South Carolina Code 23-3-660. Expungement of DNA record; grounds for requesting
(1) the charges pending against the person who has been arrested or ordered to submit a sample:
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 23-3-660
- Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- DNA profile: means the results of any testing performed on a DNA sample. See South Carolina Code 23-3-615
- DNA record: means the tissue or saliva samples and the results of the testing performed on the samples. See South Carolina Code 23-3-615
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(a) have been nolle prossed;
(b) have been dismissed; or
(c) have been reduced below the requirement for inclusion in the State DNA Database; or
(2) the person has been found not guilty, or the person’s conviction has been reversed, set aside, or vacated.
(B) The solicitor in the county in which the person was charged must notify SLED when the person becomes eligible to have his DNA record and DNA profile expunged. Upon receiving this notification, SLED must begin the expungement procedure.
(C) SLED, at no cost to the person, must purge DNA and all other identifiable record information and the DNA profile from the State DNA Database if SLED receives either:
(1) a document certified:
(a) by a circuit court judge;
(b) by a prosecuting agency; or
(c) by a clerk of court;
that must be produced to the requestor at no charge within fourteen days after the request is made and after one of the events in subsection (A) has occurred, and no new trial has been ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(2) a certified copy of the court order finding the person not guilty, or reversing, setting aside, or vacating the conviction.
(D) The person’s entry in the State DNA Database shall not be removed if the person has another qualifying offense.
(E) The jail intake officer, sheriff’s office employee, courthouse employee, or detention facility intake officer shall provide written notification to the person of his right to have his DNA record and DNA profile expunged and the procedure for the expungement pursuant to this section at the time that the person’s saliva or tissue sample is taken. The written notification must include that the person is eligible to have his DNA record and his DNA profile expunged at no cost to the person when:
(1) the charges pending against the person are:
(a) nolle prossed;
(b) dismissed; or
(c) reduced below the requirement for inclusion in the State DNA Database; or
(2) when the person has been found not guilty, or the person’s conviction has been reversed, set aside, or vacated.
(F) When SLED completes the expungement process, SLED must notify the person whose DNA record and DNA profile have been expunged and inform him, in writing, that the expungement process has been completed.