South Carolina General Assembly
113th Session, 1999-2000

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Bill 375


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      375
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  19990120
Primary Sponsor:                  Anderson
All Sponsors:                     Anderson
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\gjk\20146djc99.doc
Residing Body:                    House
Current Committee:                Judiciary Committee 25 HJ
Date of Last Amendment:           19990406
Subject:                          Narcotics and drugs, sale of forfeited 
                                  property to aid law enforcement and abuse 
                                  facilities; Alcohol, Property


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
House   19990408  Introduced, read first time,           25 HJ
                  referred to Committee
Senate  19990407  Read third time, sent to House
Senate  19990406  Amended, read second time, 
                  ordered to third reading 
                  with notice of general amendments
Senate  19990331  Recalled from Committee,               11 SJ
                  placed on the Calendar
Senate  19990120  Introduced, read first time,           11 SJ
                  referred to Committee


                             Versions of This Bill
Revised on March 31, 1999 - Word format
Revised on April 6, 1999 - Word format

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

AMENDED

April 6, 1999

S. 375

Introduced by Senator Anderson

S. Printed 4/6/99--S.

Read the first time January 20, 1999.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 44-53-530, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO FORFEITURE PROCEDURES, THE DISPOSITION OF FORFEITED ITEMS, AND THE DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS OF SALES OF REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY CONFISCATED PURSUANT TO THE SEIZURE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, SO AS TO MODIFY THE DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF PROPERTY FORFEITED, TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMPENSATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING INFORMATION LEADING TO THE FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY, AND TO AUTHORIZE A JUDGE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES AS TO WHETHER A PERSON PROVIDED INFORMATION LEADING TO THE FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY.

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

SECTION 1. Section 44-53-530(a) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(a) Forfeiture of property defined in Section 44-53-520 must be accomplished by petition of the Attorney General or his designee or the circuit solicitor or his designee to the court of common pleas for the jurisdiction where the items were seized. The petition must be submitted to the court within a reasonable time period following seizure and shall set forth the facts upon which the seizure was made. The petition shall describe the property and include the names of all owners of record and lienholders of record. The petition shall identify any other persons known to the petitioner to have interests in the property. Petitions for the forfeiture of conveyances shall also include: the make, model, and year of the conveyance,; the person in whose name the conveyance is registered,; and the person who holds the title to the conveyance. The petition shall set forth the type and quantity of the controlled substance involved. A copy of the petition must be sent to each law enforcement agency which has notified the petitioner of its involvement in effecting the seizure. Notice of hearing or rule to show cause must be directed to all persons with interests in the property listed in the petition, including law enforcement agencies which have notified the petitioner of their involvement in effecting the seizure. Owners of record and lienholders of record may be served by certified mail, to the last known address as appears in the records of the governmental agency which records the title or lien.

The judge shall determine whether the property is subject to forfeiture and order the forfeiture confirmed. If the judge finds a forfeiture, he shall then determine the lienholder's interest as provided in this article. The judge shall determine whether any property must be returned to a law enforcement agency pursuant to Section 44-53-582.

If there is a dispute as to the division of the proceeds of forfeited property among participating law enforcement agencies, this issue must be determined by the judge. The proceeds from a sale of property, conveyances, and equipment must be disposed of pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.

If there is a dispute as to whether a private citizen is entitled to twenty-five percent of the proceeds from the sale of property, conveyances, and equipment as provided for in subsection (e) for providing law enforcement with previously unknown information that leads to an arrest, conviction, and the forfeiture of property, the judge must determine the issue in an in camera proceeding, keeping the private citizen's identity confidential.

All property, conveyances, and equipment which will not be reduced to proceeds may be transferred to the law enforcement agency or agencies or to the prosecution agency. Upon agreement of the law enforcement agency or agencies and the prosecution agency, conveyances and equipment may be transferred to any other appropriate agency. Property transferred must not be used to supplant operating funds within the current or future budgets. If the property seized and forfeited is an aircraft or watercraft and is transferred to a state law enforcement agency or other state agency pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, its the aircraft's or watercraft's use and retainage by that agency shall be at the discretion and approval of the Budget and Control Board."

SECTION 2. Section 44-53-530(e) and (g) of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"(e) All real Real or personal property, conveyances, and equipment of any value defined in Section 44-53-520, when reduced to proceeds, any cash more than one thousand dollars, any negotiable instruments, and any securities which are seized and forfeited must be disposed of as follows:

(1) seventy-five percent to the law enforcement agency or agencies;

(i) If a law enforcement agency receives previously unknown information from a private citizen that leads to an arrest, conviction, and the forfeiture of property as defined in Section 44-53-520, the agency shall pay to the private citizen twenty-five percent of the seventy-five percent of the forfeited property received by the agency. A private citizen who has information regarding the possession, distribution, or trafficking of controlled substances may contact the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction where the alleged activity occurred to provide information and need only identify himself by his social security number.

(ii) In order to qualify for the payment from forfeited property, the private citizen must not be under documented investigation for any criminal activity at the time the information was reported to law enforcement.

(2) twenty percent to the prosecuting agency; and

(3) five percent must be remitted to the remainder must be placed on deposit with the State Treasurer and deposited to the credit of the general fund of the State.

(g) All forfeited Forfeited monies and proceeds from the sale of forfeited property as defined in Section 44-53-520 must be retained by the governing body of the local law enforcement agency or prosecution agency and deposited in a separate, special account in the name of each appropriate agency. These accounts may be drawn on and used only by the law enforcement agency or prosecution agency for which the account was established. For law enforcement agencies, the accounts must may be used for, but not limited to, drug enforcement activities, and for prosecution agencies, the accounts must may be used in matters relating, but not limited to, the prosecution of drug offenses and litigation of drug-related matters.

These accounts must not be used to supplant operating funds in the current or future budgets, and no additional personnel may be hired using proceeds from these accounts. Expenditures from these accounts for an item that would be a recurring expense must be approved by the governing body before purchase or, in the case of a state law enforcement agency or prosecution agency, approved as provided by law.

In the case of a state law enforcement agency or state prosecution agency, monies and proceeds must be remitted to placed on deposit with the State Treasurer who shall establish separate, special accounts as provided in this section for local agencies.

All expenditures from these accounts must be documented, and the documentation made available for audit purposes and upon request by a person under the provisions of Chapter 4 of Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act."

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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