S.C. Code Ann. § 44-41-31 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 41 / Article 1 / Section 44-41-31
SECTION 44-41-31. Abortion upon minors; consent requirements; support obligations of parent or legal guardian who refuses to give consent for minor's abortion; penalty for false representation.
Status: in_force

(A) No person may perform an abortion upon a minor unless consent is obtained in accordance with one of the following provisions: (1) the attending physician or his agent or the referring physician or his agent has secured the informed written consent, signed and witnessed, of the pregnant minor and: (a) one parent of the minor; or (b) a legal guardian of the minor; or (c) a grandparent of the minor; or (d) any person who has been standing in loco parentis to the minor for a period not less than sixty days; (2) the minor is emancipated and the attending physician or his agent has received the informed signed written consent of the minor; or (3) the attending physician or his agent has obtained the informed signed written consent of the minor and has received the order of the court obtained by the minor pursuant to this chapter. (B) If a parent or legal guardian refuses to give the informed written consent for the minor's abortion and there has been a judicial finding of refusal of consent, and the minor has a child or children as a result of that pregnancy, the duty imposed by law of supporting the child or children extends to the minor and jointly and severally to the refusing parent or legal guardian and the natural father until the minor reaches the age of eighteen years or is emancipated. (C) Any person standing in loco parentis and who consents to the abortion of the minor as permitted in subsection (A)(1) of this section shall sign an affidavit indicating the nature and length of his or her relationship with the minor. The affidavit must state the penalties for wilfully or knowingly making a false representation. Anyone who knowingly or wilfully makes a false representation in the affidavit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than three thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-610 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 7 / Section 44-55-610
SECTION 44-55-610. Application of article and local specifications, rules and regulations.
Status: in_force

In each county in this State containing a city having a population of more than seventy thousand according to the official United States census, the construction, installation and use of septic tanks shall be regulated by the provisions of this article and specifications and rules and regulations adopted by the county board of health and shall be approved by the county board of health, whose certificate of approval shall be accepted by all agencies and the courts of this State as evidence of such approval and of installation in compliance with the provisions of this article and of such specifications, rules and regulations.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-96-10 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 96 / Article 1 / Section 44-96-10
SECTION 44-96-10. Short title.
Status: in_force

This chapter is known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act of 1991".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-26-110 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 26 / Section 44-26-110
SECTION 44-26-110. Right to daily physical exercise.
Status: in_force

Clients have the right to daily physical exercise. Operators of a facility shall provide indoor and outdoor areas and equipment for this purpose. Clients determined able to be outdoors on a daily basis pursuant to Section 44-26-150 must be allowed this privilege in the absence of contrary medical considerations or during periods of inclement weather.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-28-80 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 28 / Article 1 / Section 44-28-80
SECTION 44-28-80. Departments and Agency to promulgate regulations for implementation and administration of fund.
Status: in_force

The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and the State Agency of Vocational Rehabilitation shall promulgate regulations necessary for the implementation and administration of the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-26-140 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 26 / Section 44-26-140
SECTION 44-26-140. Clients to receive least restrictive appropriate care and habilitation available; exceptions.
Status: in_force

(A) Clients receiving services for intellectual disability shall receive care and habilitation suited to their needs and in the least restrictive appropriate care and habilitation available. The care and habilitation must be administered skillfully, safely, and humanely with full respect for the client's dignity and personal integrity. The office shall make every effort, based on available resources, to develop services necessary to meet the needs of its clients. (B) In emergency admissions when the least restrictive setting is not available a client must be admitted to the nearest proper facility until he may be moved to the least restrictive setting. (C) In judicial or emergency admissions to the office every attempt must be made by the court to ensure a client's placement in the least restrictive alternative of services available. (D) No client may remain at a level of care that is more restrictive than is warranted to meet his needs if alternative care is available. A residential program must attempt to move clients from: (1) more to less structured living; (2) larger to smaller facilities; (3) larger to smaller living units; (4) group to individual residence; (5) segregated from the community to integrated into the community; (6) dependent to independent living. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-200 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-200
SECTION 44-53-200. Tests for inclusion of substance in Schedule II.
Status: in_force

The Department shall place a substance in Schedule II if it finds that: (a) It has a high potential for abuse; (b) It has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, or currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions; and (c) Abuse may lead to severe psychic or physical dependence.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-29-145 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 29 / Section 44-29-145
SECTION 44-29-145. Penalty for exposing others to Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
Status: in_force

It is unlawful for a person who knows that he is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to: (1) knowingly engage in sexual intercourse, vaginal, anal, or oral, with another person without first informing that person of his HIV infection; (2) knowingly commit an act of prostitution with another person; (3) knowingly sell or donate blood, blood products, semen, tissue, organs, or other body fluids; (4) forcibly engage in sexual intercourse, vaginal, anal, or oral, without the consent of the other person, including one's legal spouse; or (5) knowingly share with another person a hypodermic needle, syringe, or both, for the introduction of drugs or any other substance into, or for the withdrawal of blood or body fluids from the other person's body without first informing that person that the needle, syringe, or both, has been used by someone infected with HIV. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than ten years.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-31-360 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 31 / Article 5 / Section 44-31-360
SECTION 44-31-360. Penalty.
Status: in_force

A person who violates the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-31-120 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 31 / Article 3 / Section 44-31-120
SECTION 44-31-120. Commitment of tuberculosis patient; duration.
Status: in_force

If the judge of probate, after notice and hearing, is satisfied that the petition is well founded, the judge may commit the person to a facility designated by the department, and the commitment continues until the department notifies the probate judge that the person is no longer a threat to the public's health.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-95-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 95 / Section 44-95-30
SECTION 44-95-30. Designation of smoking and nonsmoking areas in places where smoking permitted.
Status: in_force

In areas where smoking is permitted in Section 44-95-20, the owner, manager, or agent in charge of the premises or vehicle referenced in Section 44-95-20 shall conspicuously display signs designating smoking and nonsmoking areas alike, except that signs are not required in private offices.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-350 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 5 / Section 44-43-350
SECTION 44-43-350. Authorized recipients of anatomical gifts.
Status: in_force

(A) An anatomical gift may be made to the following persons named in the document of gift: (1) a hospital; accredited medical school, dental school, college, or university; organ procurement organization; or other appropriate person, for research or education; (2) subject to subsection (B), an individual designated by the person making the anatomical gift if the individual is the recipient of the part; (3) an eye bank or tissue bank. (B) If an anatomical gift to an individual under item (2) of subsection (A) cannot be transplanted into the individual, the part passes in accordance with subsection (G) in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the person making the anatomical gift. (C) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts or of all parts is made in a document of gift that does not name a person described in subsection (A), but identifies the purpose for which an anatomical gift may be used, the following rules apply: (1) If the part is an eye and the gift is for the purpose of transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate eye bank. (2) If the part is tissue and the gift is for the purpose of transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate tissue bank. (3) If the part is an organ and the gift is for the purpose of transplantation or therapy, the gift passes to the appropriate organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ. (4) If the part is an organ, an eye, or tissue and the gift is for the purpose of research or education, the gift passes to the appropriate procurement organization. (D) For the purpose of subsection (C), if there is more than one purpose of an anatomical gift set forth in the document of gift but the purposes are not set forth in any priority, the gift must be used for transplantation or therapy, if suitable. If the gift cannot be used for transplantation or therapy, the gift may be used for research or education. (E) If an anatomical gift of one or more specific parts is made in a document of gift that does not name a person described in subsection (A) and does not identify the purpose of the gift, the gift may be used only for transplantation or therapy, and the gift passes in accordance with subsection (G). (F) If a document of gift specifies only a general intent to make an anatomical gift by words such as "donor", "organ donor", or "body donor", or by a symbol or statement of similar import, the gift may be used only for transplantation or therapy, and the gift passes in accordance with subsection (G). (G) For purposes of subsections (B), (E), and (F) the following rules apply: (1) If the part is an eye, the gift passes to the appropriate eye bank. (2) If the part is tissue, the gift passes to the appropriate tissue bank. (3) If the part is an organ, the gift passes to the appropriate organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ. (H) An anatomical gift of an organ for transplantation or therapy, other than an anatomical gift under item (2) of subsection (A), passes to the organ procurement organization as custodian of the organ. (I) If an anatomical gift does not pass pursuant to subsections (A) through (H) or the decedent's body or part is not used for transplantation, therapy, research, or education, custody of the body or part passes to the person under obligation to dispose of the body or part. (J) A person may not accept an anatomical gift if the person knows that the gift was not effectively made under Section 44-43-320 or 44-43-345, or if the person knows that the decedent made a refusal under Section 44-43-330, that was not revoked. For purposes of the subsection, if a person knows that an anatomical gift was made on a document of gift, the person is deemed to know of any amendment or revocation of the gift or any refusal to make an anatomical gift on the same document of gift. (K) Except as otherwise provided in item (2) of subsection (A), nothing in this article affects the allocation of organs for transplantation or therapy.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-54-60 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 54 / Section 44-54-60
SECTION 44-54-60. Assignment of cause of action.
Status: in_force

