Juveniles

2025-2026 Bill 4151: Juveniles - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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This Bill
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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
H. 4151
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. W. Newton, G.M. Smith, Hiott, Hixon, Caskey, Robbins, C. Mitchell, Pope, Gagnon, Taylor, Whitmire, B. Newton, Vaughan, Chapman, M.M. Smith, J.E. Johnson, Yow, Bustos, Landing, Gibson, McCravy, Gilliam, Hager, Rankin, Schuessler, Teeple, Erickson, Herbkersman, Hartnett, Wooten, Lawson, Long and Lowe
Document Path: LC-0199VR25.docx
Introduced in the House on March 5, 2025
Introduced in the Senate on March 10, 2026
Last Amended on March 4, 2026

Currently residing in the Senate Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: Juveniles
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

3/5/2025

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 58
)

3/5/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 58
)

2/25/2026

House

Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 3
)

2/26/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

3/3/2026

House

Requests for debate-Rep(s). B. Newton, Guest,
Caskey, Hewitt, Martin, Hiott, Magnuson, Pope,
Duncan, Long, Kirby and Brittain (
House Journal-page 35
)

3/4/2026

House

Debate interrupted (
House Journal-page 27
)

3/4/2026

House

Amended (
House Journal-page 53
)

3/4/2026

House

Read second time (
House Journal-page 53
)

3/4/2026

House

Roll call Yeas-85 Nays-24 (
House Journal-page 54
)

3/5/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

3/5/2026

House

Read third time and sent to Senate (
House Journal-page 11
)

3/10/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 12
)

3/10/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
Senate Journal-page 12
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
03/05/2025
02/25/2026
02/26/2026
03/04/2026
03/05/2026

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

March 4, 2026

H. 4151

Introduced by Reps. W. Newton, G. M. Smith,
Hiott, Hixon, Caskey, Robbins, C. Mitchell, Pope, Gagnon, Taylor, Whitmire, B.
Newton, Vaughan, Chapman, M. M. Smith, J. E. Johnson, Yow, Bustos, Landing,
Gibson, McCravy, Gilliam, Hager, Rankin, Schuessler, Teeple, Erickson, Herbkersman,
Hartnett, Wooten, Lawson, Long and Lowe

S. Printed 3/4/26--H. [SEC
3/5/2026 11:03 AM]

Read the first time March 5, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION
63-19-20
, RELATING TO TERMS DEFINED
IN THE "JUVENILE JUSTICE CODE," SO AS TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF "CHILD" OR
"JUVENILE," TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS FOR MINORS WHO COMMIT CERTAIN VIOLENT CRIMES,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Amend Title To Conform

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
63-19-20
(1) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
1) "Child" or "juvenile" means a
person less than eighteen years of age. "Child" or "juvenile" does not mean
:

(
a)
a person seventeen years of
age or older who is charged with a Class A, B, C, or D felony as defined in
Section
16-1-20
or
,
a
felony which provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years or
more
, any offense in Chapter 23, Title 16, charged
pursuant to Section
44-53-379
, or a felony and has previously been adjudicated
delinquent in family court or convicted in circuit court of a felony
.
However, a person seventeen years of age who is charged with a Class A, B, C,
or D felony as defined in Section
16-1-20
or
,
a felony which provides for a maximum term of
imprisonment of fifteen years or more
, any offense in
Chapter 23, Title 16,

charged pursuant to Section
44-53-379
, or with a felony and has previously been adjudicated delinquent in
family court or convicted in circuit court of a felony
may be remanded
to the family court for disposition of the charge at the discretion of the
solicitor
; or

(
b) a person sixteen years of age or
older who is charged with a felony that provides for a term of imprisonment of
thirty years or more, the offense of burglary in the first degree as defined in
Section
16-11-311
, or the offense of attempted murder as defined in Section
16-3-29
. However, a person sixteen years of age or older who is charged with a
felony that provides for a term of imprisonment of thirty years or more, the
offense of burglary in the first degree as defined in Section
16-11-311
, or the
offense of attempted murder as defined in Section
16-3-29
may be remanded to
the family court for disposition of the charge at the discretion of the
solicitor, by the circuit court, sua sponte, or upon motion of the defendant
after a hearing and order issued by the circuit court judge.

A
n additional or
accompanying charge associated with the charges contained in this item must be
heard by the court with jurisdiction over the offenses contained in this item.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
63-19-1210
(9) and (10) of the S.C. Code is
amended to read:

(
9) If a child fourteen
, fifteen, or sixteen
years of age
or
older
is charged with a violation of Section
16-23-430
, Section
16-23-20
, or Section
44-53-445
, the court, after full investigation and
hearing, if it considers it contrary to the best interest of the child or the
public to retain jurisdiction, acting as committing magistrate, may bind over
the child for proper criminal proceedings to a court which would have trial
jurisdiction of the offenses if committed by an adult.

(
10)
If a child fourteen
, fifteen, or sixteen
years of
age
or older
is charged with an offense which, if
committed by an adult, provides for a term of imprisonment of ten years or more
and the child previously has been adjudicated delinquent in family court or
convicted in circuit court for
two
a
prior
offenses
offense
which, if committed by an adult,
provide
provides
for a term of
imprisonment of ten years or more, the court, after full investigation and
hearing, if it considers it contrary to the best interest of the child or the
public to retain jurisdiction, acting as committing magistrate, may bind over
the child for proper criminal proceedings to a court which would have trial
jurisdiction of the offense if committed by an adult. For the purpose of this
item, an adjudication or conviction is considered a second adjudication or
conviction only if the date of the commission of the second offense occurred
subsequent to the imposition of the sentence for the first offense.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on March 5, 2026 at 11:04 AM