S.C. Code Ann. § 56-1-440

This is the official text of S.C. Code Ann. § 56-1-440, part of South Carolina’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of South Carolina, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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SECTION 56-1-440. Penalties for driving without license; summary court jurisdiction.

Official statutory text

(A) A person who drives a motor vehicle on a public highway of this State without a driver's license in violation of Section 56-1-20 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction of a first offense, must be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days and, upon conviction of a second offense, be fined five hundred dollars or imprisoned for forty-five days, or both, and for a third and subsequent offense must be imprisoned for not less than forty-five days nor more than six months. However, a charge of driving a motor vehicle without a driver's license must be dismissed if the person provides proof of being a licensed driver at the time of the violation to the court on or before the date this matter is set to be disposed of by the court. (B) The summary courts are vested with jurisdiction to hear and dispose of cases involving a violation of this section.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.