(A)(1) The Attorney General or an assistant attorney general designated by the Attorney General on behalf of the State, and a circuit solicitor or an assistant circuit solicitor designated by the solicitor on behalf of a political subdivision having law enforcement authority, hereinafter referred to as the attorney, may make application for an order or an extension of an order under § 17-29-40 authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under this chapter, in writing under oath to the circuit court of the circuit wherein the political subdivision is located or if on behalf of the State to any circuit court.

(2) A law enforcement officer of this State or a political subdivision thereof may make application for an order or an extension of an order under § 17-29-40 authorizing or approving the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under this chapter, in writing under oath to the circuit court of the circuit wherein the political subdivision is located or if on behalf of the State to any circuit court.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-29-30

  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • pen register: means a device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers dialed or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which the device is attached, but this term does not include any device used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to billing, for communications services provided by the provider, or any device used by a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business. See South Carolina Code 17-29-10
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • trap and trace device: means a device which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted. See South Carolina Code 17-29-10

(B) An application under subsection (A) of this section must include:

(1) the identity of the attorney or the law enforcement officer of this State or a political subdivision thereof making the application and the identity of the law enforcement agency conducting the investigation; and

(2) a certification by the applicant that the information likely to be obtained is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by that agency, and that the applicant has probable cause to believe that a user of the service to which the pen register or trap and trace device is applied is a participant in the criminal activity being investigated.

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