Terms Used In South Carolina Code 58-17-4080

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
If any person, including any conductor of any train of railroad cars or any other agent or servant of any railroad company, shall obstruct unnecessarily any public road or highway by permitting any railroad car or locomotive to be or remain upon or across any street, public road or highway for a longer period than five minutes, after notice to remove such cars has been given to the conductor, engineer, agent or other such person in charge of such train or shall permit any timber, wood or other obstruction to remain upon or across any such street, road or highway to the hindrance or inconvenience of travelers or any person passing along or upon such street, road or highway, every such person so offending shall forfeit and pay for every such offense any sum not exceeding twenty nor less than five dollars and shall be liable for all damages arising to any highway, to be recovered by an action at the suit of the governing body of the county in which such offense shall have been committed or any person suing therefor, before any magistrate within the county in which such offense shall have been committed or by indictment in the court of general sessions or suit in the court of common pleas. All fines so accruing under the provisions of this section, when collected, shall be paid over by the magistrate to the county treasurer for the district in which such offense was committed. Every twenty-four hours such person, after being notified, shall suffer such obstructions to the hindrance or inconvenience of travelers or any person going along or upon such road or highway to continue shall be deemed an additional offense against the provisions of this section.