A cause of action authorized by this chapter shall not be assigned, either expressly, by subrogation, or by any other means, directly or indirectly, to any public or publicly funded agency or institution.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-28-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 28 / Article 1 / Section 44-28-30
SECTION 44-28-30. State Treasurer custodian of trust fund; agreement to specify supplemental care or treatment for each beneficiary.
Status: in_force

(A) The State Treasurer is the custodian of the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund and pursuant to an agreement with the trustee of a self-sufficiency trust may accept money from a self-sufficiency trust in the name of a beneficiary for deposit in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund. The treasurer shall maintain a separate account in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund for each named beneficiary and shall promptly credit the account of a beneficiary with money received from a self-sufficiency trust on behalf of that beneficiary. (B) The agreement, naming one or more beneficiaries residing in this State who are developmentally disabled, mentally ill, or physically handicapped, must specify the supplemental care or treatment to be provided for each named beneficiary with the money deposited in the Self-Sufficiency Trust Fund.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-78-25 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 78 / Section 44-78-25
SECTION 44-78-25. Duties of EMS personnel when presented with "do not resuscitate order".
Status: in_force

When called to render emergency medical services, EMS personnel must not use any resuscitative treatment if the patient has a "do not resuscitate order for emergency services" and the document is presented to the EMS personnel upon their arrival or if the patient is wearing a do not resuscitate bracelet. EMS personnel must provide that degree of palliative care called for under the circumstances which exist at the time treatment is rendered.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-310 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-310
SECTION 44-53-310. Grounds for denial, revocation, or suspension of registration; civil fine.
Status: in_force

(a) An application for a registration or a registration granted pursuant to Section 44-53-300 to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance, may be denied, suspended, or revoked by the Board upon a finding that the registrant: (1) Has materially falsified any application filed pursuant to this article; (2) Has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor under any State or Federal law relating to any controlled substance; (3) Has had his Federal registration suspended or revoked to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances; or (4) Has failed to comply with any standard referred to in Section 44-53-290(i). (b) The department may place a registrant who violates this article on probation or levy a civil fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars, or both. Fines generated pursuant to this section must be remitted to the State Treasurer for deposit to the benefit of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to be used exclusively for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts within the department's addiction center facilities. (c) The Department may suspend, deny, or revoke the registration of any registrant or applicant for the conviction of any felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. (d) The Department may suspend, deny, or revoke the registration of any registrant or applicant for violation of any of the rules and regulations issued by the Department relating to controlled substances. (e) The Department may suspend, deny, or revoke the registration of any registrant or applicant if it finds that the security provided for the storage of controlled substances is inadequate to the extent that repeated diversions by theft have occurred. (f) The Department may suspend, deny, or revoke the registration of any registrant or applicant upon a finding by the Department that the registrant or applicant has violated any statutory provision of this article. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-1-40 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 1 / Section 44-1-40
SECTION 44-1-40. Selection, term, and salary of director.
Status: in_force

The board shall select a director for the department who shall serve a four-year term and who shall have such authority and perform such duties as may be directed by the board. The salary of the director shall be fixed by the board, upon approval of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority. For any vacancy occurring in the office of director on or after February 1, 1995, the board, after consultation with and approval by the Governor, must submit the name of its appointee to the Senate for the Senate's advice and consent. On or after February 1, 1995, the board may remove a director only after consultation with and approval by the Governor.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-375 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 5 / Section 44-43-375
SECTION 44-43-375. Purchase or sale of part to be removed after individual's death; penalty; exception.
Status: in_force

(A) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (B), a person that for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells a part for transplantation or therapy if removal of a part from an individual is intended to occur after the individual's death commits a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (B) A person may charge a reasonable amount for the removal, processing, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, implantation, or disposal of a part.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-440 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-440
SECTION 44-53-440. Distribution to persons under eighteen.
Status: in_force

Any person eighteen years of age or over who violates Section 44-53-370(a) by distributing a controlled substance classified in Schedule I (B) and (C) which is a narcotic drug or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and in Schedule II which is a narcotic drug, or who violates Section 44-53-375(B) by distributing crack cocaine to a person under eighteen years of age is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than twenty years or fined not more than thirty thousand dollars, or both, and the sentence may not be suspended and probation may not be granted. Any person eighteen years of age or over who violates Section 44-53-370(a) and (b) by distributing any other controlled substance listed in Schedules I through V to a person under eighteen years of age is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than ten years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both. Any violation of this section constitutes a separate offense. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, references to "Schedule I (b) and (c)" were changed to "Schedule I (B) and (C)" to reflect the amendment of Section 44-53-190 by 2012 Act No. 140, SECTION 2. Editor's Note Section 44-53-160(B) authorizes the Department of Public Health, formerly the Department of Health and Environmental Control, to add, delete, or reschedule a substance as a controlled substance when the General Assembly is not in session, and Section 44-53-160(C) requires the department to make such changes to conform to federal law. For a complete and accurate list of controlled substance schedules, please visit the department's website at https://dph.sc.gov/professionals/healthcare-quality/drug-control-register-verify/controlled-substance-schedule
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-20-430 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 20 / Article 3 / Section 44-20-430
SECTION 44-20-430. Final authority over applicant eligibility.
Status: in_force

The office director or his designee has the final authority over applicant eligibility, determination, or services and admission order, subject to policies adopted by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-1440 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 11 / Section 44-7-1440
SECTION 44-7-1440. Powers of counties.
Status: in_force

Subject to obtaining approvals from the Authority required by Section 44-7-1590 and from the Department of Health and Environmental Control, required by Section 44-7-1490, the several counties of the State functioning through their respective county boards shall be empowered: (1) To enter into agreements with any hospital agency or public agency necessary or incidental to the issuance of bonds. (2) To acquire and in connection with such acquisition, to enlarge or expand, whether by purchase, gift or lease, hospital facilities and in the case of hospital facilities located in more than one county, the facilities may be acquired jointly by the county boards of the counties wherein such hospital facilities shall be located. (3) To enter into loan agreements with any hospital agency or public agency, prescribing the payments to be made by the hospital agency or public agency to the county or its assignee to meet the payments that shall become due on bonds, including terms and conditions relative to the acquisition and use of hospital facilities and the issuance of bonds. (4) To issue bonds for the purpose of defraying the cost of providing hospital facilities and to secure the payment of such bonds as hereafter provided. (5) To receive and accept from any public agency loans or grants for or in aid of the construction of hospital facilities or any portion thereof, and to receive and accept loans, grants, aid or contributions from any source of either money, property, labor or other things of value to be held, used and applied only for the purposes for which such loans, grants, aid and contributions are made. (6) To mortgage any hospital facilities and the site thereof for the benefits of the holders of bonds issued to finance such hospital facilities. (7) To issue bonds to refinance or to refund outstanding obligations, mortgages or advances heretofore or hereafter issued, made or given by a hospital or public agency for the cost of hospital facilities. (8) To charge to each hospital and public agency utilizing this article any administrative costs and expenses incurred in the exercise of the powers and duties conferred by this article. (9) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this article. (10) To make and execute contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the exercise of its powers and duties under this article, with persons, firms, corporations, governmental agencies and others. (11) To make the proceeds of any bonds available by way of a loan to a hospital or public agency pursuant to a loan agreement. (12) To acquire by purchase, lease, gift or otherwise, or to obtain options for the acquisition of, existing hospital facilities and any property, real or personal, improved or unimproved, including interests in land in fee or less than fee for any hospital facilities, upon such terms and at such cost as shall be agreed upon by the owner and the county board. (13) To arrange or contract with any county, city, town or other political subdivision or instrumentality of the State for the opening or closing of streets or for the furnishing of utility or other services to any hospital facilities. (14) To enter into lease agreements with any hospital or public agency whereby the county board leases hospital facilities to such hospital or public agency, including hospital facilities located in more than one county. (15) To pledge or assign any money, rents, charges, fees or other revenues, including any proceeds of insurance or condemnation awards, pursuant to any loan agreement to the payment of the bonds issued pursuant to such loan agreement.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-35-100 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 35 / Section 44-35-100
SECTION 44-35-100. Suspension of reporting requirements.
Status: in_force

