South Carolina S 957: Litter control officers

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 957 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 25, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 957

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 4-9-145, RELATING TO LITTER CONTROL OFFICERS, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE LITTER 
CONTROL AND CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO REQUEST ACCESS TO A BLIGHTED PROPERTY, 
AND TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A SEARCH WARRANT WHEN SUCH 
ACCESS IS DENIED.

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

SECTION 1. Section 4-9-145 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
4-9-145. (A) Except as provided in 
subsection (B), the governing body of a county may appoint and commission as 
many code enforcement officers as may be necessary for the proper security, 
general welfare, and convenience of the county. These officers are vested with 
all the powers and duties conferred by law upon constables in addition to 
duties imposed upon them by the governing body of the county. However, no code 
enforcement officer commissioned under this section may perform a custodial 
arrest, except as provided in subsection (B). These code enforcement officers 
must exercise their powers on all private and public property within the 
county. The governing body of the county may limit the scope of a code 
enforcement officer's authority or the geographic area for which he is 
authorized to exercise the authority granted.

 (B)(1) The number of litter control 
officers vested with custodial arrest authority who are appointed and 
commissioned pursuant to subsection (A) must not exceed the greater of:

 (a) 
the number of officers appointed and commissioned by the county on July 1, 
2001; or

 (b) 
one officer for every twenty-five thousand persons in the county, based upon 
the most recent census. Each county may appoint and commission at least one 
officer, without regard to the population of the county.

 (2)(a) A litter control officer appointed 
and commissioned pursuant to subsection (A) may exercise the power of arrest 
with respect to his primary duties of enforcement of litter control laws and 
ordinances and other state and local laws and ordinances as may arise 
incidental to the enforcement of his primary duties only if the officer has 
been certified as a law enforcement officer pursuant to Chapter 23, Title 23.

 (b) 
In the absence of an arrest for a violation of the litter control laws and 
ordinances, a litter control officer authorized to exercise the power of arrest 
pursuant to subitem (a) may not stop a person or make an incidental arrest of a 
person for a violation of other state and local laws and ordinances.

 (3) 
For purposes of this section, the phrase "litter control officer" means a code 
enforcement officer authorized to enforce litter control laws and ordinances who has completed the required training and has been certified 
as provided for in subsection (B)(2)(a).

 (C) When real property comes 
under the jurisdiction of any litter statute, regulation, or local ordinance as 
the result of such property acting as a nuisance, junkyard, or when the 
property has become blighted with solid waste visible from a public roadway or 
private easement, a law enforcement officer, litter control officer, or code 
enforcement officer, upon proper presentation of credentials to the property 
owner, manager, or agent of the property owner, shall enter at reasonable times 
and have the right to question either publicly or privately any such property 
owner, manager, or agent. A law enforcement officer or code enforcement officer 
may inspect, investigate, photograph, copy books or financial records, and 
sample all pertinent places during regular working hours and at other 
reasonable times, and within reasonable limits, and in a reasonable manner.

 (D) If an officer is denied admission for purposes of 
inspection, the officer may seek a search warrant as follows:

 (1) Any circuit judge or magistrate 
having jurisdiction where the inspection and investigation is to be conducted 
is empowered to issue administrative warrants upon proper showing of the need 
for such entry. Such inspection and investigation may include interviewing of 
property owners, photographing, sampling, copying of books and financial 
records, and such other tests and acts as are necessary to carry out the 
purposes of the inspection and investigation.

 (2) A search warrant must be issued upon 
an affidavit of an officer having knowledge of the facts alleged, sworn to 
before the circuit judge or magistrate establishing the grounds for issuing the 
warrant and certifying that the request for permission to conduct the 
inspection has been made to the property owner who refused or was unable to be 
reached after reasonable attempts have been