South Carolina Code 34-11-90. Jurisdiction of offenses and penalties
If the amount of the instrument is one thousand dollars or less, it must be tried exclusively in a magistrates court. A municipal governing body, by ordinance, may adopt by reference the provisions of this chapter as an offense under its municipal ordinances and by so doing authorizes its municipal court to try violations of this chapter. If the amount of the instrument is over one thousand dollars, it must be tried in the court of general sessions or any other court having concurrent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a person who violates the provisions of this chapter, upon conviction for a third or subsequent conviction, may be tried in either a magistrates court or in the court of general sessions.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 34-11-90
- 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.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
(a) Convictions in a magistrates court are punishable as follows:
(1) for a first conviction, if the amount of the instrument is five hundred dollars or less, by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days;
(2) for a first conviction, if the amount of the instrument is more than five hundred dollars but not greater than one thousand dollars, by a fine of not less than three hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both;
(3) for a second or subsequent conviction, if the amount of the instrument is five hundred dollars or less, by a fine of two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days;
(4) for a second or subsequent conviction, if the amount of the instrument is more than five hundred dollars but not greater than one thousand dollars, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both.
(b) Convictions in the court of general sessions or any other court having concurrent jurisdiction are punishable as follows: for a first conviction by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both; and for a second or subsequent conviction by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars and imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than ten years.
(c) After a first offense conviction for drawing and uttering a fraudulent check or other instrument in violation of § 34-11-60 within its jurisdiction, the court shall, at the time of sentence, suspend the imposition or execution of a sentence upon a showing of satisfactory proof of restitution and payment by the defendant of all reasonable court costs accruing not to exceed forty-one dollars. For a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of § 34-11-60, the suspension of the imposition or execution of the sentence is discretionary with the court.
(d) After a conviction or plea for drawing and uttering a fraudulent check or other instrument in violation of § 34-11-60 and the defendant is charged or fined, he shall pay in addition to the fine all reasonable court costs accruing, not to exceed forty-one dollars, and the service charge provided in § 34-11-70.
(e) After a conviction under this section on a first offense, the defendant may, after one year from the date of the conviction, apply, or cause someone acting on his behalf to apply, to the court for an order expunging the records of the arrest and conviction. This provision does not apply to any crime classified as a felony. If the defendant has had no other conviction during the one-year period following the conviction under this section, the court shall issue an order expunging the records. No person has any rights under this section more than one time. After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is required to keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of its expungement to ensure that no person takes advantage of the rights permitted by this subsection more than once. This nonpublic record is not subject to release under § 34-11-95, the Freedom of Information Act, or any other provision of law except to those authorized law or court officials who need this information in order to prevent the rights afforded by this subsection from being taken advantage of more than once.
As used in this section the term "conviction" shall include the entering of a guilty plea, the entering of a plea of nolo contendere, or the forfeiting of bail. A conviction is classified as a felony if the instrument drawn or uttered in violation of this chapter exceeds the amount of five thousand dollars.
Each instrument drawn or uttered in violation of this chapter constitutes a separate offense.