The reporting requirements provided for in Section 44-35-30 are suspended if adequate funding is not provided to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-30-10 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 30 / Article 1 / Section 44-30-10
SECTION 44-30-10. Short title.
Status: in_force

This article may be cited as the "South Carolina Health Care Professional Compliance Act".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-20-260 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 20 / Article 3 / Section 44-20-260
SECTION 44-20-260. Research programs.
Status: in_force

The office, with funds available for these purposes, may conduct research to determine the causes, proper treatment, and diagnosis of intellectual disability, related disabilities, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries and may use facilities and personnel under its control and management for carrying out the research so long as the rights of the client are preserved and prior consent is obtained pursuant to Section 44-26-180. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-22-170 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 22 / Section 44-22-170
SECTION 44-22-170. Education of school-aged residents.
Status: in_force

(A) The State Department of Education shall ensure that each school-aged resident of a state-owned, operated, or another designated facility shall receive an appropriate education geared toward the unique capabilities of that person. (B) If a school-aged resident is unable to assemble in a public school setting, the Department of Education shall implement the appropriate course of instruction.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-1250 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 11 / Section 44-53-1250
SECTION 44-53-1250. Penalties.
Status: in_force

Any person violating the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-23-440 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 23 / Article 5 / Section 44-23-440
SECTION 44-23-440. Finding of unfitness to stand trial shall not preclude defense on merits.
Status: in_force

A finding of unfitness to stand trial under Section 44-23-430 does not preclude any legal objection to the prosecution of the individual which is susceptible of fair determination prior to trial and without the personal participation of the defendant. If either the person found unfit to stand trial or his counsel believes he can establish a defense of not guilty to the charges other than the defense of insanity, he may request an opportunity to offer a defense on the merits to the court. The court may require affidavits and evidence in support of such request. If the court grants such request, the evidence of the State and the defendant shall be heard before the court sitting without a jury. If after hearing such petition the court finds the evidence is such as would entitle the defendant to a directed verdict of acquittal, it shall dismiss the indictment or other charges.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-31-200 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 31 / Article 3 / Section 44-31-200
SECTION 44-31-200. Promulgation of regulations authorized.
Status: in_force

The department may promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-6-540 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 6 / Article 4 / Section 44-6-540
SECTION 44-6-540. Authority for rulemaking, and to ensure compliance with Medicaid participation.
Status: in_force

The department is authorized to promulgate regulations, pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, to administer this article, and to ensure compliance with the requirements for participation in the Medicaid program.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-345 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-345
SECTION 44-7-345. Discrimination prohibited in admission of individuals to residential care facilities.
Status: in_force

Community residential care facilities licensed pursuant to this article which receive public funds, including funds appropriated in Part I of the appropriation act, directly or indirectly, including those instances where payment of an optional state supplement from the South Carolina Department of Social Services is made to a resident, their designated representative payee, or guardian, rather than directly to a facility, may not deny admission or services to an individual on the basis of race, color, national origin, qualified handicap, sex, or age.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-290 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-290
SECTION 44-53-290. Requirement of and authority granted by registration; individuals exempt from registration; registration for maintenance and detoxification treatment.
Status: in_force

(a) Every person who manufactures, distributes, or dispenses any controlled substance or who proposes to engage in the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of any controlled substance, shall obtain a registration issued by the Department in accordance with its rules and regulations. (b) Persons registered by the Department under this article to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or conduct research with controlled substances may possess, manufacture, distribute, dispense, or conduct research with those substances to the extent authorized by their registration and in conformity with the other provisions of this article. (c) The following persons need not register and may lawfully possess controlled substances under this article: (1) An agent or employee of any registered manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser of any controlled substance if he is acting in the usual course of his business or employment; (2) A common or contract carrier or warehouseman, or an employee thereof, whose possession of any controlled substance is in the usual course of business or employment; (3) An ultimate user or a person in possession of any controlled substance pursuant to a lawful order of a practitioner or in lawful possession of a Schedule V substance. (d) The Department may, by regulation, waive the requirement for registration of certain manufacturers, distributors or dispensers if it finds it consistent with the public health and safety. (e) A separate registration shall be required at each principal place of business or professional practice where the applicant manufactures, distributes or dispenses controlled substances. (f) The Department is authorized to inspect the establishment of a registrant or an applicant for a registration in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by it. (g) The Department may authorize persons engaged in research on the use and effects of controlled substances to withhold the names and other identifying characteristics of individuals who are the subjects of the research. Persons who obtain this authorization are not compelled in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding to identify the individuals who are the subjects of research for which the authorization was obtained. (h) The Department may authorize the possession and distribution of controlled substances by persons engaged in research. Persons who obtain this authorization are exempt from State prosecution for possession and distribution of controlled substances to the extent of the authorization. (i) Practitioners who dispense narcotic drugs to individuals for maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment shall obtain annually a separate registration for that purpose. The board shall register an applicant to dispense but not prescribe narcotic drugs to individuals for maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment, or both: (1) if the applicant is a practitioner who is otherwise qualified to be registered under the provisions of this article to engage in the treatment with respect to which registration has been sought; (2) if the board determines that the applicant will comply with standards established by the board respecting security of stocks of narcotic drugs for such treatment, and the maintenance of records in accordance with Section 44-53-340 and the rules issued by the board on such drugs; and (3) if the board determines that the applicant will comply with standards established by the board respecting the quantities of narcotic drugs which may be provided for unsupervised use by individuals in such treatment. (j) Pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 44-53-300, the department may issue a registration to a licensed nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, or clinical nurse specialist authorized to prescribe controlled substances by the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, consistent with such prescription authorization. The department also may issue a registration, pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 44-53-300, to a licensed physician assistant authorized to prescribe controlled substances by the State Board of Medical Examiners, consistent with such prescription authorization. A nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant registered by the department pursuant to this subsection may not acquire, possess, or dispense, other than by prescription, a controlled substance except as provided by law. Effect of Amendment 2018 Act No. 216, SECTION 3, in (i), substituted "board" for "Board" throughout, in (3), deleted "after consultation with the South Carolina Methadone Council" following "established by the board", and made a nonsubstantive change; and rewrote (j).
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-12-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 12 / Section 44-12-20
SECTION 44-12-20. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities; creation.
Status: in_force

There is created within the executive branch of the state government an agency to be known as the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The department shall be organized as provided in this chapter and shall have the duties, functions, and powers provided for in this chapter and other applicable provisions of law.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-66-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 66 / Section 44-66-30
SECTION 44-66-30. Persons who may make health care decisions for patient who is unable to consent; order of priority; exceptions.
Status: in_force

