If you go to Furman University or Clemson University and you get arrested, the police report is only the first problem. A single student arrest can open two cases at once: one moving through the South Carolina criminal justice system, and one inside your school’s own conduct committee. They do not run on the same rules, and one does not control the other.
We are Touma Law Group, a criminal defense lawyer team based in Greenville. Our attorneys include former county prosecutors who know how South Carolina courts and the college campuses around them handle a college student facing criminal charges.
University Responses to Student Arrests
A charge is not a conviction. But many students learn too late that their university does not wait for a court verdict before starting its own disciplinary history review. Clemson and Furman can open a case under the Student Conduct Code based on an arrest alone, often before the criminal case is anywhere near resolved.
That matters because the two systems use different rules. Criminal justice processing requires the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A campus conduct committee hearing at Clemson uses a lower standard called preponderance of the evidence, meaning it is more likely than not that the student violated the Student Conduct Code or Student Honor Code. That lower bar is a big reason a student can face suspension, academic probation, or an athletics setback even when the criminal case ends in dismissal or a not guilty finding.
Clemson’s conduct process, run through its Office of Community and Ethical Standards, moves independently of the criminal courts. Students facing both criminal charges and a conduct committee case are subject to dual jurisdiction, meaning the university can process a case separately from whatever the criminal courts decide, even if the charges get dropped.
Furman runs its own conduct process with its own timeline, so a student facing a Furman case should confirm the process with the dean of students office and treat it as seriously as the court date.
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Legal Procedures and Campus Policies
Here is the short version of what typically happens after a student arrest:
- Local police or a School Resource Officer on campus makes the arrest and files a report.
- The case moves into the South Carolina criminal justice system, where a criminal defense lawyer handles the criminal side.
- Separately, the university’s conduct committee can open its own review, often triggered by Law Enforcement Referrals once campus police or a court record shows an arrest.
- The two cases move on their own timelines. A dismissal in one does not automatically end the other.
Common Campus Charges
Furman and Clemson sit close to a mix of city, county, and campus police jurisdictions, and students get charged under all three. Common charges we see include:
- Underage alcohol possession or public intoxication paired with disorderly conduct.
- Simple possession of marijuana or other drugs can lead to drug tests, drug counseling, or a drug rehabilitation program referral as part of a plea agreement.
- Criminal trespass tied to a no trespass notice.
- Assault and battery from off-campus altercations.
- Weapon possession, which many schools treat under a Zero Tolerance policy, regardless of the criminal outcome.
- DUI, which can also trigger a separate license suspension hearing with the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.
South Carolina’s public disorderly conduct law is broad by design. Under South Carolina Code Section 16-17-530, public disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by a fine or up to 30 days in jail, and the statute does not sharply define terms like “disorderly” or “boisterous,” which gives officers wide discretion in deciding when to charge it.
Why a Criminal Record Hits a College Student Differently
For most adults, a criminal record is a background check problem down the road. For a college student, it can reach further into educational attainment and college enrollment itself. Certain drug convictions can affect eligibility for Federal Financial Aid, including Federal Pell Grant funding, and a pending case can complicate federal student aid renewal timing.
A conduct committee finding can mean removal from campus housing, academic probation, or a no trespass restriction that keeps a student off college campuses entirely. Student athletes face added reporting requirements and can be held out of competition while a case is pending, and graduate programs in licensed fields often ask about arrests, not just convictions, on applications.
None of this means a single charge ends a student’s path. It means the stakes are wider than the courtroom, and the decisions made in the first few days after an arrest tend to matter most.
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Possible Penalties and Why They Vary
Penalties depend on the specific charge, the student’s prior record, and how the case is handled early on. Public disorderly conduct carries a fine or up to 30 days in jail, though a first-time offense may qualify for conditional discharge, where the court defers the case and dismisses it without a conviction once probation conditions, sometimes including community service or alcohol education classes, are met.
First offense simple possession convictions can become eligible for expungement three years after completing the sentence, with no other convictions during that window. A negotiated plea agreement can sometimes reduce a charge or route a student toward diversion instead. These figures can shift as South Carolina law changes, so any specific penalty or expungement timeline should be confirmed with an attorney. This is general information, not legal advice for a specific case.
Legal Defense Considerations For a Student Facing Charges
There is no single approach that fits every case, but a few things matter across most student arrests in the Upstate. Do not discuss the incident with campus police, local police, roommates, or on social media, and do not make a statement to a conduct committee investigator before speaking with a lawyer, since statements made to a conduct committee are not protected the way statements to police can be.
Depending on the charge and record, pretrial intervention, anger management counseling, or conditional discharge may keep a case off a permanent criminal record. A student facing both a court date and a conduct hearing should coordinate the two, since admissions in one process can affect the other, and should note every deadline in any notice of charges from the school.
Most student arrest cases also turn on a narrow set of evidence: the police report, any dashcam or body camera footage, and, in alcohol or drug stops, field sobriety tests and blood tests measuring blood alcohol content. A lawyer can request and review this early, since footage and test records are not held indefinitely.
An attorney can review the facts of a specific arrest and lay out realistic options. No outcome can be promised in advance, and every case depends on its own facts. Contact a criminal defense lawyer familiar with both the local courts and the university conduct process before the first hearing or court date.
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Why Touma Law Group is Your Choice for Defense
Our Greenville office is led by Christian Capps, a former Assistant Solicitor for Greenville County who worked cases in the county’s Vehicular Crimes and Domestic Violence units before joining the defense side. Firm founder Adam Touma is a Clemson University graduate and a former Greenville County public defender, so he has seen firsthand how a single arrest near college campuses can spiral if it is not handled early.
That combination shapes how we approach these cases from the first phone call. If you or your student was arrested near Furman or Clemson, contact our Greenville office at (864) 618-2323 for a free case review.
An arrest record can appear on some background checks even without a conviction, depending on how the record is reported and whether it has been expunged. Speak with an attorney about expungement eligibility for the specific charge and outcome.
It depends on the charge. Certain drug related convictions can affect federal aid eligibility, and a pending case can complicate the timing of aid renewal. A student in this situation should talk to both the school’s financial aid office and an attorney.
Many first offense misdemeanors and first offense simple possession charges become eligible for expungement after a waiting period, often three years, if there are no other convictions during that time. Eligibility depends on the exact charge and outcome, so this should be confirmed with an attorney.
