South Carolina H 4387: Law Enforcement Officer Misconduct

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4387 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 23, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4387

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 23-23-150, RELATING TO ADJUDICATION OF ALLEGATIONS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 
OFFICER MISCONDUCT REPORTED TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACADEMY, SO 
AS TO LIMIT PROSECUTORiAL DISCRETION FOR CERTAIN INCIDENCES OF MISCONDUCT, TO 
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT 
AGENCIES' WRITTEN REPORTS WHEN THE AGENCIES DECLINE TO PROSCRCUTE ALLEGATIONS 
OF MISCONDUCT, AND TO PROVIDE AGENCY HEADS MUST EXPLAIN WHY THEY BELIEVE THE 
ALLEGATIONS CAN NO LONGER BE PROVEN.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-23-150(B) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (B)(1) The sheriff or the chief executive 
officer of a law enforcement agency or department within the State must report 
to the academy the occurrence of any act or multiple acts by a law enforcement 
officer, who is currently or was last employed by his agency, he reasonably 
believes to be misconduct. The report shall be made within fifteen days of the 
final agency or department action resulting from the internal investigation 
conducted by the agency or department, and shall be on a form prescribed by the 
council.

 (2) 
Reported incidences of misconduct shall be prosecuted by the reporting agency 
before the contested case hearing. The reporting agency 
does not have the right of prosecutorial discretion to the allegations of 
subsection (A)(3)(g)-(m). As for all other subsections, prosecutorial 
discretion is limited to allegations of misconduct that can no longer be proven 
by the preponderance of evidence. The reporting agency shall maintain 
prosecutorial discretion up to the time of the contested case hearing. If the 
agency declines to prosecute the allegation or allegations of misconduct, the 
agency shall provide a written report to the council stating that the case is 
not being prosecuted and stating in detail the reasons why 
the agency believes the allegation can no longer be proven by the preponderance 
of evidence. The agency head shall appear at the next council meeting to 
explain why the agency believes the allegation can no longer be proven by the 
preponderance of evidence.

 (3) 
A wilful failure to report information related to acts of misconduct shall 
subject the violator to a civil penalty as provided by the council. The 
council may impose civil fines, in its discretion, not to exceed five hundred 
dollars per day for each day an agency is out of compliance with this section.

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

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This web page was last updated on April 23, 2025 at 02:03 PM