South Carolina Code of Laws
Chapter 19 - Correction And Treatment Of Youthful Offenders
Section 24-19-10. Definitions.

As used herein:
(a) "Department" means the Department of Corrections.
(b) "Division" means the Youthful Offender Division.
(c) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Corrections.
(d) "Youthful offender" means an offender who is:
(i) under seventeen years of age and has been bound over for proper criminal proceedings to the court of general sessions pursuant to Section 63-19-1210, for allegedly committing an offense that is not a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, and that is a misdemeanor, a Class D, Class E, or Class F felony, as defined in Section 16-1-20, or a felony which provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years or less;
(ii) seventeen but less than twenty-five years of age at the time of conviction for an offense that is not a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, and that is a misdemeanor, a Class D, Class E, or Class F felony, or a felony which provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years or less;
(iii) under seventeen years of age and has been bound over for proper criminal proceedings to the court of general sessions pursuant to Section 63-19-1210, for allegedly committing burglary in the second degree (Section 16-11-312). If the offender committed burglary in the second degree pursuant to Section 16-11-312(B), the offender must receive and serve a minimum sentence of at least three years, no part of which may be suspended, and the person is not eligible for conditional release until the person has served the three-year minimum sentence;
(iv) seventeen but less than twenty-one years of age at the time of conviction for burglary in the second degree (Section 16-11-312). If the offender committed burglary in the second degree pursuant to Section 16-11-312(B), the offender must receive and serve a minimum sentence of at least three years, no part of which may be suspended, and the person is not eligible for conditional release until the person has served the three-year minimum sentence;
(v) under seventeen years of age and has been bound over for proper criminal proceedings to the court of general sessions pursuant to Section 63-19-1210 for allegedly committing criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree, pursuant to Section 16-3-655(C), and the alleged offense involved consensual sexual conduct with a person who was at least fourteen years of age at the time of the act; or
(vi) seventeen but less than twenty-five years of age at the time of conviction for committing criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree, pursuant to Section 16-3-655(C), and the conviction resulted from consensual sexual conduct, provided the offender was eighteen years of age or less at the time of the act and the other person involved was at least fourteen years of age at the time of the act.
(e) "Treatment" means corrective and preventive guidance and training designed to protect the public by correcting the antisocial tendencies of youthful offenders; this may also include vocational and other training considered appropriate and necessary by the division.
(f) "Conviction" means a judgment in a verdict or finding of guilty, plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere to a criminal charge where the imprisonment is at least one year, but excluding all offenses in which the maximum punishment provided by law is death or life imprisonment.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 55-392; 1968 (55) 3031; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 449; 1995 Act No. 7, Part I, Section 29; 1996 Act No. 441, Section 4; 2003 Act No. 25, Section 1; 2010 Act No. 273, Section 31, eff June 2, 2010; 2012 Act No. 255, Section 10, eff June 18, 2012; 2016 Act No. 154 (H.3545), Section 4, eff April 21, 2016.

Code Commissioner's Note
At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the reference in item (d)(i) to Section 20-7-7605 was changed to Section 63-19-1210 in accordance with 2008 Act No. 361 (Children's Code).
Effect of Amendment
The 2010 amendment rewrote the definition for "youthful offender".
The 2012 amendment substituted "criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree pursuant to Section 16-3-655(C)" for "a lewd act upon a child pursuant to Section 16-15-140" in subsections (d)(v) and (d)(vi).
2016 Act No. 154, Section 4, in (d), added a comma following "Section 63-19-1210" in (i) and (iii); and inserted "If the offender committed burglary in the second degree pursuant to Section 16-11-312(B)," in (iii) and (iv).