2012-02

South Carolina Court Administration

South Carolina Supreme Court
Columbia, South Carolina

ROSALYN W. FRIERSON
DIRECTOR

ROBERT L. MCCURDY
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

 

 

1220 SENATE STREET, SUITE 200
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA  29201
TELEPHONE:  (803) 734-1800
FAX:  (803) 734-0269
E-MAIL:  rmccurdy@sccourts.org

MEMORANDUM

TO: All Magistrate and Municipal Judges

FROM: Renee Lipson

RE: Service of Arrest Warrants on SCDC Inmates

DATE: June 1, 2015

You were recently provided notice of the issuance of Hall v. State, S. C. Sup. Ct. Order (filed January 28, 2015), in which the Supreme Court reaffirmed a previous memorandum issued by this office in 1986, and again in 2012, regarding service of outstanding arrest warrants on SCDC inmates through the SCDC Office of General Counsel. In response, this office has worked closely with the SCDC Office of General Counsel, SLED, summary court judges, and the Sheriff's Association to provide the following procedure to facilitate the timely service of outstanding warrants on SCDC inmates.

The process has been tested and is going statewide this monthBond hearings will take place on Tuesday, June 16th and warrants must be at the SCDC Office of General Counsel by Tuesday, June 9th.  There have been some slight changes to the process since we previously sent out the procedures.  The updated procedures are below.

Please notify your local law enforcement officers of this procedure, as they are required to initiate this process.  The Supreme Court recently dismissed an arrest warrant that a law enforcement agency did not serve on an inmate who was incarcerated at SCDC.  In In re: Suber, the Court ordered that "Because the Police Department has failed to comply with that order and policy, we hereby direct that the arrest warrant for third degree burglary be dismissed." A copy of In re: Suber is attached.

Additionally, please provide law enforcement with a copy of the South Carolina Department of Corrections Bond Hearing Information Form, as well as the list of SCDC facilities and contact information. Those forms are attached.  Lastly, please note that the attached list of SCDC facilities has been amended to reflect that MacDougall Correctional Institution is in Berkeley County, not Dorchester. 

Should you have questions, please contact this office. To view Hall v. State, please click on the link below. http://www.sccourts.org/courtOrders/displayOrder.cfm?orderNo=2015-01-28-01