Did South Carolina police have to give a detention center each victim’s contact information when booking a suspect?

Plain-English summary

A Hampton County detention-center administrator said a municipality was not providing victim contact information when booking arrestees. The 1999 AG letter read South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525 as mandatory. For an arrest or detention involving one or more victims, the law-enforcement agency had to give the facility with physical custody each victim’s name, mailing address and telephone number.

The writer said the agency had no discretion to withhold the required information during booking. He characterized noncompliance as a violation of South Carolina law and identified a writ of mandamus in circuit court as the remedy. The letter did not resolve a dispute about whether a particular arrest involved a victim or assess damages.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1999. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What victim information did an arresting agency have to give the jail? A: Under the provision quoted in the letter, the agency had to provide each victim’s name, mailing address and telephone number.

Q: Could the agency choose whether to provide those details during booking? A: The writer said no. He described the statutory direction as clear and said the agency had no discretion about providing the information.

Q: What remedy did the letter identify if an agency failed to comply? A: It identified a writ of mandamus in circuit court. The letter did not discuss a damages remedy.

Q: Did this duty apply to every booking?
A: The quoted provision addressed the arrest or detention of someone accused of an offense involving one or more victims.

Background and statutory framework

The inquiry concerned a municipality booking a person into the Hampton County Detention Center without supplying information required by South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525. The letter quoted subsection (C), which directed the arresting or detaining agency to provide victim contact details to the jail, prison or holding facility with physical custody. The response gave a short statutory reading and named mandamus as redress.

Citations and references

• South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525(C): Quoted for the required transfer of each victim’s name, mailing address and telephone number to the custodial facility.
• Remedy discussed: Writ of mandamus in circuit court.

Official title

Regarding a municipality within Hampton County fails to provide the information required by South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525 during the booking process at the Hampton County Detention Center.

Requester

Tounda Smith, Jail Administrator, Hampton County Detention Center

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/march-1-1999/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/99march1smith.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLES MOLONY CONDON
ATTORNEY GENERAL

March 1, 1999

Tounda Smith
Jail Administrator
Hampton County Detention Center
900 Cemetery Road
Post Office Box 633
Hampton, S.C. 29924

Dear Ms. Smith,
Thank you for your request for an opinion from this Office, which has been referred to me for a response. You write that a municipality within Hampton County fails to provide the information required by South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525 during the booking process at the Hampton County Detention Center. South Carolina Code Section 16-3-1525( C ) says: A law enforcement agency, upon effecting the arrest or detention of a person accused of committing an offense involving one or more victims, must provide to the jail, prison, or detention or holding facility having physical custody of the defendant, the name, mailing address, and telephone number of each victim. (emphasis added) The language of the statute is clear. The law enforcement agency may use no discretion in determining when the above referenced information is to be provided. The name, mailing address, and telephone number of any victim must be given to the detention center during the booking process. Failure to comply is a violation of South Carolina law. Redress for this violation is a writ of mandamus in circuit court. Should a law enforcement agency have any questions regarding the application of this Code Section to the booking procedure at your detention center, you may refer them to this letter.

With kind regards, I am

fot;F''
Robert D. Cook
Assistant Deputy Attorney General

[

I
I