South Carolina does not have a single statute for interfering with an investigation. The conduct is spread across several criminal laws, each aimed at a specific kind of obstruction: physically resisting an officer, threatening a witness, filing a false police report, harboring someone with an outstanding warrant, destroying evidence, or lying under oath. Penalties range from a 30-day misdemeanor to a felony carrying up to ten years in prison, depending on which statute applies and how far the conduct went.
Resisting or Physically Opposing an Officer
Code 16-9-320 is the statute most directly aimed at people who physically interfere with police work, and it has two tiers.
Under subsection (A), it is a misdemeanor to knowingly resist or oppose an officer who is serving a legal writ, executing process, or making an arrest. Conviction carries a fine between $500 and $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-320 – Opposing or Resisting Law Enforcement Officer Serving Process Pulling away during an arrest, blocking a doorway during a search warrant, or physically stopping an officer from serving court papers can all qualify.
Under subsection (B), the charge becomes a felony if the person assaults, beats, or wounds the officer during those same circumstances. The felony version carries a fine between $1,000 and $10,000, up to ten years in prison, or both.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-320 – Opposing or Resisting Law Enforcement Officer Serving Process The line between the two tiers is physical violence against the officer.
The statute applies to any duly appointed or commissioned law enforcement officer at the state, county, or municipal level.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-310 – Law Enforcement Officer Defined
Threatening a Witness, Juror, or Court Official
Code 16-9-340 targets interference with the court system itself. It makes it a felony to use threat or force to intimidate or impede judges, magistrates, jurors, potential jurors, witnesses, arbiters, commissioners, or any other court official in the performance of their duties. It also covers using threat or force to destroy, impede, or obstruct the administration of justice in any court.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-340 – Intimidation of Court Officials, Jurors or Witnesses
This is where witness intimidation falls. Threatening a witness to keep them from testifying, pressuring a juror to vote a certain way, or trying to coerce a judge all fit inside the statute. There is no misdemeanor tier. Every violation is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, up to ten years in prison, or both.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-340 – Intimidation of Court Officials, Jurors or Witnesses
Texting a co-defendant to “keep quiet” can be charged under this section if the message reads as a threat. Contacting a witness through a third party, once bond conditions restrict contact, can add an intimidation charge on top of whatever the original case was about.
A separate statute, Code 16-9-350, addresses attempts to influence a grand or petit juror through written or oral communications about a pending matter. That offense is a misdemeanor: up to $500 in fines, up to six months in jail, or both.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-350 – Attempting to Influence Juror by Written or Oral Communication The difference is force. Code 16-9-340 requires threat or force; 16-9-350 covers subtler contact like a letter to a juror.
False Police Reports and Lying About Your Identity
Code 16-17-725 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly make a false complaint to a law enforcement officer about a crime supposedly committed by another person. The same statute makes it illegal to misrepresent your identity to an officer during a traffic stop or to avoid arrest or criminal charges.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-17-725 – Making False Complaint to Law Enforcement Officer
The penalty is light next to the other obstruction offenses: a fine of up to $200, up to 30 days in jail, or both.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-17-725 – Making False Complaint to Law Enforcement Officer The scope is narrower than most people assume. It targets false accusations against another person and identity misrepresentation. It does not broadly criminalize every lie told to an officer during an investigation.
Harboring Someone With a Warrant or Hindering an Arrest
Code 16-5-50 covers behind-the-scenes obstruction. It makes it illegal to hinder or obstruct an officer executing a warrant, help an arrested person escape custody, or harbor or conceal a person after learning that a warrant has been issued for them.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-5-50 – Penalty for Hindering Officers or Rescuing Prisoners
The harboring provision catches people off guard. Letting a friend or relative with an outstanding warrant stay at your home, once you know the warrant exists, can bring a fine of up to $3,000, up to three years in prison, or both. The prosecution does not need to prove you knew the details of the underlying crime. Knowing the warrant existed and actively concealing the person is enough.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-5-50 – Penalty for Hindering Officers or Rescuing Prisoners
Destroying or Tampering With Evidence
South Carolina does not have a standalone general evidence-tampering statute the way many other states do. That gap does not mean destroying evidence is legal. Conduct like deleting security footage, cleaning a crime scene, or persuading someone to erase incriminating messages can be charged under Code 16-9-340’s prohibition on obstructing the administration of justice, with the same felony exposure that applies to witness intimidation.
