(A) It is the intent of the General Assembly to enhance the grand jury system and to improve the ability of the State to detect and eliminate criminal activity. The General Assembly recognizes the great importance of having the federal authorities available for certain investigations. The General Assembly finds that crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances, trafficking in persons, as well as crimes involving obscenity, often transpire or have significance in more than one county of this State. When this occurs, these crimes are most effectively detected and investigated by a grand jury system with the authority to cross county lines.

(B) The General Assembly finds that there is a critical need to enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute crimes involving criminal gang activity or a pattern of criminal gang activity pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 8 of Title 16. Crimes involving criminal gang activity or a pattern of criminal gang activity transpire at times in a single county, but often transpire or have significance in more than one county of this State. The General Assembly believes criminal gang activity poses an immediate, serious, and unacceptable threat to the citizens of the State and therefore warrants the state grand jury possessing considerably broader investigative authority.

(C) The General Assembly finds that there is a need to enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to detect and eliminate public corruption. Crimes involving public corruption transpire at times in a single county, but often transpire or have significance in more than one county of this State. The General Assembly believes that a state grand jury, possessing considerably broader investigative authority than individual county grand juries, should be available to investigate public corruption offenses in South Carolina.

(D) The General Assembly finds it fundamentally necessary to improve the ability of the State to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute crimes that involve the depiction of children under the age of eighteen in sexual activity, and obscenity crimes that are directed toward or involve children under the age of eighteen. The serious and unacceptable threat that these crimes pose to children is self-evident and impacts the State as a whole even if the actual criminal act occurs only in one county of the State. An effective effort to eliminate these heinous crimes requires a coordinated effort, which is accomplished more effectively through the state grand jury system. The effective prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of these crimes may require the use and application of state obscenity statutes or common law offenses not specifically directed toward the prevention and punishment of obscenity crimes involving children. Because many of these crimes involve computers, statewide jurisdiction over these crimes is consistent with the jurisdiction of a state grand jury over offenses defined in the Computer Crime Act. The General Assembly concludes that a state grand jury must be available to employ its broad investigative powers in the investigation of child-related obscenity by enabling the state grand jury to investigate all obscenity offenses, regardless of their multi-county impact, or whether they transpire or have significance in more than one county of this State.

(E) The General Assembly finds that there is a need to enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to detect and investigate crimes involving the election laws including, but not limited to, those named offenses as specified in Title 7, or common law crimes involving the election laws where not superseded, or a crime arising out of or in connection with the election laws, or attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime involving the election laws.

(F) The General Assembly finds that there is a need to enhance the grand jury system to improve the ability of the State to detect and investigate knowing and wilful crimes which result in actual and substantial harm to the environment. These crimes include knowing and wilful offenses specified in Titles 13, 44, and 48, or any knowing and wilful crime arising out of or in connection with environmental laws, or any attempt, aiding, abetting, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a knowing and wilful crime involving the environment if the anticipated actual damages including, but not limited to, the cost of remediation, are two million dollars or more, as certified by an independent environmental engineer who shall be contracted by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

(1) The General Assembly finds that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control possesses the expertise and knowledge to determine whether there has occurred an alleged environmental offense as defined in this article.

(2) The General Assembly finds that, because of its expertise and knowledge, the Department of Health and Environmental Control must play a substantial role in the investigation of any such alleged environmental offense.

(3) The General Assembly finds that, while the Department of Health and Environmental Control must not make prosecutorial decisions regarding such alleged environmental offense as defined in this article, the department must be integrally involved in the investigation of any such alleged environmental offense before and after the impaneling of a state grand jury pursuant to § 14-7-1630.

(4) The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest to avoid duplicative and overlapping prosecutions to the extent that the Attorney General considers possible. Therefore, the Attorney General shall consult with and advise the Environmental Protection and Enforcement Coordinating Subcommittee and cooperate with other state and federal prosecutorial authorities having jurisdiction over environmental enforcement in order to carry out the provisions of Sections 14-7-1630(A)(8) and 14-7-1630(C).

(G) The General Assembly finds that related criminal activity often arises out of or in connection with crimes involving narcotics, dangerous drugs or controlled substances, criminal gang activity, obscenity, public corruption, or environmental offenses and that the mechanism for detecting and investigating these related crimes must be improved.

(H) Accordingly, the General Assembly concludes that a state grand jury should be allowed to investigate certain crimes related to narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances, criminal gang activity, trafficking in persons, and obscenity and also should be allowed to investigate crimes involving public corruption, election laws, and environmental offenses.

(I) This section does not limit the authority of a county grand jury, solicitor, or other appropriate law enforcement personnel to investigate, indict, or prosecute offenses within the jurisdiction of the state grand jury.