual and 25 substantial harm to the environment including, but not limited to, 26 offenses specified in Titles 13, 44, and 48, or any common law 27 crime arising out of or in connection with the environmental laws, 28 or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to 29 commit a crime involving the environment. 30 The General Assembly further finds that related criminal 31 activity often arises out of or in connection with crimes involving 32 narcotics, dangerous drugs or controlled substances, obscenity, or 33 public corruption, or environmental offenses, and that the 34 mechanism for detecting and investigating these related crimes 35 must be improved also. 36 Accordingly, the General Assembly concludes that a state grand 37 jury should be allowed to investigate certain crimes related to 38 narcotics, dangerous drugs, and obscenity and should also be 39 allowed to investigate crimes involving public corruption, and 40 election laws, and environmental offenses. 41 Nothing herein in this article limits the authority of a county 42 grand jury, solicitor, or other appropriate law enforcement

1 [4790-2] 1 personnel to investigate, indict, or prosecute offenses within the 2 jurisdiction of the state grand jury.” 3 SECTION 2. Section 14-7-1615 of the 1976 Code, as last 4 amended by Act 335 of 1992, is further amended by adding an 5 appropriately lettered subsection to read: 6 “( ) ‘Environmental offenses’ are crimes involving wilfull acts 7 which result in actual and substantial harm to the water, ambient 8 air, soil or land, or both soil and land, including, but not limited to, 9 violations of the Atomic Energy and Radiation Control Act, the 10 State Underground Petroleum Environmental Response Bank Act, 11 the State Safe Drinking Water Act, the Hazardous Waste 12 Management Act, the Infectious Waste Management Act, the Solid 13 Waste Policy and Management Act, the Pollution Control Act, the 14 Erosion and Sediment Control Act, the South Carolina Mining 15 Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act, or any common law 16 crimes involving environmental laws not superseded, or any crime 17 arising out of or in connection with environmental laws, or any 18 attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a 19 crime involving the environment.” 20 SECTION 3. Section 14-7-1630 of the 1976 Code, as last 21 amended by Act 78 of 2003, is further amended to read: 22 “Section 14-7-1630. (A) The jurisdiction of a state grand jury 23 impaneled under this article extends throughout the State. The 24 subject matter jurisdiction of a state grand jury in all cases is 25 limited to the following offenses: 26 (1) crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or 27 controlled substances, or any crime arising out of or in connection 28 with a crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled 29 substances including, but not limited to, money laundering as 30 specified in Section 44-53-475, obstruction of justice, perjury or 31 subornation of perjury, and crimes involving obscenity or any 32 attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit any 33 of the aforementioned crimes if the crimes are of a multi-county 34 nature or have transpired or are transpiring or have significance in 35 more than one county of this State; 36 (2) any crime, statutory, common law, or other, involving 37 public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615, any crime, 38 statutory, common law, or other, arising out of or in connection 39 with a crime involving public corruption as defined in Section 40 14-7-1615, and any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or 41 conspiracy to commit any crime, statutory, common law, or other, 42 involving public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615;

