AGO 04-114.

• Case Date: August 17, 2004
• Court: South Carolina

South Carolina Attorney General Opinions 2004. AGO 04-114. 421August 17, 2004 OPINION NO. 04-114Larry W. Powers, Jail DirectorSpartanburg County Detention Center 950 California Avenue Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303-2184 Dear Mr. Powers: In a letter to this office you referenced the situation where law enforcement officers are arresting and transporting individuals to jail based upon information that the person is wanted in another jurisdiction where no warrant is in the officer's possession. The jail is then asked to hold the individual up to forty-eight hours and, in some cases, longer until someone can get to the jail to pick the individual up. You referenced that a problem exists where there is the lack of an arrest warrant and there is the requirement that an individual admitted to jail appear at a bail bond hearing. You indicated that there are typically two bail bond hearings scheduled each day but the individual cannot appear because there is no arrest warrant. You also referenced that under NCIC guidelines, an officer may detain a person until they confirm a hit, usually ten minutes, and the jail may hold the person up to one hour to confirm that the hit is valid. In such instances, under NCIC rules, the requesting agency must have a staffed position 24 hours per day that can confirm that a "want" is still valid. You indicated that most of these situations involve out of state offenses and the arresting officer obtains a fugitive warrant which allows the jail staff to take the offender before a magistrate who then sets bond where appropriate. However, you indicated that you have run into problems involving the State Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Each of its offices maintain its own "warrant files" and only the information that a warrant exists is sent to Central Records at the State Department of Corrections whose staff places the information into the NCIC computer system. When a hit occurs, the individual at Central Records confirms the hit. However, the warrant could have already been served and the computer system has not "caught up" with the result that the individual is arrested twice for the same offense. You indicate that as a result, your jail has adopted a policy whereby if the probation office sends a faxed copy of the warrant with the confirmation that an agent is enroute to serve...