(A) Where a patient is unable to consent, decisions concerning his health care may be made by the following persons in the following order of priority: (1) a guardian appointed by the court pursuant to Article 5, Part 3 of the South Carolina Probate Code, if the decision is within the scope of the guardianship; (2) an attorney-in-fact appointed by the patient in a durable power of attorney executed pursuant to Section 62-5-501, if the decision is within the scope of his authority; (3) a spouse of the patient unless the spouse and the patient are separated pursuant to one of the following: (a) entry of a pendente lite order in a divorce or separate maintenance action; (b) formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement; or (c) entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and support or of a permanent order approving a property or marital settlement agreement between the parties; (4) an adult child of the patient, or if the patient has more than one adult child, a majority of the adult children who are reasonably available for consultation; (5) a parent of the patient; (6) an adult sibling of the patient, or if the patient has more than one adult sibling, a majority of the adult siblings who are reasonably available for consultation; (7) a grandparent of the patient, or if the patient has more than one grandparent, a majority of the grandparents who are reasonably available for consultation; (8) any other adult relative by blood or marriage who reasonably is believed by the health care professional to have a close personal relationship with the patient, or if the patient has more than one other adult relative, a majority of those other adult relatives who are reasonably available for consultation; (9) a person given authority to make health care decisions for the patient by another statutory provision; (10) if, after good faith efforts, the hospital or other health care facility determines that the persons listed in items (1) through (9) are unavailable to consent on behalf of the patient, a person who has an established relationship with the patient, who is acting in good faith on behalf of the patient, and who can reliably convey the patient's wishes but who is not a paid caregiver or a provider of health care services to the patient. For the purposes of this item, a person with an established relationship is an adult who has exhibited special care and concern for the patient, who is generally familiar with the patient's health care views and desires, and who is willing and able to become involved in the patient's health care decisions and to act in the patient's best interest. The person with an established relationship shall sign and date a notarized acknowledgement form, provided by the hospital or other health care facility in which the patient is located, for placement in the patient's records, setting forth the nature and length of the relationship and certifying that he meets such criteria. Along with the notarized acknowledgment form, the hospital or other health care facility shall include in the patient's medical record documentation of its effort to locate persons with higher priority under this statute as required by subsection (B). (B) Documentation of efforts to locate a decision maker who is a person identified in subsection (A) must be recorded in the patient's medical record. (C) If persons of equal priority disagree on whether certain health care should be provided to a patient who is unable to consent, an authorized person, a health care provider involved in the care of the patient, or any other person interested in the welfare of the patient may petition the probate court for an order determining what care is to be provided or for appointment of a temporary or permanent guardian. (D) Priority pursuant to this section must not be given to a person if a health care provider responsible for the care of a patient who is unable to consent determines that the person is not reasonably available, is not willing to make health care decisions for the patient, or is unable to consent as defined in Section 44-66-20(8). (E) An attending physician or other health care professional responsible for the care of a patient who is unable to consent may not give priority or authority pursuant to subsections (A)(5) through (A)(10) to a person if the attending physician or health care professional has actual knowledge that, before becoming unable to consent, the patient did not want that person involved in decisions concerning his care. (F) This section does not authorize a person to make health care decisions on behalf of a patient who is unable to consent if, in the opinion of the certifying physicians, the patient's inability to consent is temporary, and the attending physician or other health care professional responsible for the care of the patient determines that the delay occasioned by postponing treatment until the patient regains the ability to consent will not result in significant detriment to the patient's health. (G) A person authorized to make health care decisions pursuant to subsection (A) shall base those decisions on the patient's wishes to the extent that the patient's wishes can be determined. Where the patient's wishes cannot be determined, the person shall base the decision on the patient's best interest. (H) A person authorized to make health care decisions pursuant to subsection (A) either may consent or withhold consent to health care on behalf of the patient. Effect of Amendment 2019 Act No. 85, SECTION 1, in (A), deleted (3), which related to a person given priority to make health care decisions for the patient by another statutory provision, redesignated (4) to (9) as (3) to (8), made a nonsubstantive change in (8), and added (9) and (10).
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-20-760 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 20 / Article 5 / Section 44-20-760
SECTION 44-20-760. Disclosure of inspections; protection of names of clients.
Status: in_force

Information received by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities through licensing inspections or as otherwise authorized may be disclosed publicly upon written request to the department. The reports may not identify individuals receiving services from the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-9-100 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 9 / Section 44-9-100
SECTION 44-9-100. Additional powers and duties of commission.
Status: in_force

The Office of Mental Health may: (1) prescribe the form of and information to be contained in applications, records, reports, and medical certificates provided for under this chapter, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Article 1 of Chapter 15, Chapter 17, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 27, Chapter 48, and Chapter 52; (2) require reports from the director of a state hospital relating to the admission, examination, diagnosis, discharge, or conditional discharge of a patient; (3) investigate complaints made by a patient or by a person on behalf of a patient; (4) adopt regulations not inconsistent with this chapter, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Article 1 of Chapter 15, Chapter 17, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 27, Chapter 48, and Chapter 52 as it may find to be reasonably necessary for the government of all institutions over which it has authority and of state mental health facilities and the proper and efficient treatment of persons with a mental illness or substance abuse disorder; (5) take appropriate action to initiate and develop relationships and agreements with state, local, federal, and private agencies, hospitals, and clinics as the Office of Mental Health considers necessary to increase and enhance the accessibility and delivery of emergency and all other types of mental health services. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-113-60 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 113 / Section 44-113-60
SECTION 44-113-60. Kickback defined; penalty.
Status: in_force

(A) As used in this section, the term "kickback" means a remuneration or payment back pursuant to an investment interest, compensation arrangement, or otherwise by a provider of health care services or items of a portion of the charges for services rendered to a referring health care provider as an incentive or inducement to refer patients for future services or items when the payment is not tax deductible as an ordinary and necessary expense. (B) It is unlawful for a health care provider or a provider of health care services to offer, pay, solicit, or receive a kickback, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, for referring or soliciting patients. (C) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-29-230 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 29 / Section 44-29-230
SECTION 44-29-230. Testing required when health care worker exposed to bloodborne disease.
Status: in_force

(A) While working with a person or a person's blood or body fluids, if a health care worker or emergency response employee is involved in an incident resulting in possible exposure to bloodborne diseases, and a health care professional based on reasonable medical judgment has cause to believe that the incident may pose a significant risk to the health care worker or emergency response employee, the health care professional may require the person, the health care worker, or the emergency response employee to be tested without his consent. (B) The test results must be given to the health care professional who shall report the results and assure the provision of post-test counseling to the health care worker or emergency response employee, and the person who is tested. The test results also shall be reported to the Department of Health and Environmental Control in a manner prescribed by law. (C) No physician, hospital, or other health care provider may be held liable for conducting the test or the reporting of test results under this section. (D) For purposes of this section: (1) "Person" means a patient at a health care facility or health care professional's office, an inmate at a state or local correctional facility, an individual under arrest, or an individual in the custody of or being treated by a health care worker or an emergency response employee. (2) "Emergency response employee" means firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, medical residents, medical trainees, trainees of an emergency response employee as defined herein, and other persons, including employees of legally organized and recognized volunteer organizations without regard to whether these employees receive compensation, who in the course of their professional duties respond to emergencies. (3) "Bloodborne diseases" means Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, including Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. (4) "Significant risk" means a finding of facts relating to a human exposure to an etiologic agent for a particular disease, based on reasonable medical judgments given the state of medical knowledge, about the: (a) nature of the risk; (b) duration of the risk; (c) severity of the risk; (d) probabilities the disease will be transmitted and will cause varying degrees of harm. (5) "Health care professional" means a physician, a dentist, an epidemiologist, or infection control practitioner. (6) "Health care worker" means a person licensed as a health care provider under Title 40, a person registered under the laws of this State to provide health care services, an employee of a health care facility as defined in Section 44-7-130(10), or an employee in a health care professional's office. (E) The cost of any test conducted under this section must be paid by the: (1) person being tested; (2) State in the case of indigents; or (3) public or private entity employing the health care worker or emergency response employee if the cost is not paid pursuant to subitems (1) and (2) above. Effect of Amendment 2024 Act No. 161, SECTION 1, in (D), in (1), substituted "health care professional's office" for "physician's office", in (3), inserted ", Hepatitis C," in (5), inserted "a dentist,", and in (6), substituted "health care professional's office" for "physician's office".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-410 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 4 / Section 44-56-410
SECTION 44-56-410. Definitions.
Status: repealed

