FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Majority Leader Davey Hiott
March 1, 2023 803-734-3139
BOND REFORM BILL MOVES FORWARD
(Columbia, S.C.) - Today, the SC House of Representatives passed a bill that will help make South Carolina a safer place for us all to raise our families by stopping the revolving door for repeat criminals. This bill creates sentence and bond enhancements for a person convicted of a violent crime while out on bond for a previous violent crime. The bipartisan vote was 92-20.
“Improving public safety is a priority of our citizens, our law enforcement, and our judicial system,” said House Speaker Murrell Smith, Jr. (R-Sumter). “In just a few short months, the House has passed multiple public safety bills and kept good on promises made that we would also prioritize this issue.”
“South Carolina will not tolerate or enable a revolving door of repeat offenders,” said House Majority Leader Davey Hiott (R-Pickens). “House leaders, solicitors, SLED, and our county sheriffs came together, communicated and collaborated, and strong bond reform legislation was the result.”
H.3532 creates a sentence enhancement of a mandatory 5 years if a person is convicted of a violent crime while out on bond for a previous offense. The bill also requires any bond set for someone who commits a violent crime while out on bond for a previous offense be a 100% cash bond. Magistrates and summary court judges must deny bail for violent offenses, and bond is immediately revoked if a person commits a violent offense while out on bond.
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