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South Carolina Domestic Violence Law

South Carolina Domestic Violence Penalties, 16-25-20

What you are facing under 16-25-20, how the penalties scale, and the questions an attorney needs to answer — under South Carolina (SC) domestic-violence law.

South Carolina (SC) — Domestic Violence — First Through Fourth Degree

Offense class: Misdemeanor (first/second/third degree); Felony (second degree with prior + first degree)

Incarceration

– 30 days (third degree); 3 years (second degree); 10 years (first degree)

Maximum Fine

$2,500 (third degree); $5,000 (second degree); none (first degree)

Offense Class

Misdemeanor (first/second/third degree); Felony (second degree with prior + first degree)

What this costs

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Federal firearms ban (

Lautenberg Amendment

Plain language

A federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)) that bans gun possession after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction — separate from state penalties.

)

A misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction in South Carolina triggers a federal firearms-possession ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). This applies on top of any state sentence, no matter how the South Carolina case ends.

South Carolina Domestic Violence Penalty Range

FactorDetail
Statute16-25-20
OffenseDomestic Violence — First Through Fourth Degree
ClassMisdemeanor (first/second/third degree); Felony (second degree with prior + first degree)
Incarceration – 30 days (third degree); 3 years (second degree); 10 years (first degree)
Maximum fine$2,500 (third degree); $5,000 (second degree); none (first degree)

Penalty Enhancements

Additional factors that can increase the sentence under South Carolina law.

  • Prior DV conviction within 10 years (escalates degree)
  • Violation of protective order (second degree)
  • Great bodily injury or weapon use (first degree — felony)
  • Third conviction of third-degree DV within 10 years elevates to second degree

South Carolina note: SC overhauled its DV laws in 2015 (Act 58). Four-degree system mirrors the A&B scheme. First offense third degree is a misdemeanor but repeat offenses escalate. Strangulation is automatically first degree. Mandatory arrest policy. Protective order violations are second degree.

What you're afraid of

South Carolina domestic violence defendants tell us they're afraid of four things. Here's how we address each.

Every citation in your report links back to a real CourtListener URL or a real state statute page. Your attorney can verify everything in under five minutes. We sit alongside your attorney — we don't replace them.

  • What if I take the wrong plea — or the wrong sentence?

    Most defendants take the first plea offered. We pull the comparable cases in your district and your judge's prior rulings, so you can see what the floor actually is before deciding.

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  • What if my attorney isn't actually listening — or preparing?

    Most defendants leave their attorney's office with more questions than they came in with. Not because attorneys are bad — the meeting is short and you didn't know what to ask. We hand you the questions, scored against your charge.

    Take the free Defense Score

  • I don't even know what I don't know.

    The hardest part of a criminal case is not knowing which questions matter. The Intelligence Brief pulls the most-cited opinions in your district + your charge, mapped to your judge's prior rulings, and surfaces the five questions that move the needle in front of this prosecutor.

    See what an Intelligence Brief covers

  • What if I bring my attorney a number they dismiss?

    If you bring your attorney a number they can't trace to a source, the conversation is over. Every number in our report is a hyperlink. Your attorney clicks, verifies, and the conversation continues.

    View a sample report

We're not here to replace your attorney. We're here to make sure you walk into their office knowing the right questions to ask.

What you're paying for is the time

Skip the 6-10 hours of reading. We already did it.

Defendants are already doing this work themselves — on r/legaladvice / r/Ask_Lawyers / Avvo Q&A, in Google searches, in the long thread of “what happens if I plead X” questions every public legal-help surface carries. The data is public. The reading is the work.

  • r/legaladvice + r/Ask_Lawyers (source): thousands of 'what happens if I plead X' threads, none of them indexed to your specific charge or your state's statute.

  • Avvo Q&A (source): per-charge plain-language threads, attorney answers gated behind per-minute meters.

  • Your state's official statute site: the actual statute text, the actual sentencing range, the actual enhancement triggers.

We hand you the synthesis — cited, hyperlinked, organized for your charge — for $127.

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Is your South Carolina domestic violence case defense on track?

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Other South Carolina defense topics

Facing a different charge in South Carolina? Penalty ranges, enhancements, and defense questions for related crimes:

DUI in South CarolinaDrug Possession in South CarolinaAssault in South Carolina

This page provides legal information — not legal advice — about South Carolina domestic violence law as of the date of publication. Laws change. Verify current statutes with a licensed attorney in South Carolina.