About the South Carolina Law

South Carolina Code, Sections 16-3-2010 through 2090

In 2012, the South Carolina legislature passed comprehensive new legislation to combat human trafficking in South Carolina. The law became effective on December 15, 2012. South Carolina is now among the states with the highest ranking human trafficking laws in the country. This new statute includes higher penalties than the previous human trafficking statute, criminal liability for business owners engaging in human trafficking, restitution for victims, civil action availability for victims, and asset forfeiture by convicted traffickers. There is also a provision in the statute that the Attorney General chair a task force, along with other essential agencies, dedicated to investigating and addressing the problem of human trafficking.

The task force was directed to develop a state plan addressing human trafficking in South Carolina. The South Carolina State Plan to Address Human Trafficking was released on June 12, 2014.

In 2015, the State Grand Jury was given jurisdiction for multi-county human trafficking cases. This allows the expansion of these investigations to follow typical trafficker behaviors while preventing victims from having to re-live trauma because of jurisdictional boundaries.

The task force is currently working on implementation of the plan, and meets quarterly for these purposes.  To find out more about the meetings, please contact our office.