South Carolina’s domestic violence scheme is codified in Title 16, Chapter 25 of the South Carolina Code. In the Palmetto State, there are four graduated criminal offenses (three “degrees” plus the enhanced “high and aggravated nature” offense), driven primarily by injury severity, the defendant’s prior record for such crimes, and any other aggravating circumstances.
The Four Levels of Seriousness
| Level | Class | Jail/Prison Exposure | Core Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| DV 3rd Degree — § 16-25-20(D) | Misdemeanor | Up to 90 days (and/or $1,000–$2,500 fine) | Baseline offense — physical harm or threat with apparent present ability. Can be tried in summary court; eligible for pretrial intervention (PTI). |
| DV 2nd Degree — § 16-25-20(C) | Misdemeanor | Up to 3 years (and/or $2,500–$5,000 fine) | Moderate bodily injury; one prior DV conviction within 10 years; violating an order of protection and in the process committing a DV 3rd; or a DV 3rd with an aggravator (a minor was present, or a pregnant victim, or during robbery/burglary/kidnapping/theft, or if impeding the breathing of the victim, or blocking a telephone or cell phone call by a victim seeking help). |
| DV 1st Degree — § 16-25-20(B) | Felony | Up to 10 years | Great bodily injury; two or more prior DV convictions within 10 years; use of a firearm; violating an order of protection and in the process committing a DV 2nd; or a DV 2nd with an aggravator. |
| DV High & Aggravated Nature (DVHAN) — § 16-25-65 | Felony | Up to 20 years | Cases exhibiting extreme indifference to human life and causing great bodily injury; conduct reasonably causing fear of imminent great bodily injury or death; or violating an order of protection and in the process committing a DV 1st. Circumstances manifesting extreme indifference include, but are not limited to, use of a deadly weapon, strangulation of the victim, committing the offense in the presence of a minor, against a victim known to be pregnant, during a robbery/burglary/kidnapping/theft, or blocking the victim’s call for help. |
All sentence caps above are drawn directly from the South Carolina Code, Title 16, Chapter 25. The statute lists maximums; there are no stated statutory mandatory minimums of incarceration, and the court may suspend all or part of a sentence and impose probation conditioned on completing a batterer intervention program (§ 16-25-20(E)–(G)).
A related offense: violating an order of protection is a separate misdemeanor carrying up to 30 days and a fine up to $500 (§ 16-25-20(H)).
Expungement — Only DV 3rd Degree Qualifies
This is the critical takeaway for record relief:
- DV 3rd Degree is the ONLY convictable DV level that can be expunged. Under S.C. Code § 22-5-910(B), a person convicted of DV 3rd (or the pre-June 4, 2015 § 16-25-20(B)(1)) may petition the circuit court after five years from the date of conviction.
- DV 2nd, DV 1st, and DVHAN convictions cannot be expunged. They exceed the eligibility ceiling (misdemeanors carrying no more than 30 days / $1,000 under subsection (A) do not include them, and subsection (B) is limited to DV 3rd). Those records are permanent.
Conditions for a DV 3rd expungement (§ 22-5-910(C), (F)):
- No other convictions — in-state or out-of-state — during the five-year waiting period.
- No pending criminal charges of any kind (unless pending more than five years). Importantly, that five-year clock is tolled during any active bench warrant for failure to appear.
- One-time-only relief — a person can receive expungement under this provision only once in a lifetime.
- A “conviction” includes a guilty plea (including an Alford plea, which is a form of guilty plea), a plea of nolo contendere, or a bail forfeiture (§ 22-5-910(E)).
- Applies retroactively to pre-enactment convictions.
Non-conviction dispositions — a case that is dismissed, nol prossed, or no-billed by a grand jury, or where the trier of fact (a judge sitting alone or a jury) finds the accused not guilty — are treated differently. Similarly, charges resolved through a successful pretrial intervention or a successful conditional discharge are separately expungable. In addition, for charges dismissed after 2009, expungement is often automatic. This is why steering a DV case toward PTI or dismissal is so valuable for protecting the defendant’s future record.
Firearm Restriction Overlay (§ 16-25-30)
Beyond jail time, a DV conviction carries a firearm-possession ban under S.C. Code § 16-25-30, with duration tied to the level of severity of the offense:
| Conviction | Firearm Ban Duration |
|---|---|
| DVHAN (§ 16-25-65) | Life (§ 16-25-30(E)(1)) |
| DV 1st (§ 16-25-20(B)) | 10 years from conviction or release from confinement, whichever is later (§ 16-25-30(E)(2)) |
| DV 2nd or DV 3rd — if the judge at sentencing orders the prohibition (a DV 2nd with a moderate-injury finding is banned as well) | 3 years from conviction or release, whichever is later (§ 16-25-30(E)(3)) |
After the applicable period, the person’s state firearm rights are restored automatically — provided there are no other DV convictions, no DV charges currently pending, and no other law prohibits possession (§ 16-25-30(F)(1)). On written request, SLED will notify the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that rights were restored (§ 16-25-30(F)(2)). Notably, an expunged, set-aside, or pardoned conviction does not count as a conviction for this firearm bar (§ 16-25-30(C)) — another reason DV 3rd expungement matters.
One caution: federal law imposes its own firearm prohibition for qualifying misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)), and that federal bar operates independently of South Carolina’s restoration timeline. Anyone counting on regaining firearm rights after a DV case should have counsel analyze both the state and federal rules before possessing a firearm.
This page is general information about South Carolina law and is not legal advice. Statutes and penalties change; no attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page.