As used in this article: (1) "Contaminated site" means any drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility and surrounding area where drycleaning solvent has been deposited, stored, disposed of, released, placed, or otherwise come to be located; but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any container. In order for a site to be a contaminated site it must have documented evidence of contamination from drycleaning solvent. (2) "Department" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. (3) "Drycleaning facility" means a professional commercial establishment located in this State for the purpose of cleaning clothing and other fabrics utilizing a process that involves the use of drycleaning solvent. In the case of a retail establishment, the establishment is one that operates or has at sometime in the past operated in whole or in part for the purpose of cleaning clothing and other fabrics for members of the public, other drycleaning facilities, and dry drop-off facilities. In the case of a wholesale establishment, the establishment is one that operates or has at sometime in the past operated in whole or in part for the purpose of cleaning clothing and other fabrics for other drycleaning facilities or dry drop-off facilities. "Drycleaning facility" includes laundry facilities that are using or have used drycleaning solvent as part of their cleaning process but does not include textile mills, uniform rental and linen supply facilities, or drycleaning facilities owned or operated by a local, state, or federal government. (4) "Drycleaning solvent" means nonaqueous solvents used in the cleaning of clothing and other fabrics and includes halogenated drycleaning fluids and nonhalogenated drycleaning fluids, and their breakdown products. "Drycleaning solvent" includes solvent that has been recycled for use at a drycleaning facility and applies only to those solvents used at a drycleaning facility or handled by a wholesale supply facility. (5) "Dry drop-off facility" means a commercial retail business (including routes) that receives clothing and other fabrics, from customers, for drycleaning or laundering at an off-site drycleaning facility. (6) "Employee" means a natural person employed and paid by the owner of a drycleaning facility for thirty-five or more hours a week for forty-five or more weeks a year and on whose behalf the owner contributes payments to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce or Department of Revenue as required by law. Excluded from the meaning of the term "employee" are owners of drycleaning facilities and family members of owners, regardless of the level of consanguinity, if the family members are not employed and not compensated pursuant to the definition of the term "employee" contained in this item. Part-time employees who are employed and paid for fewer than thirty-five hours a week for fewer than forty-five weeks a year must not be deemed to be employees unless their hours and weeks of employment, when combined with the hours and weeks of employment of another or other part-time employee or employees, total thirty-five or more hours a week for forty-five or more weeks a year. (7) "Existing drycleaning facility" means a drycleaning facility that started operation before November 24, 2004. (8) "Former drycleaning facility" means a drycleaning facility that ceased to be operated as a drycleaning facility before July 1, 1995. (9) "Fund" means Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund. (10) "Halogenated drycleaning fluid" means any nonaqueous solvent formulated, in whole or in part, with ten percent or more by volume of any of the halogenated compounds including, but not limited to, chlorine, bromine, fluorine, or iodine. Halogenated drycleaning fluids include, but are not limited to, the known solvents perchloroethylene (also known as tetrachloroethylene or perc), n-propyl bromide, and any breakdown components of them. (11) "New drycleaning facility" means a drycleaning facility that started operation on or after November 24, 2004. (12) "Nonaqueous solvent" means any cleaning formulation designed to minimize swelling of fabric fibers and containing less than fifty-one percent of water by volume. (13) "Nonhalogenated drycleaning fluid" means any nonaqueous solvent used in a drycleaning facility that contains less than ten percent by volume of any halogenated drycleaning fluid. Nonhalogenated drycleaning fluid includes petroleum based drycleaning solvents and any breakdown components of them. (14) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, receiver, company, limited liability company, or another entity or group. (15) "Property owner" means a person who is vested with ownership, dominion, or legal or rightful title to the real property or who has a ground lease interest in the real property on which a drycleaning or wholesale supply facility is or has ever been located. (16) "Release" means the accidental or intentional spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment of drycleaning solvent. (17) "Route" means a commercial business that receives by mobile means clothing and other fabrics, from customers, for drycleaning or laundering at an off-site drycleaning facility. (18) "Wholesale supply facility" means a commercial establishment that supplies drycleaning solvent to drycleaning facilities. Editor's Note 2004 Act No. 237, SECTION 11, provides in part as follows: "The repeal or amendment of a code section by this act does not release or extinguish any tax, fee, interest, penalty, forfeiture, or liability for any period prior to the repeal or amendment. The repealed or amended code section or act must be treated as remaining in force for the purpose of sustaining any proper action or prosecution for the enforcement of the tax, fee, interest, penalty, forfeiture, or liability."
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-113-70 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 113 / Section 44-113-70
SECTION 44-113-70. Employers providing health insurance benefits to employees may report over-utilization of services to Department of Insurance.
Status: in_force

Any employer providing health insurance benefits to its employees may report instances of alleged over-utilization of services to the South Carolina Department of Insurance pursuant to Section 38-55-170.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-380 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-380
SECTION 44-7-380. Surgical technology and operating room circulators; definitions; requirements to practice; exceptions.
Status: in_force

(A) As used in this section, "surgical technology" means intraoperative surgical patient care that involves: (1) preparing the operating room for surgical procedures by ensuring that surgical equipment is functioning properly and safely; (2) preparing the operating room and the sterile field for surgical procedures by preparing sterile supplies, instruments, and equipment using sterile technique; (3) anticipating the needs of the surgical team based on knowledge of human anatomy and pathophysiology and how they relate to the surgical patient and the patient's surgical procedure; and (4) as directed within the sterile field in an operating room setting, performing tasks including: (a) passing supplies, equipment, or instruments; (b) sponging or suctioning an operative site; (c) preparing and cutting suture materials; (d) transferring fluids or drugs; (e) holding retractors; and (f) assisting in counting sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments. (B)(1) A person may not practice surgical technology in a health care facility unless the person meets one of the following requirements: (a) has successfully completed an accredited educational program for surgical technologists and holds and maintains the Surgical Technologist Certification administered by the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, or its successor; however, upon completion of an accredited education program for surgical technologists, graduates may practice for up to three months before completing certification by the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, or its successor; (b) has completed an appropriate training program for surgical technology in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard or in the United States Public Health Service; (c) provides evidence that the person was employed to practice surgical technology in a health care facility in this State prior to January 1, 2008; or (d) is in the service of the federal government, to the extent the person is performing duties related to that service. (2) A person qualified to practice as a surgical technologist pursuant to subsection (B)(1) remains qualified to practice regardless of a break in practice provided the continuing education required in subsection (D) is current. (C) A person who does not meet the requirements of this section, may practice surgical technology in a health care facility if: (1) after a diligent and thorough effort has been made, the health care facility is unable to employ a sufficient number of persons who meet the requirements of this section; and (2) the health care facility makes a written record of its efforts made pursuant to item (1) and retains the record at the health care facility. (D) A person who qualifies to practice surgical technology in a health care facility pursuant to subsection (B)(1)(a), (b), or (c) annually must complete fifteen hours of continuing education to remain qualified for employment. (E) A health care facility that employs a person to practice surgical technology shall verify that the person meets the continuing education requirements of subsection (D) or that the person has held and maintained the Surgical Technologist Certification as required in subsection (B)(1)(a). (F) A health care facility shall supervise each person employed by the health care facility to practice surgical technology according to the health care facility's policies and procedures to ensure that the person competently performs delegated tasks intraoperatively according to this section or other applicable provisions of law. (G) This section does not prohibit a person licensed under another provision of law from performing surgical technology tasks or functions if the person is acting within the scope of his or her license.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-61-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 61 / Article 1 / Section 44-61-30
SECTION 44-61-30. Standards and regulations for improvement of emergency medical services; creation and membership of Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
Status: in_force