1 [4790-3] 1 (3) crimes involving the election laws including, but not 2 limited to, those named offenses as specified in Title 7, or any 3 common law crimes involving the election laws where not 4 superseded, or any crime arising out of or in connection with the 5 election laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or 6 conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws; 7 (4) crimes involving computer crimes, pursuant to Chapter 8 16, Title 16, or any conspiracy or solicitation to commit these 9 crimes; 10 (5) crimes involving terrorism, or any conspiracy or 11 solicitation to commit these crimes. Terrorism includes activities 12 that: 13 (a) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a 14 violation of the criminal laws of this State; 15 (b) appear to be intended to: 16 (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; 17 (ii) influence the policy of a government by 18 intimidation or coercion; or 19 (iii) affect the conduct of a government by mass 20 destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and 21 (c) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of 22 this State; and 23 (6) crimes involving any violation of Chapter 1, Title 35 of 24 The Uniform Securities Act, or any crime related to securities 25 fraud or a violation of the securities laws.; and 26 (7) crimes involving wilfull acts which result in actual and 27 substantial harm to the water, ambient air, soil or land, or both soil 28 and land, including, but not limited to, violations of the Atomic 29 Energy and Radiation Control Act, the State Underground 30 Petroleum Environmental Response Bank Act, the State Safe 31 Drinking Water Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the 32 Infectious Waste Management Act, the Solid Waste Policy and 33 Management Act, the Pollution Control Act, the Erosion and 34 Sediment Control Act, the South Carolina Mining Act, and the 35 Coastal Zone Management Act, or any common law crimes 36 involving environmental laws not superseded, or any crime arising 37 out of or in connection with environmental laws, or any attempt, 38 aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime 39 involving the environment if the anticipated damages including, 40 but not limited to, the cost of remediation, are five hundred 41 thousand dollars or more. 42 (B) Whenever the Attorney General and the Chief of the South 43 Carolina Law Enforcement Division consider it necessary and

1 [4790-4] 1 normal investigative or prosecutorial procedures are not adequate, 2 the Attorney General may petition in writing to the Chief 3 Administrative Judge of the judicial circuit in which he seeks to 4 impanel a state grand jury for an order impaneling a state grand 5 jury. This judge is referred to in this article as the impaneling 6 judge. The petition must allege the type of offenses to be inquired 7 into and, in the case of those offenses contained in subsection (A) 8 (1), must allege that these offenses may be of a multi-county 9 nature or have transpired or are transpiring or have significance in 10 more than one county of the State. The petition in all instances 11 must specify that the public interest is served by the impanelment. 12 (C) In all investigations of crimes specified in subsection (A) 13 (7), except in matters where the Department of Health and 14 Environmental Control or its officers or employees are the subjects 15 of the investigation, the Attorney General must consult with and 16 receive a formal written recommendation from the Commissioner 17 of the Department of Health and Environmental Control before 18 presenting the petition to the Chief Administrative Judge pursuant 19 to Section 14-7-1630(B). If the Commissioner of the Department 20 of Health and Environmental Control fails to provide a formal 21 written recommendation within ten days of the Attorney General’s 22 request, the Attorney General may proceed with the petition to the 23 Chief Administrative Judge pursuant to Section 14-7-1630(B), 24 unless the Attorney General and commissioner have mutually 25 agreed upon an extension of that time period. The ultimate 26 recommendation by the commissioner is not binding on the 27 Attorney General. 28 (C)(D) The impaneling judge, after due consideration of the 29 petition, may order the impanelment of a state grand jury in 30 accordance with the petition for a term of twelve calendar months. 31 Upon petition by the Attorney General, the then chief 32 administrative judge of the judicial circuit in which a state grand 33 jury was impaneled, by order, may extend the term of that state 34 grand jury for a period of six months but the term of that state 35 grand jury, including any extension thereof, shall not exceed two 36 years. 37 (D)(E) The chief administrative judge of the circuit wherein a 38 state grand jury is sitting shall preside over that state grand jury 39 during his tenure as chief administrative judge. The successor 40 chief administrative judge shall assume all duties and 41 responsibilities with regard to any state grand jury impaneled 42 before his term, including, but not limited to, presiding over the

