State conviction rates are usually much lower than the conviction rates of Federal prosecutors.  There are two reasons for this in South Carolina.  The first reason is that state prosecutors do not pre-approve warrants before they are issued.  Federal prosecutors have a much lower caseload in part because they decide prior to the filing of charges whether charges should be filed at all and if so, which charges should be filed.

The second reason for lower state conviction rates is that in South Carolina the state imposes a fee of $100.00 for each indictment the defendant pleads to.  In a forgery case that involves the forging of 20 stolen checks this would amount to $2000.00.  The problem comes in when the the defendant starts paying restitution to the victim.  The court costs can prevent the victims from receiving their money from the defendant because he is having to split his payments between his fees and his restitution.  Since the extra charges do not result in extra punishment it is usually better for the victims if their court costs are kept low so more money ends up in the victims pocket.  Because the charges not plead to are dismissed, this drives down the conviction rate.