(A) The Judicial Department and the Chief of SLED, or the chief’s designee, shall work in conjunction with a court of competent jurisdiction in developing procedures for the collection and submission of information of persons who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or who have been committed to a mental institution.

(B) When a court submits this information to SLED by court order, SLED shall transmit the information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) established pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act of 1993, Pub. L. (pg.79) 103-159.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 23-31-1020

  • Adjudicated as a mental defective: means a determination by a court of competent jurisdiction that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, mental incompetency, mental condition, or mental disease:

    (a) is a danger to himself or to others; or

    (b) lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage the person's own affairs. See South Carolina Code 23-31-1010
  • 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.
  • Mental institution: includes mental health facilities, mental hospitals, sanitariums, psychiatric facilities, and other facilities that provide diagnoses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general hospital. See South Carolina Code 23-31-1010

(C) The court shall submit the information to SLED by court order within five days from the filing of each order related to adjudications and commitments. Under no circumstances may the court or SLED submit information pursuant to this section relating to a person’s diagnosis or treatment.

(D) SLED shall keep information submitted by the court confidential, and that information only may be disclosed to NICS pursuant to this section, for purposes directly related to the Brady Act, or as provided in subsection (E).

(E) If the court, by court order, has submitted a person’s name and other identifying information to SLED to be transmitted to NICS, SLED shall review the state concealed weapons permit holders list, and if the review reveals that the person possesses a current concealed weapons permit, the permit must be revoked and surrendered to a sheriff, police department, SLED agent, or by certified mail to the Chief of SLED. If the permit holder fails to return the permit within ten days of being notified of the permit’s revocation, SLED shall retrieve the permit from the permit holder.

(F) Information submitted by the court pursuant to this section, which is also contained in court orders or in other state or local agency records, is not affected by this section, and such court orders or other state or local agency records may be disclosed in accordance with existing laws and procedures.