Criminal Practice – Sex Offender Registry – Relocation to Georgia – Certified Question

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S.C. Code Ann. §§ 23-3-462 and 23-3-430(E), (F) and (G) set forth provisions for removing a sex offender’s name and identifying information from South Carolina’s sex offender registry. Moving to another state is not among them. The Sex Offender Registry Act exists to protect the public from sex offenders who may re-offend and to aid law enforcement in solving sex crimes. South Carolina has a legitimate and fundamental interest in promoting the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens, regardless of imaginary boundary lines between states.

In answer to the certified question – Does the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry Act (SORA) permit the publication of nonresident offenders—i.e., individuals with qualifying sexual offenses who do not live in South Carolina—on the state’s public sex offender registry? – we answer, “Yes.”

Doe v. Keel (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-045-23, 9 pp.) (George James, J.) On certification from the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. David Allen Chaney and Meredith McPhail for plaintiff; Andrew Lindemann for defendant. South Carolina Supreme Court