(A) The Department of Health and Environmental Control, with the advice of the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council and the State Medical Control Physician, shall develop standards and promulgate regulations for the improvement of emergency medical services (hereinafter referred to as EMS) in the State. All administrative responsibility for this program is vested in the department. (B) The EMS Program shall include: (1) the regulation and licensing of public, private, volunteer, or other type ambulance services; however, in developing these programs for regulating and licensing ambulance services, the programs must be formulated in such a manner so as not to restrict or restrain competition; (2) inspection and issuance of permits for ambulance vehicles; (3) the licensing of emergency medical responder agencies; (4) training and certification of EMS personnel; (5) development, adoption, and implementation of EMS standards and state plan; (6) the development and coordination of an EMS communications system; (7) designation of trauma centers and the categorization of hospital emergency departments; and (8) the establishment of an electronic patient care reporting system to provide data to the National EMS Information System database for betterment of EMS across the nation. (C) An Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council must be established composed of representatives of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the South Carolina Medical Association, the South Carolina Trauma Advisory Council, the South Carolina Hospital Association, the South Carolina Heart Association, Medical University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, South Carolina College of Emergency Physicians, South Carolina Emergency Nurses Association, Emergency Management Division of the Office of the Adjutant General, South Carolina Emergency Medical Services Association, State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education, Governor's Office of Highway Safety, Department of Health and Human Services, four regional Emergency Medical Services councils, and one EMT first responder agency. Membership on the council must be by appointment by the board. Three members of the advisory council must be members of organized rescue squads operating in this State, three members shall represent the private emergency services systems, and three members shall represent the county emergency medical services systems. The advisory council shall serve without compensation, mileage, per diem, or subsistence.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-240 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-240
SECTION 44-7-240. Construction program.
Status: in_force

The department may establish a construction program providing for adequate facilities in this State and, insofar as possible, shall provide for the distribution of facilities and services throughout this State in such manner as to make all types of health services reasonably accessible to all persons in this State. The State Health Plan as required by this article may be used for purposes of establishing the relative need of projects for which applications are submitted under this construction program. Submittal of applications and review and approval of projects for which federal funds are requested must be in accordance with regulations adopted by the department and applicable federal act.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-93-170 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 93 / Section 44-93-170
SECTION 44-93-170. Infectious Waste Contingency Fund.
Status: in_force

The department shall establish an Infectious Waste Contingency Fund to ensure the availability of funds for response actions necessary at permitted infectious waste treatment facilities and necessary from accidents in the transportation of infectious waste and to defray the cost of governmental response actions associated with infectious waste. After funding of the Infectious Waste Program Fund, as provided for in Section 44-93-165, the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund must be financed by the remaining fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-93-160. The fees credited to the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund must be allocated as follows: an amount equal to two-thirds of the fees must be deposited into the fund and an amount equal to one-third of the fees must be held in a separate and distinct account within the fund for the purpose of being returned to each county in which the fee imposed by Section 44-93-160 is collected. When the amount of fees held in the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund meets or exceeds three hundred fifty thousand dollars, all fees remaining after funding the Infectious Waste Program Fund must be placed in the account established for counties and distributed as provided for in this section. When the balance in the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund reaches $250,000 or less, all fees remaining after funding the Infectious Waste Program Fund must be retained by the contingency fund until the fund reaches $350,000. Interest earned by the funds must be credited to the general fund of the State. Proceeds of the county account returned to a county pursuant to this section must be released by the State Treasurer upon the written request of a majority of the legislative delegation of the recipient county.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-1-160 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 1 / Section 44-1-160
SECTION 44-1-160. Prosecution of nuisance not affected by rule-making power of department.
Status: in_force

Nothing contained in Section 44-1-140 shall in any way abridge or limit the right of any person to maintain or prosecute any proceedings, civil or criminal, against a person maintaining a nuisance.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-96-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 96 / Article 1 / Section 44-96-20
SECTION 44-96-20. Findings; purposes.
Status: in_force

(A) The General Assembly finds that: (1) Over three million eight hundred thousand tons of solid waste are generated in South Carolina each year. (2) On the average, each South Carolinian currently produces approximately four and one-half pounds of solid waste each day. (3) Unless steps are taken to reduce or recycle the amount of waste produced in this State, over five million tons of solid waste will be generated annually in South Carolina by the year 2000. (4) Approximately eighty percent of the solid waste generated in South Carolina is landfilled. (5) There are currently some seventy-nine permitted sanitary landfills in this State. (6) Most of the permitted landfill capacity will be used within the next ten years. Twenty-three of forty-six counties have ten years or less of landfill space remaining. (7) Siting of solid waste facilities is becoming increasingly difficult due to the opposition of local residents. (8) The costs of solid waste management will increase significantly due to decreased landfill capacity and more stringent federal requirements for solid waste management facilities. More stringent federal and state requirements may also force a number of existing solid waste landfills to close. (9) Insufficient and improper methods of managing solid waste can create hazards to public health, cause pollution of air and water resources, constitute a waste of natural resources, and create public nuisances. (10) The economic growth and population growth of our State have required increased industrial production which, together with related commercial and agricultural operations to meet our needs, have resulted in increased amounts of discarded materials. (11) The continuing technological progress and improvements in methods of manufacturing, packaging, and marketing of consumer products have resulted in an increasing amount of material discarded by the purchasers of these products, necessitating a statewide approach to assist local governments in improving solid waste management practices and to promote more efficient methods of solid waste management. (12) The failure or inability to economically recover material and energy resources from solid waste results in the unnecessary waste and depletion of our natural resources, such that maximum resource recovery from solid waste and maximum recycling and reuse of these resources must be considered goals of the State. (13) A coordinated statewide solid waste management program is needed to protect public health and safety, protect and preserve the quality of the environment, and conserve and recycle natural resources. (14) The statewide solid waste management program should be implemented through the preparation of a state solid waste management plan and through the preparation by local governments of solid waste management plans consistent with the state plan and with this chapter. (B) It is the purpose of this article to: (1) protect the public health and safety, protect and preserve the environment of this State, and recover resources which have the potential for further usefulness by providing for, in the most environmentally safe, economically feasible and cost-effective manner, the storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, processing, recycling, and disposal of solid waste; (2) establish and maintain a cooperative state program for providing planning assistance, technical assistance, and financial assistance to local governments for solid waste management; (3) require local governments to adequately plan for and provide efficient, environmentally acceptable solid waste management services and programs; (4) promote the establishment of resource recovery systems that preserve and enhance the quality of air, water, and land resources; (5) ensure that solid waste is transported, stored, treated, processed, and disposed of in a manner adequate to protect human health, safety, and welfare and the environment; (6) promote the reduction, recycling, reuse, and treatment of solid waste, and the recycling of materials which would otherwise be disposed of as solid waste; (7) encourage local governments to utilize all means reasonably available to promote efficient and proper methods of managing solid waste, which may include contracting with private entities to provide management services or operate management facilities on behalf of the local government, when it is cost effective to do so; (8) promote the education of the general public and the training of solid waste professionals to reduce the generation of solid waste, to ensure proper disposal of solid waste, and to encourage recycling; (9) encourage the development of waste reduction and recycling programs through planning assistance, technical assistance, grants, and other incentives; (10) encourage the development of the state's recycling industries by promoting the successful development of markets for recycled items and by promoting the acceleration and advancement of the technology used in manufacturing processes that use recycled items; (11) establish a leadership role for the State in recycling efforts by requiring the General Assembly, the Governor's Office, the Judiciary, and all state agencies to separate solid waste for recycling and by granting a preference in state procurement policies to products with recycled content; (12) require counties to develop and implement source separation, resource recovery, or recycling programs, or all of the above, or enhance existing programs so that valuable materials may be returned to productive use, energy and natural resources conserved, and the useful life of solid waste management facilities extended; (13) require local governments and state agencies to determine the full cost of providing storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, recycling, and disposal of solid waste in an environmentally safe manner; and (14) encourage local governments to pursue a regional approach to solid waste management.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-52-60 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 52 / Section 44-52-60
SECTION 44-52-60. Preliminary judicial review of emergency admission; patient's attorney's access to documents.
Status: in_force

