South Carolina General Assembly
120th Session, 2013-2014

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A62, R75, S8

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator L. Martin
Document Path: l:\s-jud\bills\l. martin\jud0011.rem.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 3527, 3570

Introduced in the Senate on January 8, 2013
Introduced in the House on May 2, 2013
Last Amended on June 5, 2013
Passed by the General Assembly on June 6, 2013
Governor's Action: June 12, 2013, Signed

Summary: Patrol Canine teams

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/13/2012  Senate  Prefiled
  12/13/2012  Senate  Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Natural 
                        Resources
    1/8/2013  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 29)
    1/8/2013  Senate  Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Natural 
                        Resources (Senate Journal-page 29)
   1/23/2013  Senate  Recalled from Committee on Agriculture and Natural 
                        Resources (Senate Journal-page 5)
   1/23/2013  Senate  Committed to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 5)
   1/28/2013  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Hutto (ch), Corbin, Young
   4/10/2013  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 17)
   4/16/2013  Senate  Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 27)
   4/30/2013  Senate  Amended (Senate Journal-page 29)
   4/30/2013  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 29)
   4/30/2013  Senate  Roll call Ayes-27  Nays-16 (Senate Journal-page 29)
    5/1/2013          Scrivener's error corrected
    5/1/2013  Senate  Read third time and sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 68)
    5/2/2013  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 16)
   5/30/2013  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 7)
    6/4/2013  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s). Tallon, Quinn, JR Smith, 
                        Bannister, Hixon, Wells, Pope, Bedingfield, GR Smith, 
                        Loftis, Hardwick, Kennedy, Spires, Hardee, DC Moss, 
                        Cole, Hiott, Norman, Hosey, Clyburn, Anderson, RL 
                        Brown, VS Moss, King, Powers-Norrell, Cobb-Hunter, 
                        Hart, Sellers, KR Crawford, Sabb, Patrick 
                        (House Journal-page 16)
    6/5/2013  House   Requests for debate removed-Rep(s). Hiott, Tallon, JR 
                        Smith, Hixon, Wells, Norman, Hardee, Spires, Hardwick, 
                        VS Moss, Loftis, Patrick, Cole, Hosey, Kennedy, 
                        Anderson, Quinn, GR Smith, Powers-Norrell, Bannister, 
                        Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Sellers, DC Moss, Pope, 
                        Bedingfield, Sabb, RL Brown (House Journal-page 122)
    6/5/2013  House   Amended (House Journal-page 134)
    6/5/2013  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 134)
    6/5/2013  House   Roll call Yeas-102  Nays-4 (House Journal-page 136)
    6/6/2013  House   Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments 
                        (House Journal-page 16)
    6/6/2013  Senate  Concurred in House amendment and enrolled 
                        (Senate Journal-page 75)
    6/6/2013  Senate  Roll call Ayes-40  Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 75)
   6/11/2013          Ratified R 75
   6/12/2013          Signed By Governor
   6/20/2013          Effective date 06/12/13
   6/24/2013          Act No. 62

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/13/2012
4/10/2013
4/16/2013
4/30/2013
5/1/2013
5/30/2013
6/5/2013


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A62, R75, S8)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 47-3-110, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE LIABILITY OF AN OWNER OR KEEPER OF A DOG FOR A DOG ATTACK, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT LIABILITY DOES NOT EXTEND TO A DOG WHO WAS PROVOKED OR HARASSED BY THE PERSON ATTACKED OR TO TRAINED LAW ENFORCEMENT DOGS UNDER CERTAIN DELINEATED CIRCUMSTANCES; AND BY ADDING SECTION 23-23-140 SO AS TO DEFINE THE TERM "PATROL CANINE TEAMS" AND PROVIDE CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TEAMS.

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

Liability for attacks by dogs, provoked attacks, trained law enforcement dogs

SECTION    1.    Section 47-3-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 47-3-110.    (A)    If a person is bitten or otherwise attacked by a dog while the person is in a public place or is lawfully in a private place, including the property of the dog owner or person having the dog in the person's care or keeping, the dog owner or person having the dog in the person's care or keeping is liable for the damages suffered by the person bitten or otherwise attacked. For the purposes of this section, a person bitten or otherwise attacked is lawfully in a private place, including the property of the dog owner or person having the dog in the person's care or keeping, when the person bitten or otherwise attacked is on the property in the performance of a duty imposed upon the person by the laws of this State, the ordinances of a political subdivision of this State, the laws of the United States of America including, but not limited to, postal regulations, or when the person bitten or otherwise attacked is on the property upon the invitation, express or implied, of the property owner or a lawful tenant or resident of the property.

(B)    This section does not apply if, at the time the person is bitten or otherwise attacked:

(1)    the person who was attacked provoked or harassed the dog and that provocation was the proximate cause of the attack; or

(2)    the dog was working in a law enforcement capacity with a governmental agency and in the performance of the dog's official duties provided that:

(a)    the dog's attack is in direct and complete compliance with the lawful command of a duly certified canine officer;

(b)    the dog is trained and certified according to the standards adopted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council;

(c)    the governmental agency has adopted a written policy on the necessary and appropriate use of dogs in the dog's official law enforcement duties;

(d)    the actions of the dog's handler or dog do not violate the agency's written policy;

(e)    the actions of the dog's handler or dog do not constitute excessive force; and

(f)    the attack or bite does not occur on a third party bystander."

Patrol canine teams, certification

SECTION    2.    Chapter 23, Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 23-23-140.    (A)    For purposes of this section, 'patrol canine teams' refers to a certified officer and a specific patrol canine controlled by the handler working together in the performance of law enforcement or correctional duties. 'Patrol canine teams' does not refer to canines used exclusively for tracking or specific detection.

(B)    The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy shall verify that patrol canine teams have been certified by a nationally recognized police dog association or similar organization.

(C)    No law enforcement agency may utilize patrol canine teams after July 1, 2014, unless the patrol canine teams have met all certification requirements."

Time effective

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 11th day of June, 2013.

Approved the 12th day of June, 2013.

__________


This web page was last updated on Friday, August 16, 2013 at 12:13 P.M.