Courts

The court system in South Carolina consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, Municipal Court and Magistrate Court. The Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office represents the state of South Carolina in criminal cases filed by law enforcement in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.

The Seventh Judicial Circuit ranked second among the state’s 16 prosecutors’ offices for trial success in 2006. Overall conviction rate for the Seventh Circuit was among the state leaders. Solicitor’s offices in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties receive 150 to 200 new criminal cases each week (Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office, 2007). In Fiscal Year 2006:

• Thirty women completed a treatment protocol introduced in 2005 for mothers who gave birth to babies with illegal drugs in their systems. Dozens more were enrolled in the treatment program and others faced criminal charges for efusing to participate.

• 96% of drug tests given to persons sentenced to intervention by Drug Court revealed no further use of illegal substances. Treatment costs were significantly less than incarceration costs would have been.

• Over 660 adults and juveniles successfully completed the Pre-trial Intervention program. This program collected nearly $270,000 in restitution and managed in excess of 27,000 hours of community service.

• A federal grant that funded two prosecutors and a criminal investigator who focus on domestic violence. Resulting prosecutions reduced the annual General Sessions case dismissal rate from 48% to 36%. Over 500 first and second offense Magistrate Court cases were prosecuted, with 60% resulting in a guilty verdict or guilty plea.

• Another federal grant funds a prosecutor and a paralegal for felony DUI cases. The Solicitor’s Office concludes that this aggressive enforcement and prosecution of DUI cases is resulting in increased conviction and guilty pleas.

• A crackdown on prosecution of worthless checks has generated more than $1.5 million for local merchants and local government. In its first 30 months, the initiative has collected $945,000 in restitution and service fees for Spartanburg County victims and $431,000 for the county’s operating fund.