(A) The contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepted by any means authorized by this chapter, if possible, must be recorded on tape or wire or other comparable device. The recording of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication under this subsection must be kept in such a way as will protect the recording from editing or other alterations. Immediately upon the expiration of the period of the order, or extensions of the order, the recordings must be made available to the judge issuing the order and sealed under his directions. Custody of the recordings must be wherever the judge orders. They must not be destroyed except upon an order of the issuing or denying judge, or that judge’s successor in office, and in any event must be kept for ten years. Duplicate recordings may be made for use or disclosure as permitted by this chapter.

(B) The presence of the seal provided for by this section, or a satisfactory explanation for the absence thereof, must be a prerequisite for the use or disclosure of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication or evidence derived therefrom as required by federal law.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-30-100

  • Contents: when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic communication, include any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
  • Electronic communication: means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, photooptical system, or any other device that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but does not include:

    (a) any wire or oral communication;

    (b) any communication made through a tone-only paging device;

    (c) any communication from an electronic or mechanical device which permits the tracking of the movement of a person or an object; or

    (d) electronic funds transfer information stored by a financial institution in a communications system used for the electronic storage and transfer of funds. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Judge of competent jurisdiction: means a circuit court judge designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
  • 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.
  • Person: means an employee or agent of the State of South Carolina or political subdivision of the State, of the United States, or of any other state or political subdivision of the State, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation. See South Carolina Code 17-30-15
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.

(C) Applications made and orders granted under this chapter must be sealed by the judge. Custody of the applications and orders must be wherever the judge directs. As required by federal law, the applications and orders must be disclosed only upon a showing of good cause before a judge of competent jurisdiction and must not be destroyed except on order of the issuing or denying judge, or that judge’s successor in office, and in any event must be kept for ten years.

(D) A violation of the provisions of this section may be punished as contempt of the issuing or denying judge.

(E) Within a reasonable time but not later than ninety days after the termination of the period of an order or extensions of the order, the issuing or denying judge must cause to be served on the persons named in the order or the application, and those other parties to intercepted communications as the judge may determine in his discretion to be in the interest of justice, an inventory which must include notice of the:

(1) fact of the entry of the order or the application;

(2) date of the entry and the period of authorized, approved, or disapproved interception, or the denial of the application; and

(3) the fact that during the period wire, oral, or electronic communications were or were not intercepted.

The judge, upon the filing of a motion, must make available to the person or the person’s counsel for inspection the portions of the intercepted communications, applications, testimony, recordings, and orders that would otherwise be discoverable under the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, unless otherwise provided by federal law or Rules of Court. On an ex parte showing of good cause to a judge of competent jurisdiction, the serving of the inventory required by this paragraph may be postponed.