South Carolina H 3073: Commission on Indigent Defense, Division of Statewide Grand Jury Defense

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3073 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3073

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 ADDING SECTION 
17-3-365 SO AS TO CREATE THE DIVISION OF STATEWIDE GRAND JURY DEFENSE WITHIN 
THE OFFICE OF INDIGENT DEFENSE AND PROVIDE FOR ITS DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES; 
AND BY AMENDING SECTION 17-3-5, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR PURPOSES OF THE 
DEFENSE OF INDIGENTS, SO AS TO DEFINE THE "DIVISION OF STATEWIDE GRAND JURY 
DEFENSE."

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 3, Title 17 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
17-3-365. (A) There is created 
within the Office of Indigent Defense, the Division of Statewide Grand Jury 
Defense.

 (B) 
The division must be administered by a chief attorney. The staff of the 
division shall consist of additional attorneys and administrative, 
investigative, secretarial, and clerical employees necessary to discharge the 
duties of the division. No person may be hired to serve as an attorney who is 
not licensed to practice law in this State. Attorneys employed by the division 
shall devote full time to their duties and may not engage in the private 
practice of law.

 (C) 
The division shall carry out the following duties and responsibilities:

 (1) 
It shall represent a person before a statewide grand jury who the office 
determines, subject to court review, falls within the guidelines promulgated 
pursuant to Section 17-3-310(G)(2) who meets the qualifications set out in 
Article 1. A person desiring representation by the division shall request a 
determination of his indigency status in writing from the office. The office 
receiving a request for indigent statewide grand jury representation shall 
forward the request to the division who, within ten days of the receipt of the 
request for representation, shall notify the person requesting representation 
and the statewide grand jury in which the defense will be effected of its 
decision.

 (2) 
Upon a finding by the office that a person requesting representation qualifies 
as an indigent and after appointing counsel for this person from the division, 
the division shall represent this person in his defense before the statewide 
grand jury.

SECTION 2. Section 17-3-5 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
17-3-5. As used in this chapter, the term:

 (1) 
"Commission" means the Commission on Indigent Defense.

 (2) 
"Division of Appellate Defense" includes all attorneys and employees in the 
division.

 (3) "Division of Statewide Grand Jury 
Defense" includes all attorneys and employees in the division.

 (3)(4) "Assistant public defender" means an attorney who is 
employed by a circuit public defender office.

 (4)(5) "Circuit public defender" means the head of a public 
defender office providing indigent defense representation within a given 
judicial circuit of this State.

 (5)(6) "Circuit public defender office" means the office of 
one of the several circuit public defenders.

 (6)(7) "Public defender" means an attorney who is employed in 
a circuit public defender office or who represents an indigent person pursuant 
to a contractual arrangement with a circuit public defender office.

 (7)(8) "Administering county" means the county within each 
circuit with which the circuit public defender has an agreement for the 
administering of indigent defense funds distributed from the State and the 
counties within the circuit for the provision of indigent defender services 
within each circuit.

 (8)(9) "Chief county public defender" means a public defender 
appointed by the circuit public defender to assist in managing, supervising, 
and providing indigent defense representation in one or more assigned counties 
within the circuit.

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

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This web page was last updated on December 06, 2024 at 10:07 AM