Except as otherwise expressly provided, the following fees and costs must be collected on a uniform basis in each county by clerks of court and registers of deeds or county treasurers as may be determined by the governing body of the county:

1. (1) for recording a deed to or a mortgage on real estate, ten dollars; and an additional one dollar a page for any deed or mortgage containing more than four pages; for entry of a deed or mortgage that covers both real estate and personal property in the indexes for both real and personal property conveyances or mortgages, one dollar additional;
2. (2) for recording a chattel mortgage, conditional sale contract, lease or contract of sale of personal property, and any other document required to be recorded under the Uniform Commercial Code (Title 36), the fees provided in Title 36;
3. (3) for recording an instrument which assigns, transfers, or affects a single real estate mortgage or other instrument affecting title to real property or lien for the payment of money, unless it is part of the original instrument when initially filed, six dollars; and if the instrument assigns, transfers, or affects more than one real estate mortgage, instrument, or lien, six dollars for each mortgage, instrument, or lien assigned, transferred, or affected and referred to in the instrument and an additional one dollar for each page for any instrument exceeding one page;
4. (4) for recording any lease, contract of sale, trust indenture, or other document affecting title or possession of real property not otherwise provided for in this section, ten dollars, and an additional one dollar a page for a document containing more than four pages;
5. (5) for recording satisfaction on the record of a mortgage of real estate or a chattel mortgage or other recorded lien, and certifying the entry on the original or a copy, five dollars;
6. (6) for recording separate probates, affidavits, or certificates which are not part of or attached to another document to be recorded, ten dollars;
7. (7) for recording a plat larger than eight and one-half by fourteen inches, ten dollars; for plats of "legal size" dimensions, or smaller, five dollars;
8. (8) for recording decree of foreclosure or partition of real property in mortgage book or deed book, the same fee as for recording deed or mortgage of real estate;
9. (9) for recording any other paper affecting title or possession of real estate or personal property and required by law to be recorded, except judicial records, ten dollars, and an additional one dollar a page for a document containing more than four pages;
10. (10) for filing power of attorney, trustee qualification, or other appointment, fifteen dollars, and an additional one dollar a page for a document containing more than four pages. However, upon presentation of a copy of deployment orders to a combat zone by or on behalf of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the filing fee for a power of attorney for the person deployed is waived. In addition, the filing fee for a revocation of power of attorney filed by or on behalf of a member of the armed forces of the United States is waived if the revocation is filed: (i) within three years from the date of filing the power of attorney; and (ii) a copy of the deployment orders to a combat zone is presented. For purposes of this item, "combat zone" has the meaning provided in Internal Revenue Service Publication 3 and includes service in a qualified hazardous duty area;

11. (11)

    1. (a) For filing first complaint or petition, including application for a remedial and prerogative writ and bond on attachment or other bond, in a civil action or proceeding, in a court of record, one hundred dollars. There is no further fee for filing an amended or supplemental complaint or petition nor for filing any other paper in the same action or proceeding. An original application for post conviction relief may be filed without fee upon permission of the court to which the application is addressed. There is no further fee for entering and filing a verdict, judgment, final decree, or order of dismissal, and enrolling a judgment thereon, for signing, sealing, and issuance of execution, or for entering satisfaction or partial satisfaction on a judgment:
    2. (b) for filing, recording, and indexing lis pendens when not accompanied by summons and complaint, ten dollars;
    3. (c) for receiving and enrolling transcripts of judgment from magistrate's courts and federal district courts, ten dollars;
    4. (d) for filing and enrolling a judgment by confession, ten dollars;
12. (12) no fee may be charged to a defendant or respondent for filing an answer, return, or other papers in any civil action or proceeding, in a court of record;
13. (13) for taking and filing an order for bail with or without bond, one dollar; with bond when surety must be justified, ten dollars;
14. (14) for taking and filing bond or security costs, one dollar; with bond when surety must be justified, ten dollars;
15. (15) for filing or recording any commission of notary public or other public office, license or permit to practice any profession or trade, notice of formation or dissolution of any partnership, five dollars;
16. (16) for filing the charter of any public or private corporation or association required by law to be recorded, ten dollars, and an additional one dollar a page for any such document containing more than four pages;
17. (17) for issuing an official certificate under seal of court not otherwise specified in this section, one dollar;
18. (18) for holding a hearing for condemnation proceedings, twenty-five dollars a day;
19. (19) for filing notice of discharge in bankruptcy, fifteen dollars;

20. (20) for filing and enrolling and satisfaction of South Carolina and United States Government tax liens:

    1. (a) for filing and enrolling and satisfying executions or warrants for distraint for the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, the South Carolina Department of Revenue, or any other state agency, where costs of the executions or warrants for distraint are chargeable to the persons against whom such executions or warrants for distraint are issued, ten dollars;

    2. (b) for filing and enrolling and satisfying any tax lien of any agency of the United States Government, where the costs of the executions are chargeable to the persons against whom such executions are issued, ten dollars;

       The clerk shall mark "satisfied" upon receipt of the fees provided in this item for any tax lien or warrant for distraint issued by any agency of this State or of the United States upon receipt of a certificate duly signed by an authorized officer of any agency of this State or the United States to the effect that the execution or warrant for distraint has been paid and satisfied.

