South Carolina

From the 50 State Visitor Guide:

S.C. Code Ann. 2019  §§23-3-400 through 23-3-550.  AWA Compliant.

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

3 business days for initial registration and updates for “residence.”  Residence / temporary residence means one’s home, or any place where one “habitually resides” or resides for a period of 10 consecutive days or more.  Residing in the state for 30 or more days during a 12-month period also establishes a residence. §§23-3-430, 23-3-450, 23-3-460.

Visitors: “Summary” FAQ website states that registration is required if you are planning to visit for 10 days or more.

Per Rolfe Survey, Visiting Registrants once placed on state’s registry ARE NOT REMOVED.

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction: For certain offenses against minors, may not reside w/in 1,000 ft. of school, day care center, “children’s recreational facility,” park, or playground.  §23-3-535.

State pre-emption: A local government may not enact an ordinance that: (1) contains penalties that exceed or are less lenient than the penalties contained in state statutes; or (2) expands or contracts the boundaries of areas in which a sex offender may or may not reside. §23-3-535(E).

Duration & updates:

Lifetime.  Tier III and SVP update every 90 days; all others every 6 mo.  §23-3-460.

 

Historic Charleston, SC

Most recent visit: June 2021

In early June 2021 I traveled thru South Carolina on my way home to Florida from the Northeast.  On this trip I had a specific destination in mind – Historic Charleston, which I had visited a few times before … before I wrecked my life.  Now I wanted to go back.

I spent most of an afternoon in Historic Charleston.  It was mobbed with tourists that day and I came away with the impression that tourism has pretty much destroyed Charleston.  Buildings on the main historic districts like King Street and Meeting Street are largely intact but filled with chain stores and restaurants, trinket shops and the like.  Lesser visited side streets are still worth seeing, however, and of course The Battery is still there.

By the time I was done in Charleston it was getting late in the day and I was looking for a campground.  Looking over South Carolina’s residency and other restrictions, I decided that:

(a) my offense wasn’t covered by the state’s “certain offenses against minors” clause (see above); and

(b) even if it was, national forest campgrounds wouldn’t count against the state’s residency restrictions because national forests are not parks; and furthermore

(c) even if they did count, staying at a campground overnight wouldn’t count as establishing a “residence” because to do that I’d have to be there “for a period of 10 consecutive days or more” which I was not.

This line of reasoning led me to a campground in Sumter National Forest, which was quite beautiful and mostly empty that particular evening.  After a good night’s sleep I left South Carolina the next morning and proceeded on my way.