(A) Except as provided herein, law enforcement records and information identifying children pursuant to this chapter are confidential and may not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone, other than those entitled under this chapter to receive the information.

(B) Law enforcement records of children must be kept separate from records of adults. Information identifying a child must not be open to public inspection, but the remainder of these records are public records.

(C) Law enforcement agencies must maintain admission and release records on children held in secure custody, nonsecure custody, or both. The records must include the times and dates of admission and release from secure and nonsecure custody and, if appropriate, the times and dates of transfer from one custody status to another.

(D) Law enforcement information or records of children created pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be shared among law enforcement agencies, solicitors' offices, the Attorney General, the department, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services for criminal justice purposes without a court order.

(E) Incident reports in which a child is the subject are to be provided to the victim of a crime pursuant to Section 16-3-1520. Incident reports, including information identifying a child, must be provided by law enforcement to the principal of the school in which the child is enrolled when the child has been charged with any of the following offenses:

(1) a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60;

(2) an offense that would carry a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years or more if committed by an adult;

(3) a crime in which a weapon, as defined in Section 59-63-370, was used;

(4) assault and battery against school personnel, as defined in Section 16-3-612;

(5) assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature committed on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event against any person affiliated with the school in an official capacity; or

(6) distribution or trafficking in unlawful drugs, as defined in Article 3, Chapter 53 of Title 44.

Incident reports involving other offenses must be provided upon request of the principal. This information must be maintained by the principal in the manner set forth in Section 63-19-2020(E) and must be forwarded with the child's permanent school records if the child transfers to another school or school district.

(F) A child charged with any offense may be photographed by the law enforcement agency that takes the child into custody. If the child is taken into secure custody and detained, the detention facility must photograph the child upon admission. These photographs may only be disseminated for criminal justice purposes or to assist the Missing Persons Information Center in the location or identification of a missing or runaway child.

(G) A child charged with an offense that would carry a maximum term of imprisonment of five years or more if committed by an adult must be fingerprinted by the law enforcement agency that takes the child into custody. If the child is taken into secure custody and detained, the detention facility must fingerprint the child upon admission. In addition, a law enforcement agency may petition the court for an order to fingerprint a child when:

(1) the child is charged with any other offense; or

(2) the law enforcement agency has probable cause to suspect the child of committing any offense.

(H) The fingerprint records of a child must be kept separate from the fingerprint records of adults. The fingerprint records of a child must be transmitted to the files of the State Law Enforcement Division.

(I) The fingerprint records of a child may be transmitted by the State Law Enforcement Division to the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation only when the child has been adjudicated delinquent for having committed an offense that would carry a maximum term of imprisonment of five years or more if committed by an adult.

(J) The fingerprint records of a child adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would carry a maximum term of imprisonment of five years or more if committed by an adult must be provided by the State Law Enforcement Division or the law enforcement agency who took the child into custody to a law enforcement agency upon request by that agency for criminal justice purposes or to assist the Missing Person Information Center in the location or identification of a missing or runaway child.

(K) The fingerprints and any record created by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as a result of the receipt of fingerprints of a child pursuant to this section must not be disclosed for any purpose not specifically authorized by law or court order.

(L) Upon notification that a child has not been adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would carry a maximum term of imprisonment of five years or more if committed by an adult, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the law enforcement agency who took the child into custody must destroy the fingerprints and all records created as a result of such information.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2.

Code Commissioner's Note

Section 16-3-612, referenced in subsection (E)(4), was repealed by 2010 Act No. 273, Section 7.

Editor's Note

2010 Act No. 273, Section 7.C, provides:

"Wherever in the 1976 Code of Laws reference is made to the common law offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, it means assault and battery with intent to kill, as contained in repealed Section 16-3-620, and, except for references in Section 16-1-60 and Section 17-25-45, wherever in the 1976 Code reference is made to assault and battery with intent to kill, it means attempted murder as defined in Section 16-3-29."