Adult Conviction Expungement and Record-Sealing Eligibility in South Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Relief name and legal effect

South Carolina calls the remedy expungement of the arrest and conviction records. The conviction statutes do not promise that every copy is physically destroyed. Each main route requires SLED to keep a nonpublic offense-and-date record so officials can enforce the route's one-use limit.

Section 17-22-960 protects an employee from adverse employer use of expunged information, except by a criminal-justice agency. It does not create a broader universal disclosure rule for every application.

Automatic or clean-slate relief

There is no general automatic conviction process. Section 17-22-910 sends applications through the circuit solicitor's office, and § 17-22-930 requires the solicitor's form to the exclusion of other expungement forms.

Some routes direct the court to grant relief once every condition is proven, but the person still must apply.

Convictions eligible by petition

The main routes are:

• § 22-5-910: an offense carrying no more than 30 days or a $1,000 fine, a first unlawful firearm-or-weapon-possession offense within the stated one-year/$1,000 ceiling, and third-degree domestic violence;
• § 22-5-920: a first conviction actually sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act;
• § 22-5-930: first simple possession or unlawful prescription-drug possession, and first possession with intent to distribute;
• § 34-11-90: a first misdemeanor fraudulent-check conviction and, under 2026 S.C. Act No. 248, § 1, qualifying multiple magistrates-court misdemeanor check convictions within a three-year span; and
• § 56-5-750(F): first-offense failure to stop without the felony classification.

Section 17-1-65 separately allows one pre-March 7, 2024 unlawful-handgun- possession conviction to be submitted within five years after that statute's enactment.

For the new check route, the enacted subsection begins, "(f) notwithstanding another provision of law, if a defendant receives multiple convictions within a three-year period of time in magistrates court."

Excluded offenses and statuses

The low-penalty route excludes an offense involving motor-vehicle operation. The Youthful Offender route excludes motor-vehicle offenses, violent crimes, most Title 16 domestic-violence offenses, and offenses requiring sex-offender registration. Eligibility requires an actual Youthful Offender Act sentence, not merely age-based eligibility for one.

The fraudulent-check routes exclude felony checks. Sections 22-5-910 and 22-5-930 also generally bar relief while criminal charges are pending, unless they have remained pending more than five years after accounting for the bench-warrant tolling rule.

Waiting period and when it starts

The routes use different starting events:

• 1 year from a first misdemeanor fraudulent-check conviction;
• 3 years from the low-penalty or third-degree-domestic-violence conviction;
• 3 years from sentence completion, including probation and parole, for first simple possession or unlawful prescription-drug possession;
• 3 years from completion of every sentence term for first-offense failure to stop;
• 5 years from Youthful Offender sentence completion, including probation and parole;
• 10 years from the last qualifying multiple fraudulent-check conviction; and
• 20 years from completion of any sentence, including probation and parole, for the relevant drug or felony conviction before first-PWID relief.

Sentence, restitution, and new-record conditions

The Youthful Offender, drug, and failure-to-stop routes expressly count probation and parole or all sentence terms before the clock begins. Each route uses its own new-conviction screen; out-of-state convictions count where the statute says so.

Act 248's multiple-check route additionally requires full restitution on every check underlying the convictions. The first-check route does not state that same expungement condition, although § 34-11-90 separately addresses restitution at sentencing.

Petition process and decision standard

The solicitor's office assists with the mandatory form, coordinates SLED's eligibility check, gathers signatures, files the order, and distributes it to government record holders. A typical conviction application carries a $250 solicitor administrative fee, $25 SLED verification fee, and $35 filing fee, subject to the route-specific exceptions in § 17-22-940.

Sections 22-5-910 through -930 say the circuit court may grant after the criteria are met. The first-check, multiple-check, and first failure-to-stop routes direct the court to issue the order when their conditions are met.

Who can still see or use the record

The solicitor distributes the completed order to the arresting agency, detention facility, courts, solicitor, SLED, and other affected government holders. SLED's retained nonpublic record is available only to authorized law or court officials who need it to prevent repeat use of the relief.

Except for criminal-justice agencies, employers may not use expunged information adversely against an employee. Current law does not promise that every federal or private database will erase the record.

What trips people up

“First offense” is route-specific. A person must match the exact low-level, Youthful Offender, drug, check, or failure-to-stop provision; there is no general first-offense expungement rule.

The clock may start at conviction or sentence completion. Using the wrong start date can make an application years early.

The check statute changed on June 25, 2026. Act 248 now permits one additional application for qualifying multiple misdemeanor check convictions after ten years and full restitution, even though the compiled code page has not yet folded in the new subsection.

Common questions

Can a felony be expunged under the general low-penalty rule? No general felony route exists. Only the specific statutes, such as the listed drug or Youthful Offender provisions, can reach a qualifying felony conviction.

Can someone use both fraudulent-check routes? Yes. Act 248 says a first- offense application or expungement under subsection (e) does not prevent a qualifying multiple-conviction application under new subsection (f).

Does SLED retain anything? Yes. The principal conviction routes require a nonpublic offense-and-date record to prevent repeat use of their one-time benefits.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code §§ 22-5-910 to 22-5-930 — low-penalty, domestic-violence, Youthful Offender, and drug-conviction routes. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t22c005.php (accessed 2026-08-11)
• S.C. Code § 34-11-90 — first misdemeanor fraudulent-check route. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t34c011.php (accessed 2026-07-19)
• 2026 S.C. Act No. 248, § 1 — current multiple misdemeanor fraudulent-check route, effective June 25, 2026. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/428.htm (accessed 2026-07-19)
• S.C. Code § 56-5-750(F) — first-offense failure-to-stop route. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t56c005.php (accessed 2026-07-19)
• S.C. Code §§ 17-22-910, 17-22-930, 17-22-940, and 17-22-960 — solicitor administration, mandatory form, fees, distribution, and employer use. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c022.php (accessed 2026-07-19)
• S.C. Code § 17-1-65 — time-limited pre-2024 handgun-possession route. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c001.php (accessed 2026-07-19)