South Carolina § 2-17-50 - State Ethics Commission to enforce filing requirements of chapter and to assess civil or criminal penalties for failure to file; filing of required reports and payment of fine constitutes compliance; payment of fine without filing not to excuse or exempt person from filing requirements.

§ 2-17-50. State Ethics Commission to enforce filing requirements of chapter and to assess civil or criminal penalties for failure to file; filing of required reports and payment of fine constitutes compliance; payment of fine without filing not to excuse or exempt person from filing requirements.

(A) The State Ethics Commission shall:

(1) require a person to submit information pursuant to the requirements of this chapter;

(2) in addition to any other penalty in this chapter, require a person who files a late statement or fails to file a required statement to be assessed a civil penalty as follows:

(a) a fine of one hundred dollars if not filed within ten days after the established deadline provided in this chapter; and

(b) after notice has been given by certified or registered mail that a required statement has not been filed, a fine of ten dollars per calendar day for the first ten days after notice has been given, and one hundred dollars for each additional calendar day in which the required statement or report is not filed, not exceeding five thousand dollars.

(B) After the maximum civil penalty has been levied and the requirement statement or report has not been filed, the person is:

(1) for a first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor triable in magistrates court and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days;

(2) for a second offense, guilty of a misdemeanor triable in magistrates court and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two thousand five hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not less than a mandatory minimum of thirty days;

(3) for a third or subsequent offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

(C) Filing of the required report and payment of the fine within twenty days of notice by the State Ethics Commission that a required statement has not been filed constitutes compliance with this chapter.

(D) Payment of the fine without filing the required report does not in any way excuse or exempt a person required to file from the filing requirements of this chapter.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 30-155; 1952 Code SECTION 30-156; 1942 Code SECTION 2070-1; 1935 (39) 3; 1974 (58) 2622; 1991 Act No. 248, SECTION 2; 2011 Act No. 40, SECTION 3, eff June 7, 2011.

Effect of Amendment

The 2011 amendment rewrote the section to provide for criminal penalties.