Expungement / Record Sealing Petition and Eligibility Memo — South Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA EXPUNGEMENT ELIGIBILITY MEMO AND APPLICATION WORKSHEET

Part A — Attorney Eligibility Memo

TO: [Client Name]

FROM: [Attorney Name / Firm]

DATE: [__/__/____]

RE: South Carolina expungement eligibility

1. Record Summary

2. Procedural Classification

Summary-court nonconviction

If a magistrate or municipal charge ended in not guilty, dismissal, or nolle prosequi,
§ 17-22-950 applies unless the dismissal occurred at a preliminary hearing or related charges
remain pending in summary court and general sessions.

• If fingerprinted, the court issues the no-cost order after the appeal period, subject to an
  eligible objection.

• If not fingerprinted, the applicant uses SCCA 223E.

• Internet-based public records must be removed within thirty days of disposition under
  § 17-22-950(E), regardless of whether a nonfingerprinted applicant files under subsection (B).

Solicitor-administered application

All other adult routes covered here are administered by the circuit solicitor under
§§ 17-22-910 and 17-22-940. The solicitor assists with the order, collects and transmits
fees, coordinates verification, obtains signatures, files the order, and distributes copies.
The controlling fact is the offense of conviction or plea, not the arrest charge.

Contested eligibility

If the solicitor does not consent, § 17-22-940(I) permits retained counsel to initiate a
circuit-court action seeking a judicial determination of eligibility. This worksheet is not
that action and must not be filed as one.

3. Eligibility Matrix

4. Detailed Findings

A. Section 22-5-910

• ☐ The maximum statutory penalty fits subsection (A), or the case fits subsection (B).
• ☐ The offense did not involve motor-vehicle operation if proceeding under subsection (A).
• ☐ The three- or five-year period has elapsed from the correct statutory date.
• ☐ There was no later conviction, including outside South Carolina, during that period.

• ☐ No criminal charge is pending, unless pending longer than five years after excluding
  time tolled by a failure-to-appear bench warrant.

• ☐ No earlier § 22-5-910 expungement exists.

• ☐ Any same-incident charges sentenced together satisfy § 22-5-910(E).

B. Section 22-5-920

• ☐ The client received an actual YOA sentence, rather than merely being YOA-eligible.
• ☐ The client completed incarceration, probation, and parole.
• ☐ Five years have passed since completion.
• ☐ No disqualifying conviction occurred during the sentence or five-year period.
• ☐ The offense is not within § 22-5-920(B)(2)'s exclusions.
• ☐ No earlier § 22-5-920 expungement exists.

C. Sections 34-11-90(e) and 56-5-750(F)

• ☐ The exact first-offense subsection applies.
• ☐ The conviction remained a misdemeanor.
• ☐ The one- or three-year period has elapsed from the date specified by the statute.
• ☐ No later conviction occurred during that period.
• ☐ The client has not used the same one-time route before.

D. Juvenile records

Use SCCA 492. Under § 63-19-2050,
the court must evaluate the offense type, any prior adjudication carrying a five-year-or-more
adult maximum, sentence completion, later adjudication or conviction, pending family- or
general-sessions charges, age, and whether the offense is violent. A family-court not-guilty
finding receives special mandatory, no-fee treatment under subsection (C)(3).

5. Fee Analysis

The $250 fee is nonrefundable. The general-sessions § 17-1-40 exemption is in current
§ 17-22-940(A)(1), not subsection (B). It does not apply when dismissal, discharge, or
nolle prosequi was part of a plea arrangement in which the defendant pleaded guilty and was
sentenced on other charges. Section 17-22-940(H) supplies the corresponding clerk-fee rule.

6. Conclusion

Recommended route: [________________________________]

Eligible now: [Yes / No / Uncertain]

Earliest application date: [__/__/____]

Additional facts or records required: [________________________________]

Reason for any uncertainty: [________________________________]

Part B — Solicitor Application Preparation Worksheet

This section organizes information for the current solicitor package and Judiciary order. It
is not a substitute for SCCA 223A1, SCCA 223B1, SCCA 223E, or SCCA 492.

Applicant Information

• Full name: [________________________________]
• Name at arrest: [________________________________]
• Aliases: [________________________________]
• Date of birth: [__/__/____]
• SID number: [________________________________]
• Address: [________________________________]
• Telephone/email: [________________________________]
• Counsel and bar number: [________________________________]

Charge Information

• County/circuit: [________________________________]
• Court: [________________________________]
• Warrant/ticket/indictment: [________________________________]
• Arrest date: [__/__/____]
• Arresting agency: [________________________________]
• Arrest charge: [________________________________]
• Offense of conviction or plea: [________________________________]
• Disposition/date: [________________________________]
• Sentence/date completed: [________________________________]
• Statutory route: [________________________________]

Required Disclosures

• Later South Carolina convictions: [________________________________]
• Out-of-state convictions: [________________________________]
• Pending charges: [________________________________]
• Failure-to-appear bench-warrant periods: [________________________________]
• Prior use of the selected expungement statute: [________________________________]
• Related same-incident charges: [________________________________]
• Plea arrangement involving other charges: [________________________________]

Submission Checklist

• ☐ Confirm the correct circuit solicitor or summary court.
• ☐ Obtain the current form directly from the Judiciary or solicitor.
• ☐ Attach the disposition and sentence-completion records requested by the solicitor.
• ☐ Prepare separate certified checks or money orders with correct payees.
• ☐ Retain copies before the application enters the verification process.
• ☐ Do not take possession of the application while SLED or DJJ verification is pending.
• ☐ Obtain a certified or filed copy of the completed order.

Section 17-22-940(G) generally limits each order to one charge. Multiple charges may share
an order only when they arose from one incident and qualify under § 17-1-40 or
§ 17-22-150(a).

Part C — Effect of Relief

Do not describe South Carolina expungement as universal physical destruction. For a
nonconviction expungement governed by § 17-1-40, specified records remain under seal for
three years and 120 days, and some may be retained longer under seal for stated
law-enforcement, prosecution, administrative, investigative, and litigation purposes.
Several conviction statutes also require SLED or another agency to keep a nonpublic record
to prevent repeated use of one-time relief.

Official Sources

• S.C. Code title 17, chapter 1
• S.C. Code title 17, chapter 22
• S.C. Code title 22, chapter 5
• S.C. Code title 34, chapter 11
• S.C. Code title 56, chapter 5
• S.C. Code title 63, chapter 19
• Magistrate and municipal process
• General Sessions process
• SCCA 223A1, revised April 2026
• SCCA 223B1
• SCCA 223E
• SCCA 492

Have South Carolina counsel verify the exact offense, maximum penalty, later-record history,
pending-charge rule, fees, and current form before submission.