Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-21-90

  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • 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.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
Whenever a criminal case is transferred from one county to another for trial all the costs and expenses of such trial shall be paid by the county in which the bill of indictment was found. The clerk of court of the county in which the bill of indictment was found, his deputy or some other person designated for the purpose by such clerk of court shall attend upon such trial to issue vouchers or warrants for such costs and expenses in like manner as if the case were tried in the county in which the bill of indictment was found and such costs and expenses shall be paid by the treasurer of such county as other court expenses of such county are paid. And in the event a verdict of guilty is returned against the defendant named in the bill of indictment and a fine is imposed as well as any other penalty and such fine be paid the proceeds of such fine shall be delivered to the clerk of court of the county having original jurisdiction by the clerk of court of the county in which the verdict was obtained.