For biological evidence, Code 17-28-70 makes it a separate offense to tamper with physical evidence or biological material that the law requires to be preserved.7South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 17-28-70 – Preservation of Evidence
Accessory, Compounding, and Perjury
Several other statutes come into play when the interference happens around, rather than during, an active investigation.
A person who helps someone after they have committed a crime can be charged as an accessory after the fact. South Carolina punishes accessories one classification level below the penalty for the principal offense. If the principal offense was a Class A, B, or C felony or murder, the accessory is punished at the Class D felony level instead.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-1-55 – Classification of Accessory After the Fact Helping cover up a serious felony can produce years of prison time even if you had nothing to do with the underlying crime.
Code 16-9-370 targets people who accept money or another benefit in exchange for concealing an offense, agreeing not to prosecute, or refusing to give evidence. If the underlying offense was a felony, compounding it is a misdemeanor carrying up to $500 in fines or one year in jail. If the underlying offense was a misdemeanor, the penalty drops to a $100 fine or three months in jail.9South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-370 – Taking Money or Reward to Compound or Conceal Offense
Giving false testimony under oath in a court proceeding is a felony carrying up to five years in prison. Providing false information on a document, record, report, or form required by state law is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail. A person who persuades someone else to commit perjury faces the same penalties as the person who lies.10South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-9-10 – Perjury and Subornation of Perjury
When Federal Obstruction Laws Apply
If the investigation involves a federal agency or a matter within federal jurisdiction, federal obstruction statutes stack on top of state charges. The penalties are steeper.
Under 18 U.S.C. 1512, tampering with a witness, victim, or informant in a federal proceeding through intimidation, threats, or corrupt persuasion carries up to 20 years in federal prison. If physical force is used or attempted, the sentence can reach 30 years.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1512 – Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or an Informant
Under 18 U.S.C. 1519, destroying, altering, or falsifying records with intent to obstruct a federal investigation carries up to 20 years.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1519 – Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations This statute fills the gap that South Carolina’s state-level laws leave partly open on general evidence destruction.
Federal law also recognizes misprision of felony. It applies when someone knows about a federal felony and actively conceals it rather than reporting it, and it carries up to three years in federal prison.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 4 – Misprision of Felony Silence alone is not enough. The government must prove an affirmative act of concealment.
Consequences That Outlast the Sentence
The penalty listed in each statute is only part of the exposure. A felony conviction for any of these offenses brings lasting collateral consequences.
Under Code 16-23-500, anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment is permanently prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition in South Carolina. A first offense for violating that prohibition carries up to five years in prison. A second offense carries a mandatory minimum of five years and up to twenty. A third or subsequent offense carries a mandatory minimum of ten years and up to thirty.14South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 16-23-500 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Person Convicted of Certain Crimes The firearm ban reaches felony convictions under 16-9-320(B), 16-9-340, and 16-9-10, all of which carry maximum sentences over one year.
Employment is another lasting cost. A felony conviction appears on background checks and can disqualify applicants from work in law enforcement, education, healthcare, and other licensed professions. Even misdemeanor obstruction convictions can raise concerns for employers, since they suggest dishonesty or a willingness to defy authority.
Recording Police Versus Obstructing Police
A common source of confusion is whether recording an officer during an investigation is itself interference. The First Amendment protects the right to photograph or record law enforcement officers performing their duties in public spaces like streets, sidewalks, and parks. An officer may order you to move a reasonable distance away to avoid obstructing their work, but they cannot lawfully delete your footage or seize your device without a warrant.
The line is crossed when the act of recording actually hinders the officer. Standing in the way to get a better shot, refusing a lawful order to step back, or using your presence to encourage someone to resist arrest can turn a protected activity into a resisting or opposing charge under Code 16-9-320. The right to record does not override other criminal laws, including trespass and harassment.