(A) Within forty-eight hours after admission, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, the place of admission shall forward the certificate of the physician as required by Section 44-52-50, the affidavit, a designated examiner appointment form listing the names of two designated examiners at the treatment facility, and other information provided by the facility regarding the person's admission, to the court of the county where the person resides or where the acts leading to admission occurred. (B) Within forty-eight hours of receipt of the documents and information from the treatment facility, the court shall conduct a preliminary review of all the evidence to determine if probable cause exists to continue the emergency detention of the patient. If the court finds that probable cause does not exist, it shall issue an order that the patient be discharged immediately from the facility. Upon a finding that probable cause exists to continue the emergency detention of the patient, the court shall make a written order detailing its findings and may order the continued detention of the patient. (C) If continued detention of the patient is ordered, the court shall order the two designated examiners whose names were supplied by the treatment facility, or two independent examiners to examine the patient at the treatment facility. At least one of the examiners appointed by the court must be a licensed physician. The examiners must submit a report to the court within five days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. (D) If the report of the examiners is that: (1) the patient is not chemically dependent or is chemically dependent but no longer in need of emergency commitment and not likely to benefit from further treatment, the court shall dismiss the petition and the patient must be discharged immediately from the facility; (2) the patient is chemically dependent, in need of involuntary hospitalization, and likely to benefit from further treatment, the court may order that the person be detained; (3) the patient is not chemically dependent or is chemically dependent but no longer in need of emergency commitment and not likely to benefit from further treatment but that the patient is mentally ill and that procedures for emergency admission have been initiated pursuant to Section 44-17-410, then the court shall dismiss the petition and in compliance with emergency commitment procedures pursuant to Chapter 17, Article 5 the patient must be detained and the facility shall transfer the patient to an appropriate facility; transportation must be provided by the Office of Mental Health; (4) the two examiners conflict in their opinions, the court may designate a third examiner, who must be knowledgeable in the treatment of chemical dependency and charge the three examiners to render a majority opinion within forty-eight hours or the court may terminate the proceedings and the patient must be discharged immediately from the treatment facility. (E) If the report of the examiners is that the patient is chemically dependent and in need of involuntary hospitalization, the court may order the patient be detained at the treatment facility pending the court hearing pursuant to Section 44-52-110. The court shall then appoint counsel for the patient if counsel has not been retained, and must fix a date for a full hearing within twenty days of the date of admission. The full hearing must be conducted pursuant to Sections 44-52-80 through 44-52-110. (F) The attorney for the patient shall have access to the affidavit, certificate of the physician as required by Section 44-52-50, report of the examiners, order of the court, and any other documents regarding the emergency admission. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-3180 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 25 / Section 44-7-3180
SECTION 44-7-3180. Valuation of purchase upon default or expiration of lease.
Status: in_force

At the time of default by Columbia HCA or end of the lease, MUSC shall not be required to purchase the Medical Center as a going concern but rather at the appraised value of the tangible assets owned by the lessee as personal property inventory.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-20-290 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 20 / Article 3 / Section 44-20-290
SECTION 44-20-290. Security guards; powers; bonds.
Status: in_force

The Director of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities or his designee may employ at regional centers security guards who are vested and charged with the powers and the duties of peace officers. They may arrest felons and misdemeanants, eject trespassers, and, without warrant, arrest persons for disorderly conduct who are trespassers on the grounds of the regional center and have them tried in a court of competent jurisdiction. Officers so employed must be bonded and under the direct supervision of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and shall report directly to the Office Director of the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities or his designee. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-220 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 3 / Section 44-55-220
SECTION 44-55-220. Article applicable to all privies on watersheds of water supplies.
Status: in_force

The provisions of this article shall apply to all residences, institutions and establishments and all privies, without regard to their distance from the homes of persons, which are located on the watershed of a public surface water supply.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-1910 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 13 / Section 44-7-1910
SECTION 44-7-1910. Cooperation with other agencies; appointment of ex officio directors.
Status: in_force

In carrying out its committed function of planning, establishing, financing, developing, constructing, enlarging, improving, maintaining, equipping, operating, regulating, protecting, policing or in other ways assisting in the development of nonprofit hospitals and health care related facilities, the district board will work closely with individual hospitals and other health care institutions. Where the district is assisting an individual hospital or institution in any of the ways identified herein, the chairman or president of the board of trustees of the hospital or institution and one other member of the board of trustees designated by the respective board shall be named ex officio members of the board of directors of the district. These ex officio members shall serve without vote for the duration of the contractual relationships of the respective institutions with the district, or until a successor is named and qualifies. The board of directors of the district shall have the right and privilege of appointing other ex officio directors for the purpose of availing itself of specialized talents, knowledge or counsel. The term of appointment shall be as determined by the board of directors at its discretion.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-2156 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 16 / Section 44-7-2156
SECTION 44-7-2156. Absence of outstanding obligations as prerequisite for dissolution.
Status: in_force

At any time when the district does not have any securities outstanding and when there are no other obligations assumed by the district that are then outstanding, the district may be dissolved in accordance with its articles of incorporation.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-9-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 9 / Section 44-9-20
SECTION 44-9-20. Transfer of powers, duties, records, and files from former Mental Health Commission.
Status: in_force

All the powers and duties vested in the South Carolina Mental Health Commission immediately prior to March 26, 1964, that were transferred to and vested in the Department of Mental Health are now transferred to and vested in the Office of Mental Health, a component of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. All records, files, and other papers belonging to the Department of Mental Health shall be continued as part of the records and files of the Office of Mental Health. Effect of Amendment 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 13, in the first sentence, inserted "are now transferred to and vested in the Office of Mental Health, a component of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities" and made a nonsubstantive change; in the last sentence, substituted "Department of Mental Health" for "South Carolina Mental Health Commission" and "Office" for "Department"; and made a nonsubstantive change.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-37-40 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 37 / Section 44-37-40
SECTION 44-37-40. Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act.
Status: in_force

