South Carolina H 3655: A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO EXPRESS SINCERE GRATITUDE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON, TO THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND CLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOR THEIR AID GIVEN TO THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON DURING HURRICANE MATTHEW.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3655 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 05, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3655

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 63-19-820, RELATING TO OUT-OF-HOME 
PLACEMENTS, SO AS TO ELIMINATE THE EXCEPTION FOR CHILDREN TO BE TRIED AS ADULTS 
AND TO DECREASE THE LENGTH OF TIME THAT A CHILD MAY BE HELD IN A JUVENILE 
DETENTION FACILITY; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-19-1020, RELATING TO THE INSTITUTION 
OF JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT THE CHILD AND HIS FAMILY FIRST 
SEEK COUNSELING IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; BY AMENDING SECTION 63-19-1440, 
RELATING TO COMMITMENT, SO AS TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN STATUS AND CRIMINAL 
OFFENSES AND TO CHANGE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR COURT ORDERS; BY AMENDING SECTION 
63-19-1810, RELATING TO DETERMINATIONS OF RELEASE, SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING 
CHANGES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 63-19-2050, RELATING TO PETITIONS FOR 
EXPUNGEMENT OF OFFICIAL RECORDS, SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES AND TO 
PROVIDE FOR THE AUTOMATIC EXPUNGEMENT OF A JUVENILE'S RECORD FOR STATUS 
OFFENSES, WITH EXCEPTIONS.

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

SECTION 1. Section 63-19-820(C) and (E) of the S.C. Code is 
amended to read:

 (C) NoA child maymust not be placed in secure confinement or ordered 
detained by the court in secure confinement in an adult jail or other place of 
detention for adults for more than six hours. However, the 
prohibition against the secure confinement of juveniles in adult jails does not 
apply to juveniles who have been waived to the court of general sessions for 
the purpose of standing trial as an adult. Juveniles A juvenile placed in secure confinement in an adult jail 
during this six-hour period must be confined in an area of the jail which is 
separated by sight and sound from adults similarly confined.

 (E) 
A child who is taken into custody because of a violation of law which would not 
be a criminal offense under the laws of this State if committed by an adult 
must not be placed or ordered detained in an adult detention facility. A child 
who is taken into custody because of a violation of the law which would not be 
a criminal offense under the laws of this State if committed by an adult must 
not be placed or ordered detained more than twenty-four 
hours in a juvenile detention facility, unless an order previously has 
been issued by the court, of which the child has notice and which notifies the 
child that further violation of the court's order may result in the secure 
detention of that child in a juvenile detention facility. If a juvenile is 
ordered detained for violating a valid court order, the juvenile may be held in 
secure confinement in a juvenile detention facility for not more than seventy-twoforty-eight hours, 
excluding weekends and holidays. However, nothing in this section precludes a 
law enforcement officer from taking a status offender into custody.

SECTION 2. Section 63-19-1020 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
63-19-1020. (A) The parent or custodian of a child, an official of a 
child welfare board, a public official charged by law with the care of the 
poor, the recognized agents of an agency, association, society, or institution, 
a person having knowledge or information of a nature which convinces the person 
that a child is delinquent or that a child, by reason of his own acts in 
accordance with this chapter, is subject to the jurisdiction of the court, any 
person who has suffered injury through the delinquency of a child, or an 
officer having an arrested child in charge, may institute a proceeding 
respecting the child.

 (B) Before the department may accept 
a referral for the status offense of incorrigibility or before a petition for 
the offense of incorrigibility may be filed, the person or entity seeking to 
institute the proceeding first shall provide documentation indicating that the 
parent or custodian and the child have made reasonable efforts to resolve the 
challenges confronting the family through participation in family counseling, 
pastoral counseling, parenting improvement classes, or other family therapy 
services. If no prior assistance has been sought, the department shall refer 
the parent or custodian to service providers in the family's community or 
provide services itself to assist the family.

SECTION 3. Section 63-19-1440(A), (C), and (F) of the S.C. Code is 
amended to read:

 (A) A child, after the child's 
twelfth birthday and before the eighteenth birthday or while under the 
jurisdiction of the family court for disposition of ana criminal offense that occurred prior to the child's 
eighteenth birthday, or for conduct that is a violation of 
probation or an act of contempt of court where the prior order o