21. (21) for filing and processing an order for the Destruction of Arrest Records, thirty-five dollars, which fee must be for each order regardless of the number of cases contained in the order. The fee under the provisions of this item does not apply to cases where the defendant is found not guilty or where the underlying charge is dismissed or nol prossed unless that dismissal or nol prosse is the result of successful completion of a pretrial intervention program;
22. (22) for filing, indexing, enrolling, and entering a foreign judgment and an affidavit pursuant to Article 11, Chapter 35, Title 15 of the 1976 Code, one hundred dollars.
23. (23) for filing a notice of meter conservation charge as permitted by Section 58-37-50, ten dollars.
24. (24) for filing court documents by electronic means from an integrated electronic filing (e-filing) system owned and operated by the South Carolina Judicial Department in an amount set by the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court and all fees must be remitted to the South Carolina Judicial Department to be dedicated to the support of court technology.

HISTORY: 1979 Act No. 164 Part I Section 1; 1983 Act No. 139 Sections 1, 2; 1988 Act No. 619, eff June 2, 1988; 1990 Act No. 531, Section 1, eff June 4, 1990; 1990 Act No. 612, Section 43, amending (11)(a) eff July 1, 1990 (became law without the Governor's signature); 1991 Act No. 153, Section 1, eff June 12, 1991; 1991 Act No. 171, Part II, Section 53A, eff July 1, 1991; 1993 Act No. 80, Section 2, eff June 11, 1993; 1993 Act No. 175, Section 1, eff June 16, 1993; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 74, eff July 1, 1993; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 36H, eff January 1, 1995; 1996 Act No. 244, Section 1, eff March 4, 1996; 1997 Act No. 34, Section 1, eff January 1, 1998; 1997 Act No. 155, Part II, Section 36A, eff July 1, 1997; 2002 Act No. 329, Section 3A, eff July 1, 2002; 2010 Act No. 141, Section 2, eff March 31, 2010; 2010 Act No. 256, Section 1, eff June 11, 2010; 2012 Act No. 269, Section 1, eff June 20, 2012.

Code Commissioner's Note

1997 Act No. 34, Section 1, directed the Code Commissioner to change all references to "Register of Mesne Conveyances" to "Register of Deeds" wherever appearing in the 1976 Code of Laws.

At the direction of the Code Commissioner in 2010 to correct an inadvertent paragraph placement, the undesignated paragraph beginning with "The clerk shall mark" was moved from the end of the section to item (20), and in that paragraph, "for" was inserted after "the fees provided in this item".

Pursuant to the directive to the Code Commissioner in 2010 Act No. 146, Section 122, "Department of Employment and Workforce" was substituted for all references to "Employment Security Commission", and "Executive Director of the Department of Employment and Workforce" or "executive director" was substituted for all references to the "Chairman of the Employment Security Commission" or "chairman" that refer to the Chairman of the Employment Security Commission, as appropriate.

Effect of Amendment

The 1988 amendment, in paragraph (11), subparagraph (a), increased the fee from twenty-five dollars to thirty-five dollars; and made grammatical changes.

The 1990 amendment by Act No. 531, Section 1, increased the amount of various fees, and deleted obsolete language.

The 1990 amendment by Act No. 612, Part II, Section 43A, raised the filing fee for a first complaint or petition in a civil action or proceeding in a court of record in paragraph (11), subparagraph (a), from thirty-five dollars to fifty dollars.

The 1991 amendment by Act No. 171, Part II, Section 53A, increased the filing fee in paragraph (11), subparagraph (a), from "fifty" to "fifty-five" dollars; and provided that the increase in this fee must be deposited to the credit of the general fund.

The 1991 amendment, by Act No. 153 Section 1, added paragraph (21), pertaining to the expungement of criminal records.

The 1993 amendment, by Act 80, added paragraph (22), pertaining to the filing, etc. of foreign judgments.

The 1993 amendment, by Act 175, revised paragraph (21), which formerly read "for expunging criminal records as provided by law, twenty-five dollars".

The 1993 amendment, by Act 181, in paragraph (20), subparagraph (a), substituted "Department of Revenue" for "Tax Commission".

The 1994 amendment, in paragraph (11), subparagraph (a), deleted the requirement reading "Of the fifty-five dollar fee thirty-five dollars is subject to the disposition provision of Section 20-7-1510 and the remaining twenty dollars must be remitted to the State and deposited to the credit of the general fund of the State".

The 1996 amendment added in paragraph (11) subparagraph (d).

The 1997 amendment (by Act No. 155), in the first sentence of paragraph (11)(a), increased the filing fee from fifty-five dollars to seventy dollars.

The 2002 amendment, in paragraphs (6), (13), (14) and items (11)(b) through (11)(d), and (20)(a), substituted "ten" for "five"; in paragraphs (10) and (19), substituted "fifteen" for "ten"; in item 11(a), substituted "one hundred dollars" for "seventy"; in paragraph (15), substituted "five" for "two"; and in paragraph (22), substituted "one-hundred" for "fifty-five".

The first 2010 amendment, 2010 Act No. 141, Section 2, added paragraph (23), relating to filing a notice of meter conservation charge.

The second 2010 amendment, 2010 Act No. 256, Section 1, rewrote subsection (10).

The 2012 amendment added item (24) relating to electronic filing.