South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 632

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Campsen
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11584ac05.doc

Introduced in the Senate on March 16, 2005
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Rape exam protocol

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   3/16/2005  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-5
   3/16/2005  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-5
   3/18/2005  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Hutto (ch), Jackson, Knotts, 
                        Bryant

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/16/2005

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

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 16-3-1350, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MEDICOLEGAL EXAMINATIONS FOLLOWING CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT OR SEXUAL ABUSE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT STANDARDS DEVELOPED FOR RAPE EXAM PROTOCOLS MUST AUTHORIZE REGISTERED NURSES TRAINED AS SEXUAL ASSAULT NURSE EXAMINERS TO CONDUCT FORENSIC EXAMINATIONS ON PATIENTS OF ANY AGE AT ANYTIME THE PATIENT PRESENTS FOR EXAMINATION.

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

SECTION    1.    Section 16-3-1350 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-3-1350.    (A)    The State must ensure that a victim of criminal sexual conduct in any degree, criminal sexual conduct with a minor in any degree, or child sexual abuse must not bear the cost of his or her routine medicolegal exam following the assault if the victim has filed an incident report with a law enforcement agency.

(B)    These exams must be standardized relevant to medical treatment and to gathering evidence from the body of the victim and must be based on and meet minimum standards for rape exam protocol as developed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the South Carolina Hospital Association, and the Governor's Office Division of Victim Assistance with production costs to be paid from funds appropriated for the Victim's Compensation Fund. These standards must include provisions authorizing registered nurses trained as sexual assault nurse examiners to conduct forensic examinations on patients of any age at any time the patient presents for examination including, but not limited to, taking patient histories, physical assessments, collection of forensic evidence, and photo documentation such as use of colposcope. These exams must include treatment for venereal disease, and must include medication for pregnancy prevention if indicated and if desired. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division must distribute these exam kits to any licensed health care facility providing sexual assault exams. When dealing with a victim of criminal sexual assault, the law enforcement agency immediately must transport the victim to the nearest licensed health care facility which performs sexual assault exams. A health care facility providing sexual assault exams must use the standardized protocol described above.

(C)    A licensed health care facility, upon completion of a routine sexual assault exam as described in subsection (B) performed on a victim of criminal sexual conduct in any degree, criminal sexual conduct with a minor in any degree, or child sexual abuse, may file a claim for reimbursement directly to the South Carolina Crime Victim's Compensation Fund if the offense occurred in South Carolina. The South Carolina Crime Victim's Compensation Fund must develop procedures for health care facilities to follow when filing a claim with respect to the privacy of the victim. Health care facility personnel must obtain information necessary for the claim at the time of the exam, if possible. The South Carolina Crime Victim's Compensation Fund must reimburse eligible health care facilities directly.

(D)    The Governor's Office Division of Victim Assistance must utilize existing funds appropriated from the general fund for the purpose of compensating licensed health care facilities for the cost of routine medical exams for sexual assault victims as described above. When the director determines that projected reimbursements in a fiscal year provided in this section exceed funds appropriated for payment of these reimbursements, he must direct the payment of the additional services from the Victim's Compensation Fund. For the purpose of this particular exam, the one hundred dollar deductible is waived for award eligibility under the fund. The South Carolina Victim's Compensation Fund must develop appropriate guidelines and procedures and distribute them to law enforcement agencies and appropriate health care facilities."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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