//**PROOF OF CONCEPT** — full quality-of-life profile for South Carolina, 16 dimensions of the sex-offense registry regime. Ratings are researcher judgments from the //registrant's// perspective; each links its statute. NOT legal advice.//

====== South Carolina — Registry Profile ======

**Weighted burden index 59.7/100** · rank **13 of 56** (1 = least burdensome) · 12/16 dimensions statute-verified.

Legend: 🟢 favorable (less burden) · 🟠 moderate · 🔴 restrictive · ℹ️ context · ⚪ unknown. ✓ = statute-verified.

^ Dimension ^ Rating ^ Detail ^ Statute ^
| **Registration length** | 🔴 restrictive | Registration is biannually for LIFE for all registrants, subject only to the narrow 23-3-462/463 petition process — **lifetime** | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-460]] ✓ |
| **Removal / petition off** | 🔴 restrictive | Post-Act-221 petition exists but requires 15 yrs (Tier I) / 25 yrs (Tier II) plus treatment and no failure-to-register conviction; Tier III adults may NEVER petition (no removal path) — ⚑ needs human review | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-462]] ✓ |
| **Individualized risk assessment** | 🔴 restrictive | No — risk assessment not used to assign tiers | n/a |
| **In-person reporting frequency** | 🟠 moderate | Quarterly or biannually | 23-3-460(A)(B) |
| **Registration fee** | 🔴 restrictive | Yes — recurring $150/year fee (indigent/below-poverty registrants may be exempted); set by annual State Appropriations Act proviso, not a permanent code section | [[https://scrsol.org/resources/south-carolina-registry-laws/|S.C. State Appropriations Act, Proviso 62.10 (annual)]] ✓ |
| **Residency restriction** | 🟠 moderate | 1,000 ft from a school, daycare center, children's recreational facility, park, or public playground — but only for offenders convicted of enumerated offenses against minors (CSC with a minor 1st/2nd, assault w/ intent, kidnapping/trafficking of a person under 18), not all registrants — **1000 ft** · local: preempted — § 23-3-535(E) bars local governments from expanding or contracting the 1,000-ft zone | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-535]] ✓ |
| **Employment restriction** | 🟢 favorable | No employment restriction — review of the full SORA chapter (Title 23, ch. 3) found no job bar; the only location-based restriction is the § 23-3-535 residency rule | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code Title 23, ch. 3]] ✓ |
| **Presence / loitering restriction** | 🟢 favorable | No presence/loitering ban — review of the full SORA chapter (Title 23, ch. 3) found no exclusion zone barring registrants from being present at or loitering near schools, parks, or playgrounds; the only location-based restriction is the § 23-3-535 residency rule | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code Title 23, ch. 3]] ✓ |
| **Visitor registration trigger** | 🟠 moderate | Must register after 10 or more consecutive days in state | n/a |
| **Internet identifiers required** | 🔴 restrictive | Yes — E-STOP Act requires reporting Internet accounts and Internet identifiers (email, username, screen name) at registration/reregistration (§ 23-3-555) | [[https://law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/title-23/chapter-3/section-23-3-555/|23-3-555d]] ✓ |
| **Civil commitment** | 🔴 restrictive | Yes — Sexually Violent Predator civil commitment law | 44-48-10 – 44-48-170 |
| **Public website exposure** | 🔴 restrictive | Registry information is open to public inspection and must be made available on the Internet, with no tier carve-out (lowest tier public) | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-490]] ✓ |
| **Halloween / holiday restriction** | 🟢 favorable | None — SORA (§ 23-3-400 et seq.) contains no Halloween or holiday-specific restriction on registrants | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|n/a]] ✓ |
| **Marked driver's license / ID** | 🟢 favorable | Not marked — no driver's license/ID branding requirement; DMV must only inform applicants in writing of the duty to register (§ 23-3-460(J)) | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-460(J)]] ✓ |
| **Community notification (& who pays)** | 🔴 restrictive | Active notification — sheriff SHALL notify schools/day cares within one-half mile and MAY publish the full registry in a newspaper of general circulation; registrant does not pay (SLED may charge the requester a copy fee only) | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php|S.C. Code § 23-3-490]] ✓ |
| **Age of consent (context)** | ℹ️ context | 16 — with close-in-age exception (no conviction if actor is 18 or younger and partner is at least 14, consensual) | [[https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c003.php|S.C. Code § 16-3-655]] ✓ |

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Source wiki page: [[south_carolina|South Carolina]] · compare with others via [[playground:qol_index|the index]].
//Weighted index from the v1 model (weighted_score.py); weights encode NARSOL's judgment about everyday lived burden. Removal ratings and the weights need NARSOL/attorney sign-off before authoritative use.//