South Carolina H 3730: Expungement

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3730 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 15, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3730

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 
17-22-915 SO AS TO ALLOW FOR EXPUNGEMENT OF FIRST OFFENSE NONVIOLENT OFFENSES 
AND DRUG TREATMENT COURT OFFENSES AFTER CERTAIN TIME PERIODS WITHOUT PENDING CHARGES 
OR ADDITIONAL CONVICTIONS; BY AMENDING SECTION 17-22-910, RELATING TO 
APPLICATIONS FOR EXPUNGEMENT, SO AS TO REFERENCE EXPUNGEMENT PROVISIONS IN 
SECTION 17-22-915; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 17-22-940, RELATING TO THE 
EXPUNGEMENT PROCESS, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY BY THE 
COURT FOR PARTICIPANTS IN DRUG TREATMENT COURTS BEFORE EXPUNGEMENT.

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

SECTION 1. Article 9, Chapter 22, Title 17 of the S.C. Code is amended 
by adding:

 Section 
17-22-915. (A) Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law and pursuant to the provisions of this article, a person 
convicted on a first offense for a nonviolent offense, as defined in Section 
16-1-70, may apply, or cause someone acting on his behalf to apply, to the 
appropriate solicitor's office with jurisdiction over the offense for 
expungement of the nonviolent offense provided he has no pending charges and 
has not been convicted of any other offense for ten years from the date of 
conviction of the offense.

 (B) A 
person who successfully completes a drug treatment court program for a first 
offense conviction for a nonviolent offense may apply to the appropriate 
solicitor's office with jurisdiction over the offense for expungement of the 
nonviolent offense provided he has no pending charges and has not been 
convicted of any other offense for three years from the date of completion of a 
drug treatment court program.

 (C) 
No person may have his records expunged under this section more than once. 
After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is required 
to keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of expungement. This 
nonpublic record is not subject to release pursuant to Chapter 4, Title 30, the 
Freedom of Information Act, or any other provision of law except to those 
authorized law or court officials who need to know this information in order to 
prevent the rights afforded by this section from being taken advantage of more 
than once.

SECTION 2. Section 17-22-910(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 Section 
17-22-910. (A) Applications for 
expungement of all criminal records must be administered by the solicitor's 
office in each circuit in the State as authorized pursuant to:

 (1) 
Section 34-11-90(e), first offense misdemeanor fraudulent check;

 (2) 
Section 44-53-450(b), conditional discharge;

 (3) 
Section 22-5-910, first offense conviction in magistrates court;

 (4) 
Section 22-5-920, youthful offender act;

 (5) 
Section 22-5-930, first offense simple possession or possession with intent to 
distribute drug convictions;

 (6) 
Section 56-5-750(F), first offense failure to stop when signaled by a law 
enforcement vehicle;

 (7) 
Section 17-22-150(a), pretrial intervention;

 (8) 
Section 17-1-40, criminal records destruction, except as provided in Section 
17-22-950;

 (9) 
Section 63-19-2050, juvenile expungements;

 (10) 
Section 17-22-530(A), alcohol education program;

 (11) 
Section 17-22-330(A), traffic education program;

 (12) 
Section 17-22-1010, Youth Challenge Academy and Jobs Challenge Program; and

 (13) Section 17-22-915, nonviolent 
offenses and drug treatment court convictions; and

 (13)(14) any other statutory authorization.

SECTION 3. Section 17-22-940(D) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (D) In cases when charges are sought 
to be expunged pursuant to Section 17-22-150(a), 17-22-530(A), 17-22-330(A), 
22-5-910, or 44-53-450(b), 17-22-915, or 
17-22-1010, the circuit pretrial intervention director, alcohol education 
program director, traffic education program director, drug 
treatment court judge, South Carolina Youth Challenge Academy director, 
or summary court judge, as appropriate, shall attest by signature on the 
application to the eligibility of the charge for expungement before either the solicitor 
or his designee and then the circuit court judge, or the family court judge in 
the case of a juvenile, signs the application for expungement.

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 15, 2025 at 02:56 PM