South Carolina H 4144: Mail Theft

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4144 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 14, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4144

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 
16-13-190, SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF MAIL THEFT AND TO PROVIDE GRADUATED 
PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 13, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
16-13-190. (A) As used in this 
section:

 (1) 
"Mail" means any letter, postal card, parcel, package, bag, or other material, 
along with its contents, that has postage affixed by the postal customer, and:

 (a) 
has been accepted for delivery by the postal service;

 (b) 
the postal customer has left or deposited for collection by the postal service; 
or

 (c) 
that the postal service has delivered to, but has not yet been received by, the 
person to whom it is addressed.

 (2) 
"Mail receptacle" means a mailbox, post office box, rural box, letter box, lock 
drawer, mail bag, vehicle, or any place, area, or item intended or used by 
postal customers or a postal service for the collection, deposit, or delivery 
of mail.

 (3) 
"Postal service" means the United States Postal Service, a private mail 
carrier, or a common carrier delivery service.

 (B) A 
person commits the crime of mail theft if the person does any of the following:

 (1) 
knowingly, wilfully, and with the intent to deprive, injure, damage, or defraud 
another:

 (a) 
takes, destroys, hides, or embezzles; or

 (b) 
obtains mail by fraud or deception;

 (2) 
buys, receives, conceals, or possesses:

 (a) 
stolen mail and knows or reasonably should have known that the mail was 
unlawfully taken or obtained;

 (b) 
any key designed to provide access to a lock adopted by the United States 
Postal Service that provides access to any mail receptacle in any neighborhood 
or apartment panel used for the purpose of centralized mail without being 
authorized by the United States Postal Service to do so; or

 (c) 
a counterfeit device or key designed to provide access to a lock adopted by the 
United States Postal Service that provides access to any mail receptacle in any 
neighborhood or apartment panel used for the purpose of centralized mail;

 (3) 
knowingly, wilfully, and with the intent to steal any mail inside of a mail 
receptacle, damages, opens, tears down, takes, or destroys any mail receptacle; 
or

 (4) 
enters into an agreement, confederation, or conspiracy to violate any of the 
provisions of this subsection and does any overt act towards carrying out such 
unlawful agreement, confederation, or conspiracy.

 (C) A 
person who violates any provision of subsection (B), except as otherwise 
provided in subsection (D)(1), is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must 
be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten 
years, or both.

 (D) A 
person who, without intending to defraud the victim, knowingly, wilfully, and 
with the intent to deprive, injure, or damage another takes, destroys, or hides 
mail, or buys, receives, conceals, or possesses stolen mail that they know or 
reasonably should have known was unlawfully taken or obtained:

 (1) 
for a first offense, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be 
fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than three 
years, or both; and

 (2) 
for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, 
must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than 
ten years, or both.

 (E) In 
addition to the penalty assessed under subsection (C), the court shall order 
the person convicted of mail theft pursuant to this section to pay restitution 
to the victim in an amount determined by the court.

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

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This web page was last updated on March 14, 2025 at 10:54 AM