Current Status Bill Number:3197 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19970114 Primary Sponsor:Simrill All Sponsors:Simrill Drafted Document Number:jic\5190sd.97 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 25 HJ Subject:Human remains or repositories, destruction or desecration of; cemeteries
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
House 19970114 Introduced, read first time, 25 HJ
referred to Committee
House 19970108 Prefiled, referred to Committee 25 HJ
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND SECTION 16-17-600, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE UNLAWFUL DESTRUCTION OR DESECRATION OF HUMAN REMAINS OR REPOSITORIES AND THE PENALTIES THEREFOR, SO AS TO INCREASE THE PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 16-17-600 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 37, Act 184 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 16-17-600. (A) It is unlawful for a person wilfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:
(1) destroy or damage the remains of a deceased human being;
(2) remove a portion of the remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository; or
(3) desecrate human remains.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two five thousand dollars and imprisoned not less than one year nor more than ten years.
(B) It is unlawful for a person wilfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:
(1) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, graveyard, tomb, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;
(2) deface, vandalize, injure, or remove a gravestone or other memorial monument or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield; or
(3) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a park or other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a deceased person or group of persons.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than two ten thousand dollars, or both.
(C) It is unlawful for a person wilfully, knowingly, and without proper legal authority to destroy, tear down, or injure only fencing, plants, trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a repository for human remains, or within a human graveyard or memorial park.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (C) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Injury or loss of property less than two hundred dollars is a misdemeanor triable in magistrate's court. Upon conviction, the person must be fined, imprisoned, or both, not more than is permitted by law, without presentment or indictment by the grand jury."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.