South Carolina Code 46-23-60. Inspections and seizures
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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 46-23-60
- Authorized inspector: means an employee of the Division of Regulatory and Public Service Programs, Clemson University or an employee of a cooperating agency specifically authorized to enforce the provisions of the federal Noxious Weed Act. See South Carolina Code 46-23-20
- 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.
- Noxious weed: means any living stage of any plant including seed or reproductive parts thereof or parasitic plants or parts thereof which is determined by the State Crop Pest Commission to be directly or indirectly injurious to public health, crops, livestock, or agriculture including, but not limited to, waterways and irrigation canals. See South Carolina Code 46-23-20
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
Any authorized inspector shall have authority to stop and inspect without a warrant any person or means of conveyance moving into the State and any noxious weed, and any product or article of any character whatsoever which it has reason to believe contains or is contaminated with any noxious weed, to determine whether such person, product, article, or means of conveyance contains or is carrying any noxious weed contrary to this chapter or the regulations promulgated thereunder, and whether any such noxious weed, product, article, or means of conveyance contains or is contaminated with any noxious weed or is moving in violation of this chapter or any regulation promulgated thereunder; to stop and inspect, without a warrant, any person, product, article, or means of conveyance moving intrastate and any noxious weed, when it has reason to believe that such means of conveyance, product, or article contains any noxious weed, is contaminated thereby, or is moving contrary to the provisions of this chapter or any regulation promulgated thereunder; and to enter, with a warrant, any premises in the State to make any inspections and seizures necessary under this chapter. Any judge of a court of competent jurisdiction in South Carolina may, within his respective jurisdiction upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause to believe that there are on certain premises any noxious weeds, products, articles, or means of conveyance, regulated, or subject to disposal under this chapter, issue warrants for the entry of such premises to make any inspections or seizures under this chapter. Such warrants may be executed by any authorized employee of the Division of Regulatory and Public Service Programs, Clemson University.