A person who violates the provisions of this chapter, upon conviction, must be punished as follows:

1. (a) Convictions in a magistrates court are punishable as follows:

   1. (1) for a first conviction, if the amount of the instrument is five hundred dollars or less, by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days;
   2. (2) for a first conviction, if the amount of the instrument is more than five hundred dollars but not greater than one thousand dollars, by a fine of not less than three hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both;
   3. (3) for a second or subsequent conviction, if the amount of the instrument is five hundred dollars or less, by a fine of two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days;
   4. (4) for a second or subsequent conviction, if the amount of the instrument is more than five hundred dollars but not greater than one thousand dollars, by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both.
2. (b) Convictions in the court of general sessions or any other court having concurrent jurisdiction are punishable as follows: for a first conviction by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both; and for a second or subsequent conviction by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars and imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than ten years.
3. (c) After a first offense conviction for drawing and uttering a fraudulent check or other instrument in violation of Section 34-11-60 within its jurisdiction, the court shall, at the time of sentence, suspend the imposition or execution of a sentence upon a showing of satisfactory proof of restitution and payment by the defendant of all reasonable court costs accruing not to exceed forty-one dollars. For a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of Section 34-11-60, the suspension of the imposition or execution of the sentence is discretionary with the court.
4. (d) After a conviction or plea for drawing and uttering a fraudulent check or other instrument in violation of Section 34-11-60 and the defendant is charged or fined, he shall pay in addition to the fine all reasonable court costs accruing, not to exceed forty-one dollars, and the service charge provided in Section 34-11-70.

5. (e) After a conviction under this section on a first offense, the defendant may, after one year from the date of the conviction, apply, or cause someone acting on his behalf to apply, to the court for an order expunging the records of the arrest and conviction. This provision does not apply to any crime classified as a felony. If the defendant has had no other conviction during the one-year period following the conviction under this section, the court shall issue an order expunging the records. No person has any rights under this section more than one time. After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is required to keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of its expungement to ensure that no person takes advantage of the rights permitted by this subsection more than once. This nonpublic record is not subject to release under Section 34-11-95, the Freedom of Information Act, or any other provision of law except to those authorized law or court officials who need this information in order to prevent the rights afforded by this subsection from being taken advantage of more than once.

   As used in this section the term "conviction" shall include the entering of a guilty plea, the entering of a plea of nolo contendere, or the forfeiting of bail. A conviction is classified as a felony if the instrument drawn or uttered in violation of this chapter exceeds the amount of five thousand dollars.

   Each instrument drawn or uttered in violation of this chapter constitutes a separate offense.

If the amount of the instrument is one thousand dollars or less, it must be tried exclusively in a magistrates court. A municipal governing body, by ordinance, may adopt by reference the provisions of this chapter as an offense under its municipal ordinances and by so doing authorizes its municipal court to try violations of this chapter. If the amount of the instrument is over one thousand dollars, it must be tried in the court of general sessions or any other court having concurrent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a person who violates the provisions of this chapter, upon conviction for a third or subsequent conviction, may be tried in either a magistrates court or in the court of general sessions.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 8-178; 1952 Code Section 8-178; 1942 Code Section 1167; 1932 Code Section 1167; Cr. C. '22 Section 60; Cr. C. '12 Section 208; 1909 (26) 21; 1914 (28) 489; 1923 (33) 120; 1954 (48) 1444; 1960 (51) 1929; 1970 (56) 2053; 1979 Act Nos. 56 Section 3, 93 Section 1; 1983 Act No. 133 Sections 1, 3; 1984 Act No. 423; 1989 Act No. 174, Sections 1, 2, eff ninety days after approval by the Governor (approved June 8, 1989); 1990 Act No. 609, Section 1, eff June 25, 1990; 2000 Act No. 226, Section 17, eff April 1, 2000; 2000 Act No. 257, Section 8, eff May 1, 2000.

Editor's Note

2000 Act No. 226 Section 1, effective July 1, 2000, reads as follows:

"This act is known and may be cited as the 'Magistrates Court Reform Act of 2000'."

Effect of Amendment

The 1989 amendment revised the opening paragraph and subsections (a) and (b) to increase the jurisdiction of magistrates to hear first and second offense violations, to specify the proper court for third and subsequent offenses, and to increase the penalties.

The 1990 amendment revised item (e) by adding the fifth and sixth sentences.

The first 2000 amendment (by Act No. 226) increased the jurisdiction of magistrates over fraudulent instruments from $500.00 to $1,000.00; rewrote paragraph (a); and increased court costs to be paid by a defendant from $20.00 to $41.00; and made language changes throughout.

The second 2000 amendment (by Act No. 257), in subsection (a)(3), added "not more" and, in subsection (a)(4), substituted "more" for "less" in two places.