South Carolina Code 17-22-1010. Completion of South Carolina Youth Challenge Academy and the South Carolina Jobs Challenge Program; expungement; records
(B) If the person has had no other conviction during the approximately one-year period as provided in subsection (A), the circuit court may issue an order expunging the records including any associated bench warrant. No person may have his records expunged under this section more than once.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-22-1010
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(C) If the expungement order is granted by the court, the records must be destroyed or retained by any law enforcement agency or municipal, county, or state agency or department pursuant to the provisions of § 17-1-40.
(D) The effect of the expungement order is to restore the person, in the contemplation of the law, to the status he occupied before the arrest or indictment or information. No person as to whom the order has been entered may be held pursuant to another provision of law to be guilty of perjury or otherwise giving a false statement by reason of his failure to recite or acknowledge the arrest, or indictment or information, or trial in response to an inquiry made of him for any purpose.
(E) After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is required to keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of the expungement to ensure that no person takes advantage of the rights of this section more than once. This nonpublic record is not subject to release pursuant to § 34-11-95, the Freedom of Information Act, or any other provision of law except to those authorized law or court officials who need to know this information in order to prevent the rights afforded by this section from being taken advantage of more than once.
(F) As used in this section, "conviction" includes a guilty plea, a plea of nolo contendere, or the forfeiting of bail.