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S. 875
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Knotts and Leventis
Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5356cm08.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 8, 2008
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary
Summary: Inmates
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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12/5/2007 Senate Prefiled
12/5/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
1/8/2008 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-40
1/8/2008 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-40
1/15/2008 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: Hutto (ch), Jackson, Knotts,
Massey
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 17-7-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE ORDERING OF AUTOPSIES BY A CORONER OR A SOLICITOR UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES TO DETERMINE A DECEDENT'S CAUSE OF DEATH, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THIS PROVISION APPLIES TO INMATES WHO DIE WHILE BEING TREATED AS A PATIENT IN A PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITY, AND TO PROVIDE THAT A CORONER WHO ORDERS THE PERFORMANCE OF AN AUTOPSY UPON AN INMATE WHO DIES WHILE BEING TREATED IN A PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITY MAY OBTAIN REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE COST OF THE AUTOPSY FROM THE PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITY OR THE PENAL INSTITUTION THAT ADMITTED THE INMATE TO THE PRIVATE HEALTH FACILITY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
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 the county lies shall order an autopsy or post-mortem examination to be conducted to ascertain the cause of death. If any a person dies while detained, incarcerated, or under the jurisdiction of a municipal, county, or regional holdover facility, holding cell, overnight lockup or jail, a county or regional prison camp, or a state correctional facility, or while he is an inmate being treated as a patient in a private health facility the coroner of the county in which the death occurs or, should that be unknown, the county in which the institution or facility is located shall order an autopsy immediately upon notification of the death. However, if the official in charge of the institution or facility is unable to arrange an autopsy within the State of South Carolina, he shall provide the coroner with an affidavit attesting to this inability.
In this event, the coroner shall consult with the physician who pronounced death, and, if not the same, with any other physician who is known to have treated the person within twelve months prior to before his death. If the deceased person had a previously diagnosed contagious, terminal illness or condition which is considered to be the reason for death, written confirmation must be obtained from at least two physicians who attended him prior to before his death, and at least one of these physicians may not have been employed by or under contract with the institution or agency which was responsible for custody of the deceased person.
The coroner may then may determine that an autopsy is not required, and shall so certify in writing. Nevertheless, if the coroner decides that an autopsy is appropriate, he may order that one be arranged outside the State of South Carolina. Documentation of the death, the circumstances surrounding it, and all subsequent actions and decisions regarding the autopsy must be filed with the Jail and Prison Inspection Division of the Department of Corrections according to Section 24-9-35.
A coroner who orders the performance of an autopsy upon an inmate who dies while being treated in a private health facility may obtain reimbursement for the cost of the autopsy from the private health facility or the penal institution that admitted the inmate to the private health facility."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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