(1) The applicant will apply to the solicitor in the circuit in which the offense(s) was committed.

(2) The applicant must pay the following amounts to the solicitor in the form of separate certified checks or money orders:

(a) a non-refundable administrative fee of $250.00 made payable to the solicitor,

(b) a non-refundable SLED verification fee of $25.00 made payable to SLED, when applicable,

(c) a filing fee of $35.00 made payable to the county clerk of court, when applicable.

(3) The solicitor will send the application to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and DJJ will return the application to the solicitor, either granting or denying approval.

(4) If the application is approved by DJJ, the solicitor will send the application to SLED in order to verify that the offense is eligible for expungement, as provided by the South Carolina Code of Laws.

(5) SLED will return the application to the solicitor and indicate if the offense(s) is eligible for expungement.

(6) If the offense is deemed eligible by SLED, the solicitor will obtain all necessary signatures, including the signature of the family court judge.

(7) Once the order is signed by the family court judge, the solicitor will file the order with the clerk of court.

(8) The solicitor will provide copies of the expungement order to all pertinent governmental agencies as well as the applicant or the applicant’s attorney.

EXPUNGEMENT ORDERS SHOULD NOT BE FORWARDED TO S.C. COURT ADMINISTRATION (SCCA):

(1) for magistrate or municipal court convictions/dispositions, because SCCA does not retain information which identifies defendants by name or SSN for these charges; or

(2) for general sessions convictions/dispositions because disposition data (including expungements) is sent to SCCA electronically, and expungements are automatically entered into SCCA records; or

(3) for family court convictions/dispositions disposition data (including expungements) is sent to SCCA electronically, and expungements are automatically entered into SCCA records.