Legal Question in Criminal Law in South Carolina

SC Expungement

Hello, I have a question about expungemnts in SC. A couple of years a go I had a public defender tell me to plea no contest on a breach of trust case after my case was sent back to court because I couldnt afford the PTI at the time because I was pregnant. I told him that I didn't want to go through with it because I wasnt guilty. He told me even if I wasn't there was a chance that they would still send me to jail. So I should plea no contest because that's not saying I'm guilty and we could get it over with. Then he said that I could get it expunged later and I because I was a legal Assistant student there were lawyers that would still hire me with it. Well I went to the court house yesterday to ask questions about the expungement because I was going to pay my final fees of probation. I was told that because I pleaded guilty, (on my first offense) which i plead no contest, I could never get it off my record. If they offered PTI and it was coming off, what's the difference.


Asked on 4/28/09, 9:02 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Johnston Law Offices of Robert J. Johnston

Re: SC Expungement

There are a lot of crimes that can be expunged through the PTI program, but cannot otherwise. I know it may sound strange, but that's the way it works. The SC Code under Expungements restricts them to First Offenses in Magistrates Court and Municipal Courts. So simply going through just the expungement process, only those particular cases can be expunged. However, criminal charges that go through the PIT program are different and certain felonies can be expunged. That is the difference.

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Answered on 4/30/09, 7:39 pm


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