1 [4790-5] 1 state grand jury and ruling on petitions to extend its term. This 2 judge is referred to in this article as the presiding judge. 3 (E)(F) The presiding judge may discharge a state grand jury 4 prior to the end of its original term or any extension thereof, upon 5 a determination that its business has been completed or upon the 6 request of the Attorney General. 7 (F)(G) If, at any time within the original term of any state grand 8 jury or any extension thereof, the presiding judge determines that 9 the state grand jury is not conducting investigative activity within 10 its jurisdiction or proper investigative activity, the presiding judge 11 may limit the investigation so that the investigation conforms with 12 the jurisdiction of the state grand jury and existing law or he may 13 discharge the state grand jury. An order issued pursuant to this 14 subsection or under subsection (E)(F) shall not become effective 15 less than ten days after the date on which it is issued and actual 16 notice given to the Attorney General and the foreman of the state 17 grand jury, and may be appealed by the Attorney General to the 18 Supreme Court. If an appeal from the order is made, the state 19 grand jury, except as is otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court, 20 shall continue to exercise its powers pending disposition of the 21 appeal.” 22 SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the 23 Governor. / 24 Renumber sections to conform. 25 Amend title to conform. 26 27 Majority favorable. Minority unfavorable. 28 JAMES H. RITCHIE, JR. DICK ELLIOTT 29 For Majority. For Minority. 30 31 32 STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT 33 ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT ON GENERAL FUND 34 EXPENDITURES: 35 A Cost to the General Fund (See Below) 36 ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT ON FEDERAL & OTHER 37 FUND EXPENDITURES: 38 $0 (No additional expenditures or savings are expected) 39 EXPLANATION OF IMPACT: 40 The Attorney General’s Office indicates that costs will be 41 incurred to the General Fund of the State if this legislation is 42 adopted. This legislation would require $71,900 to fill 1.00 vacant 43 FTE in the Attorney General’s Office. Of the total cost, $56,250 is

1 [4790-6] 1 incurred in personal service, $9,500 is incurred in other operating, 2 and $6,150 is incurred in other operating non-recurring funds. In 3 Fiscal Year 2002-2003, 14 cases were brought before the state 4 grand jury and managed by the 4.00 attorneys on staff assigned to 5 such cases. It is necessary to add 1.00 new attorney with 6 experience in criminal environmental prosecution to manage the 7 new caseload that will be generated by expanding the jurisdiction 8 of the state grand jury. 9 10 Approved By: 11 Don Addy 12 Office of State Budget 13

1 [4790-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTIONS 14-7-1610, 14-7-1615, AND 14-7-1630, 12 ALL AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH 13 CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE STATE GRAND JURY 14 SYSTEM, SO AS TO REVISE ITS JURISDICTION TO 15 INCLUDE ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES. 16 17 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 18 Carolina: 19 20 SECTION 1. Section 14-7-1610 of the 1976 Code, as last 21 amended by Act 335 of 1992, is further amended to read: 22 23 “Section 14-7-1610. It is the intent of the General Assembly 24 to enhance the grand jury system and to improve the ability of the 25 State to detect and eliminate criminal activity. The General 26 Assembly recognizes the great importance of having the federal 27 authorities available for certain investigations. The General 28 Assembly finds that crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, 29 or controlled substances, as well as crimes involving obscenity, 30 often transpire or have significance in more than one county of this 31 State. When this occurs, these crimes are most effectively detected 32 and investigated by a grand jury system which has the authority to 33 cross county lines. 34 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 35 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 36 detect and eliminate public corruption. Crimes involving public 37 corruption transpire at times in a single county, but often transpire 38 or have significance in more than one county of this State. The 39 General Assembly believes that a state grand jury, possessing 40 considerably broader investigative authority than individual county 41 grand juries, should be available to investigate public corruption 42 offenses in South Carolina.

