When the prosecutor's review committee has determined that probable cause exists to support the allegation that the person is a sexually violent predator, the Attorney General must file a petition with the court in the jurisdiction where the person committed the offense and must notify the victim that the committee found that probable cause exists. The Attorney General must also notify the victim of the time, date, and location of the probable cause hearing before the court. The petition, which must be filed within thirty days of the probable cause determination by the prosecutor's review committee, must request that the court make a probable cause determination as to whether the person is a sexually violent predator. The petition must allege that the person is a sexually violent predator and must state sufficient facts that would support a probable cause allegation.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-48-70
Petition for probable cause determination
Known as the Sexually Violent Predator Act
The act spans §§ 44–44 (19 sections).
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case In Re the Treatment & Care of Luckabaugh (2002)
Most recently applied in In Re the Care & Treatment of Miller (November 2009)
1998 Act No. 321, SECTION 1; 2004 Act No. 176, SECTION 1, eff February 18, 2004.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.