Public Safety, Corrrections and Judicial
Liquor Liability — H. 3497. As passed by the House, this bill allows a person licensed or permitted to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption to qualify for a liquor liability risk mitigation program to lower the required liability insurance amount from $1 million to as little as $250,000 if the person and the entity satisfy certain operating conditions. The establishment may lower the requisite amount of liability insurance required through a combination of the following:
- It has their alcohol servers or a manager complete an alcohol server training program;
- It stops serving alcohol at certain times; or
- It derives less than 40% of their total sales from alcohol sales.
The bill also reforms the current driving under the influence (DUI) law to allow for additional fines or terms of imprisonment in certain circumstances and requires a defendant to participate in a DUI victim impact panel. The bill also creates a new felony offense for second-degree DUI that results in moderate bodily injury and requires a person convicted of the offense to install an Ignition Interlock Device for one year. The Senate struck the language passed by the House on Tuesday and inserted their language from the tort reform bill, S. 244. This bill increases the damages cap found in the Tort Claims Act and amends the definition of occurrence. SCAC’s writeup for this bill, as passed by the Senate, can be found here. H. 3497 received second and third readings and was returned to the House.
Assault and Battery —– S. 346. This bill amends the statute on assault and battery to state that unlawfully injuring a health care professional during their duties, or injuring someone in a health care facility, constitutes high-and-aggravated assault and battery, with specified penalties. The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a subcommittee amendment to include correctional facility employees, including local detention center employees. This is an SCAC policy position. The committee gave the bill a favorable report, as amended, and S. 346 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Hands-Free Driving — H. 3276. This bill creates the “South Carolina Hands-Free and Distracted Driving Act” to enhance the provisions of the state’s current hands-free statute and to increase the penalties under the new act. The bill offers several exceptions, including use by a first responder while performing official duties. The bill also shifts 25% of the fine and fee revenue that would otherwise flow to counties to the Department of Public Safety for use to educate the public on the dangers of distracted driving. As passed by the House, the bill also specifies:
- for a second or subsequent offense, a person must be fined $200 and have two points assessed against their driver’s license;
- a violation of this provision must not be reported to the driver’s vehicle insurance provider;
- a law enforcement officer may not stop a person for a violation of this law unless they have probable cause that a violation has occurred based on the officer's clear and unobstructed view of a person who is using a wireless electronic communication device;
- for the first 180 days of the enactment of this bill, a law enforcement officer may only issue a warning ticket.
A Senate Transportation subcommittee amended the bill to make technical updates, change the language requiring probable cause back to reasonable suspicion, and require insurance agencies be notified when a second offense is committed and points are assessed against a driver. The Senate Transportation Committee took up the bill later in the day, adopted the above amendment, and reported the bill out. H. 3276 is now pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Mistreatment of Police Animals — S. 427. This bill increases the associated penalty schedules related to the mistreatment or injury of police animals. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave S. 427 a favorable report, and the bill is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Small Estates in Probate — H. 3472. This bill increases the limit of a small personal estate from $25,000 to $45,000 to allow more estates to go through summary administration in probate. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and H. 3472 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Probate Trusts — H. 3432. This bill amends the Rule Against Perpetuities in the probate code to increase the vesting time from 90 to 360 years to make South Carolina a more trust-friendly state. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and H. 3432 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Telecommunications Location — S. 114. This bill requires a wireless telecommunications carrier to provide call location information concerning the telecommunications device of a user to a law enforcement agency upon its request to respond to a call for emergency services or in an emergency situation that involves the risk of death or serious physical harm. The Senate Judiciary Committee amended the bill to conform with federal law by changing “risk of death or serious physical harm” to “immediate death or serious bodily injury.” The committee then gave the bill a favorable report as amended, and S. 114 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Discharge of Firearms — H. 3650. This bill states that anyone who knowingly and intentionally discharges a firearm at or into a dwelling, house, other building, structure, enclosure, vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or other conveyance, device, or equipment is guilty of committing a violent crime. The person must be fined no more than $20,000 and imprisoned for no more than 10 years. If a person inside any of the structures is struck or has bodily injury as a proximate cause of the firearm discharge, the maximum penalty increases to a $50,000 fine and 15 years imprisonment. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and H. 3650 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
First responder automobile insurance premiums — H. 3259. This bill prohibits insurers and agents from considering the work-related driving records of first responders when setting the premium rates for their personal automobile insurance policies. Additionally, the bill defines "first responder" as any law enforcement officer or firefighter who is employed by local, state, or federal government. This also includes volunteer law enforcement officers and firefighters who are engaged by local, state, or federal government. The bill also prohibits an insurer from considering the work-related driving record of a first responder if he is involved in a collision when responding to an emergency call. Finally, the bill requires the first responder to furnish a copy of the police incident report, investigative report, or uniform traffic collision report in a timely manner to the insurance agent or insurer and extends the definition of first responder to include EMTs and paramedics. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and H. 3259 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
Public Transit Trespass — S. 399. Like library no trespass provisions, this bill states that a person who enters a transportation facility without legal cause or good excuse, after having been warned not to do so by the transit director, transit supervisor, or the designee of the transit director or transit supervisor, is guilty of a misdemeanor. The person must first be given a warning notice, in writing, in the presence of a law enforcement officer. The warning notice must include the following:
- the alleged criminal law violation or transit authority’s code of conduct;
- the duration of the prohibition to return; and
- the procedure to appeal the notice warning to the transit authority board
A person wishing to appeal a warning notice must submit a request for hearing to the board within five business days of receiving the notice, and the board must conduct a hearing within 10 business days of the appeal. A trespass violation can be tried in the municipal or magistrate court with jurisdiction over the offense. A trespass notice can be enforced by any state or local law enforcement officer within the jurisdiction of the offense. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave S. 399 a favorable report, and it is now pending second reading on the Senate calendar.
| 