1 [4790] 1 1 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 2 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 3 detect and investigate crimes involving the election laws, 4 including, but not limited to, those named offenses as specified in 5 Title 7, or any common law crimes involving the election laws 6 where not superseded, or any crime arising out of or in connection 7 with the election laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, 8 or conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws. 9 The General Assembly further finds that there is a need to 10 enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to 11 detect and investigate crimes involving the environment including, 12 but not limited to, offenses specified in Titles 13, 44, and 48, or 13 any common law crime arising out of or in connection with the 14 environmental laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, 15 or conspiracy to commit a crime involving the environment. 16 The General Assembly further finds that related criminal 17 activity often arises out of or in connection with crimes involving 18 narcotics, dangerous drugs or controlled substances, obscenity, or 19 public corruption, or environmental offenses and that the 20 mechanism for detecting and investigating these related crimes 21 must be improved also. 22 Accordingly, the General Assembly concludes that a state grand 23 jury should be allowed to investigate certain crimes related to 24 narcotics, dangerous drugs, and obscenity and should also be 25 allowed to investigate crimes involving public corruption, and 26 election laws, and environmental offenses. 27 Nothing herein in this article limits the authority of a county 28 grand jury, solicitor, or other appropriate law enforcement 29 personnel to investigate, indict, or prosecute offenses within the 30 jurisdiction of the state grand jury.” 31 32 SECTION 2. Section 14-7-1615 of the 1976 Code, as last 33 amended by Act 335 of 1992, is further amended by adding an 34 appropriately lettered subsection to read: 35 36 “( ) ‘Environmental offenses’ are those concerning the water, 37 ambient air, soil or land, or both soil and land, including, but not 38 limited to, violations of the State Safe Drinking Water Act, the 39 Pollution Control Act, the Infectious Waste Management Act, the 40 Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Solid Waste Policy and 41 Management Act, the State Underground Petroleum Response Act, 42 the Atomic Energy and Radiation Control Act, the South Carolina

1 [4790] 2 1 Mining Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the Sediment 2 and Erosion Control Act.” 3 4 SECTION 3. Section 14-7-1630(A) of the 1976 Code, as last 5 amended by Act 78 of 2003, is further amended to read: 6 7 “(A) The jurisdiction of a state grand jury impaneled under this 8 article extends throughout the State. The subject matter jurisdiction 9 of a state grand jury in all cases is limited to the following 10 offenses: 11 (1) crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or 12 controlled substances, or any crime arising out of or in connection 13 with a crime involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled 14 substances including, but not limited to, money laundering as 15 specified in Section 44-53-475, obstruction of justice, perjury or 16 subornation of perjury, and crimes involving obscenity or any 17 attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit any 18 of the aforementioned crimes if the crimes are of a multi-county 19 nature or have transpired or are transpiring or have significance in 20 more than one county of this State; 21 (2) any crime, statutory, common law or other, involving 22 public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615, any crime, 23 statutory, common law or other, arising out of or in connection 24 with a crime involving public corruption as defined in Section 25 14-7-1615, and any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or 26 conspiracy to commit any crime, statutory, common law or other, 27 involving public corruption as defined in Section 14-7-1615; 28 (3) crimes involving the election laws including, but not 29 limited to, those named offenses as specified in Title 7, or any 30 common law crimes involving the election laws where not 31 superseded, or any crime arising out of or in connection with the 32 election laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or 33 conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws; 34 (4) crimes involving computer crimes, pursuant to Chapter 35 16, Title 16, or any conspiracy or solicitation to commit these 36 crimes; 37 (5) crimes involving terrorism, or any conspiracy or 38 solicitation to commit these crimes. Terrorism includes activities 39 that: 40 (a) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a 41 violation of the criminal laws of this State; 42 (b) appear to be intended to: 43 (i)intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

1 [4790] 3 1 (ii) influence the policy of a government by 2 intimidation or coercion; or 3 (iii) affect the conduct of a government by mass 4 destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and 5 (c) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of 6 this State; and 7 (6) crimes involving any violation of Chapter 1, Title 35 of 8 The Uniform Securities Act, or any crime related to securities 9 fraud or a violation of the securities laws. ; and 10 (7) crimes involving the water, ambient air, soil or land, or 11 both soil and land including, but not limited to, the State Safe 12 Drinking Water Act, the Pollution Control Act, the Infectious 13 Waste Management Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act, 14 the Solid Waste Policy and Management Act, the State 15 Underground Petroleum Response Act, and the Atomic Energy 16 Response Act, or any common law crimes involving 17 environmental laws not superseded, or any crime arising out of or 18 in connection with environmental laws, or an attempt, aiding, 19 abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime involving 20 the environment.” 21 22 SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the 23 Governor. 24 ----XX---- 25

1 [4790] 4