S.C. Code Ann. § 23-23-70 – Certificates to be issued to certain officers appointed as chiefs and certain retired law enforcement officers

(A) A retired law enforcement officer with twenty years or more law enforcement experience who subsequently serves as a magistrate or municipal judge of this State and is or has been appointed chief of a municipal department by the governing body thereof must be issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer pursuant to Section 23-23-60 if that person completes the legal course for Class I certified officers taught by the Criminal Justice Academy. This provision applies to a retired law enforcement officer of this State with twenty years or more law enforcement experience whose certificate has lapsed due to a three-year break in service who subsequently is appointed chief of a municipal department by the governing body thereof.
(B) A retired South Carolina law enforcement officer must be issued a certificate pursuant to Section 23-23-60, authorizing him to serve as a certified law enforcement officer, if the officer meets the following qualifications at the time of application:
1. (1) the officer must have been retired pursuant to Section 9-11-60 or 9-11-70 for not more than ten years, except that the department may certify an officer who has been retired for more than ten years if the officer provides evidence satisfactory to the director that he has received law enforcement training and experience sufficient to qualify him to serve as a certified law enforcement officer;
2. (2) within the previous three years, the officer must have completed a legal course and all other training programs for certified officers mandated by law and taught by the Criminal Justice Academy; and
3. (3) the officer must have maintained a constable commission during his retirement, without interruption.
(C) A retired federal law enforcement officer must be issued a certificate pursuant to Section 23-23-60, authorizing him to serve as a certified law enforcement officer, if the officer provides evidence satisfactory to the director that he has received law enforcement training and experience sufficient to qualify him to serve as a certified law enforcement officer.