Filed: Aug. 15, 2012
Latest Update: Aug. 15, 2012
Summary: Justice KITTREDGE. This is a declaratory judgment action in the Court's original jurisdiction. Petitioner, who was adjudicated as a juvenile for sex crimes, seeks removal of his name from the sex offender registry. We grant relief in part, holding that a juvenile "adjudication" is the equivalent of a "conviction" under S.C.Code Ann. section 24-21-940 (2007), for purposes of entitlement to seek a pardon from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (PPP). We dism
Summary: Justice KITTREDGE. This is a declaratory judgment action in the Court's original jurisdiction. Petitioner, who was adjudicated as a juvenile for sex crimes, seeks removal of his name from the sex offender registry. We grant relief in part, holding that a juvenile "adjudication" is the equivalent of a "conviction" under S.C.Code Ann. section 24-21-940 (2007), for purposes of entitlement to seek a pardon from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (PPP). We dismi..
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Justice KITTREDGE.
This is a declaratory judgment action in the Court's original jurisdiction. Petitioner, who was adjudicated as a juvenile for sex crimes, seeks removal of his name from the sex offender registry. We grant relief in part, holding that a juvenile "adjudication" is the equivalent of a "conviction" under S.C.Code Ann. section 24-21-940 (2007), for purposes of entitlement to seek a pardon from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (PPP). We dismiss without prejudice the balance of Petitioner's complaint. Petitioner was adjudicated delinquent by the family court in 2003 of criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor in the second degree and two counts of lewd act upon a child under sixteen. As a result, Petitioner was required to register as a sex offender. See S.C.Code Ann. § 23-3-430(A), (C)(2), (C)(11) (Supp.2011) (requiring a person adjudicated delinquent for the offenses of second-degree CSC and lewd act upon a child under sixteen to register on the sex offender registry).
Petitioner seeks removal of his name from the sex offender registry, which, under South Carolina's statutory scheme, requires that one receive a pardon.1 It is stipulated by the State that Petitioner's request for a pardon was declined without consideration because PPP construed section 24-21-940 as not permitting his request because his juvenile adjudication did not constitute a conviction. See S.C.Code Ann. § 24-21-940(A) ("`Pardon' means that an individual is fully pardoned from all the legal consequences of his crime and of his conviction....") (emphasis added). The State's position in this regard is manifestly without merit, for there is no evidence that the legislature intended section 24-21-940(A) to allow only adult offenders the ability to ask for a pardon.2 For purposes of section 24-21-940(A), a conviction includes a family court adjudication. Thus, Petitioner is entitled to have his request for pardon considered by PPP. Because it would be premature to consider the balance of Petitioner's complaint, it is dismissed without prejudice.
DECLARATORY RELIEF GRANTED IN PART.
TOAL, C.J., PLEICONES, BEATTY and HEARN, JJ., concur.
