South Carolina General Assembly
103rd Session, 1979-1980

Bill 3728

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3728
Ratification Number:       635
Act Number                 512
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Autopsies--incarcerated persons
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A512, R635, H3728)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 17-7-10 AND 24-9-35, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REPORTING OF DEATHS OF INCARCERATED PERSONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE CORONERS SHALL ORDER AN AUTOPSY OF ANY PERSON WHO DIAS WHILE INCARCERATED, AND REQUIRE PERSONS IN CHARGE OF FACILITIES FOR INCARCERATION TO REPORT ANY SUCH DEATH TO THE CORONER.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Autopsies--incarcerated persons

Section 1. Section 17-7-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 17-7-10. The coroner of the county in which a body is found dead or the solicitor of the judicial circuit in which such county lies shall order an autopsy or postmortem examination to be conducted to ascertain the cause of death. If any person dies while incarcerated in any municipal or county overnight-lockup, or jail, county prison, or state correctional facility, the coroner of the county in which such institution is located shall order an autopsy immediately upon notification by that institution."

Reporting of deaths of incarcerated persons

Section 2. Section 24-9-35 of the 1976 Code, added by Act 571 of 1978, is amended to read:

"Section 24-9-35. If any person dies while being incarcerated in any municipal or county overnight-lockup, or jail, county prison, or state correctional facility, the jailer or any other person physically in charge of the facility at the time death occurs shall immediately notify the coroner of the county in which the institution is located. The jailer or other person in charge shall also report the death and circumstances surrounding it within seventy-two hours to the Jail and Prison Inspection Division of the Department of Corrections. The division shall retain a permanent record of such reports. Reports shall be made on forms prescribed by the division.

Any person knowingly and wilfully violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars."

Time effective

Section 3. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.