South Carolina General Assembly
108th Session, 1989-1990

Bill 1242

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               1242
Ratification Number:       484
Act Number                 418
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Information released to a victim of a
                           violent crime
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A418, R484, S1242)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-780, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISIONS AND PROCEDURES INVOLVING JUVENILE RECORDS AND INFORMATION, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE RELEASE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TO A VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME ABOUT THE JUVENILE CHARGED WITH THE CRIME.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Information released to a victim of a violent crime

SECTION 1. Section 20-7-780 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 105 of 1989, is further amended to read:

"Section 20-7-780. (A) The court shall make and keep records of all cases brought before it and shall devise and cause to be printed forms for social and legal records and other papers as may be required. The official juvenile records of the courts and the Department of Youth Services are open to inspection only by consent of the judge to persons having a legitimate interest but always must be available to the legal counsel of the juvenile. All information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty by an employee of the court or Department of Youth Services is confidential and must not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone, other than the judge or others entitled under this chapter to receive this information unless otherwise ordered by the judge. However, these records are open to inspection without the consent of the judge where the records are necessary to defend against an action initiated by a juvenile.

(B) The Department of Youth Services, if requested, shall provide the victim of a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, with the name and other basic descriptive information about the juvenile charged with the crime and with information about the juvenile justice system, the status and disposition of the delinquency action, including hearing dates, times, and locations, and concerning services available to victims of juvenile crime. The name, identity, or picture of a child under the jurisdiction of the court, pursuant to this chapter, must not be made public by a newspaper, radio, or television station except as authorized by order of the court.

(C) A juvenile charged with committing a violent offense as defined in Section 16-1-60, or charged with committing grand larceny of a motor vehicle, may be fingerprinted by the law enforcement agency who takes the juvenile into custody. A juvenile charged with committing a nonviolent or status offense must not be fingerprinted by law enforcement except upon order of a family court judge. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must be kept separate from the fingerprint records of adults. The fingerprint records of a juvenile must not be transmitted to the files of the State Law Enforcement Division or to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or otherwise distributed or provided to another law enforcement agency unless the juvenile is adjudicated delinquent for having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, or for grand larceny of a motor vehicle. The fingerprint records of a juvenile who is not adjudicated delinquent for having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, or for grand larceny of a motor vehicle upon notification to law enforcement, must be destroyed or otherwise expunged by the law enforcement agency who took the juvenile into custody. The Department of Youth Services may fingerprint and photograph a juvenile upon commitment to a juvenile correctional institution. Fingerprints and photographs taken by the Department of Youth Services remain confidential and must not be transmitted to the State Law Enforcement Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or another agency or person, except for the purpose of aiding the department in apprehending an escapee from the department or assisting the Missing Persons Information Center in the location or identification of a missing or runaway child."

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Approved the 25th day of April, 1990.