(A) This section may be cited as the "Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act". (B) For purposes of this section: (1) "Advisory council" means the Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Advisory Council. (2) "Audiologist" means an individual licensed to practice audiology by the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. (3) "Audiologic evaluation" means an evaluation consisting of procedures to assess the status of the auditory system; to establish the site of an auditory disorder; the type and degree of hearing loss, and the potential effects of hearing loss on communication; and to identify appropriate treatment and referral options. Referral options for evaluation should include linkage to state Part C "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" coordinating agencies or other appropriate agencies, medical evaluation, hearing aid/sensory aid assessment, audiologic rehabilitation treatment, national and local consumer, self-help, parent and education organizations, and other family centered services. (4) "Auditory habilitation" means intervention which includes the use of procedures, techniques, and technologies to facilitate the receptive and expressive communication abilities of a child with hearing loss. (5) "Birth admission" means the time after birth that the newborn remains in the hospital nursery before discharge. (6) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (7) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (8) "Early intervention" means providing appropriate services for a child with hearing loss and ensuring that the family of the child is provided comprehensive, consumer-oriented information about the full range of family support, training, information services, and communication options and is given the opportunity to consider the full range of educational and program placements and options for this child. (9) "Hearing loss" for newborns and neonates means failure to pass the brainstem auditory evoked response performed at the audiologic evaluation. Current hearing screening technology detects levels of hearing loss as low as 35 decibels. (10) "Hearing screening" means newborn and infant hearing screening consisting of objective physiologic procedures to detect possible hearing loss and to identify newborns and infants who, after rescreening, require further audiologic and medical evaluations. (11) "Infant" means a child twenty-nine days to twenty-four months old. (12) "Medical intervention" means the process by which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction for medical or surgical treatment options for hearing loss or related medical disorders associated with hearing loss. (13) "Newborn" means a child up to twenty-eight days old. (14) "Normal hearing" for newborns and infants is 0-15 decibels hearing level. Any hearing level greater than 15 decibels can adversely affect speech and language development. The greater the hearing level the greater the adverse impact on speech and language development. (15) "Parent" means a natural parent, step-parent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or other legal custodian of a child. (16) Part C of "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" means the federal "Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and Developmental Delay Act" which encourages exemplary practices that lead to improved teaching and learning experiences for children with developmental delay, and that can result in more productive independent adult lives, including employment. (C)(1) Beginning no later than June 30, 2001, newborn hearing screenings must be conducted during birth admission on all newborns born in hospitals in this State using procedures recommended or approved by the department. However, when a newborn is delivered in a hospital with an average of less than one hundred deliveries a year, the screening is not required, but the parents must be given the information required pursuant to subsection (C)(3). (2) Beginning no later than April 1, 2001, every hospital in this State shall provide educational information for the parents of newborns born in that hospital concerning the hearing screening procedure and the importance of the screening. Education may not be considered a substitute for the hearing screening. (3) When a newborn is delivered in a hospital where the hearing screening is not required pursuant to subsection (C)(1) or somewhere other than a hospital, the parents must be instructed on the importance of a hearing screening and of having the screening performed within one month of the child' s birth date. Parents also must be given information to assist them in having the screening performed. The department shall determine the appropriate screening venue for newborns not receiving a hospital-conducted screening. (D)(1) Newborns referred as a result of the screening process shall receive an audiologic evaluation by an audiologist and a medical evaluation by a physician or otolaryngologist, or both, as indicated. (2) Newborns and infants referred as a result of the evaluation process shall receive medical intervention, audiologic habilitation, early intervention services, and augmentative hearing devices. (3)(a) The department, upon consultation with the South Carolina Health Alliance, shall establish newborn hearing screening reporting procedures which must be followed by hospitals, audiologists, and early interventionists. (b) The department also shall establish procedures to monitor and measure the effectiveness of newborn and infant hearing screening and intervention and shall report annually to the General Assembly and to participating hospitals. (c) Subject to available appropriations, the department shall make reports required pursuant to this subsection available throughout the State, specifically to physicians whose practice includes the practice of obstetrics, neonatology, or the care of newborns and infants, to consumer groups, managed care organizations, other third party payers, and the media. (E) The department shall establish the Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Advisory Council, consisting of representatives of agencies, professional disciplines, hospitals, and consumers to advise the department on matters related to the implementation of this section and duties of the department under this section. (F) The department may promulgate regulations to the extent necessary to implement the provisions of this section. (G) The department and the Department of Health and Human Services shall establish procedures for providing reimbursement for expenses incurred by entities providing newborn hearing screenings under this section. (H) Responsibilities of the department under this section including, but not limited to, reimbursements authorized pursuant to subsection (G) must be funded from proceeds received by the State in the settlement agreement and related documents, between the State and leading United States tobacco manufacturers dated November 23, 1998.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-300 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 5 / Section 44-43-300
SECTION 44-43-300. Citation of article.
Status: in_force

This article may be cited as the "Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-96-85 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 96 / Article 1 / Section 44-96-85
SECTION 44-96-85. Solid Waste Emergency Fund.
Status: in_force

(A) There is established a Solid Waste Emergency Fund to be administered by the department of Health and Environmental Control. (1) Beginning the state fiscal year after the effective date of this section, the department shall transfer two and one-half percent of the funds remitted quarterly to the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund pursuant to Sections 44-96-160, 44-96-170, 44-96-180, and 44-96-200 to a special sub-fund designated as the Solid Waste Emergency Fund. (2) The department shall deposit quarterly payments into the Solid Waste Emergency Fund until the unencumbered balance equals $1,500,000. (3) When expenditures from the account occur, the department shall, on a quarterly basis, transfer funds in accordance with this section until such time as the unencumbered balance of the fund equals $1,500,000. (B) The monies in the Solid Waste Emergency Fund may be expended by the department exclusively at the discretion of the director to address a substantial release or threat of substantial release into the environment of any pollutant or other circumstance which may present an imminent and substantial danger to human health and the environment from a solid waste facility regulated under this chapter. The director may authorize the department to take direct emergency actions or enter into a contract to perform emergency actions to protect human health and the environment at solid waste sites. (C) This subsection does not apply to the release or discharge of a substance which is in compliance with a permit, license, approval, special order, waiver or variance issued under this chapter or under applicable federal statutes or regulations. (D) The Solid Waste Emergency Fund may not be used to perform routine actions at solid waste sites such as operations, maintenance, monitoring, or remedial actions in which no imminent threat to human health and the environment exists. The department shall take all reasonable efforts to compel a permittee or other responsible party to address the threat before expending funds from the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund. (E) The collection or expenditure of funds under this section are separate from any activities by the department or the federal environmental protection agency acting under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, 42 U.S. Code 9601, et seq. (F) The Attorney General or the department shall take all reasonable actions to recover costs for expenditures made from the Solid Waste Emergency Fund. The department may seek cost recovery from persons whose wilful disregard of this statute or regulations promulgated pursuant to this statute resulted in the need for emergency action. Funds recovered must be deposited into the Solid Waste Emergency Fund. (G) An authorized representative or employee of the department may enter at all times onto any site, facility, property, and surrounding areas for the purpose of investigating or addressing emergency situations. Notice to the owner or occupant is not required if immediate action is necessary and the delay required to provide this notice may present an imminent and substantial hazard to human health, safety or to the environment.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-11-75 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 11 / Section 44-11-75
SECTION 44-11-75. Entering or refusing to leave state mental health facility following warning or request; penalty.
Status: in_force

(A) It is unlawful for a person without legal cause or good excuse to enter on the premises of a state mental health facility after having been warned by the facility director or, in his absence, by the director's representative, in writing, within the six months preceding not to enter on the premises. (B) It is unlawful for a person without legal cause or good excuse to fail or refuse immediately to leave the premises of a state mental health facility upon being ordered or requested to leave by the facility director or, in his absence, by the facility director's representative. (C) A person violating subsection (A) or (B), upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. (D) A municipal court or magistrate's court has jurisdiction over violations of this section occurring within the respective limits of the municipality or magisterial district.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-1410 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 15 / Section 44-55-1410
SECTION 44-55-1410. Counties may operate water and sewer facilities.
Status: in_force

(A) The governing body of each county of the State is authorized to acquire, construct, improve, enlarge, operate and maintain, within such county, facilities to provide water for industrial and private use and facilities for the collection, treatment and disposition of sewage, including industrial waste. No such facilities shall be provided by the county within the territory of any special purpose district or authority existing on March 7, 1973, authorized to provide such facilities or within the corporate limits of any incorporated municipality without the consent of the governing body of such municipality, special purpose district, or authority, as the case may be. Nothing herein contained is intended to authorize the levy of taxes. (B) Every county governing body is authorized to adopt regulations with respect to the use of its water and sewage facilities, including regulations requiring connection thereto of properties to which such facilities are available. (C) Every county governing body is authorized to place into effect and revise from time to time a schedule of rates and charges for the use of its water or sewer facilities. (D) Every county governing body is authorized to enter into contracts in connection with the providing of water or sewer services, or both, and facilities with persons, private corporations, municipal corporations, public bodies, public agencies, special purpose districts, the State of South Carolina or any agencies thereof, and with the United States Government or any agencies thereof. (E) Every county governing body is authorized to establish such departments, boards, commissions, and positions in the county as may be necessary or appropriate to provide water or sewer facilities, or both, and services and to prescribe the functions thereof from time to time, and further in conjunction with the governing bodies of other counties, to create such agencies, boards and authorities as may be necessary and proper to provide water or sewer services, or both, and facilities and to vest in any such agencies, boards or authorities as agents of the several counties, any powers vested by this article in the several counties.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-130-50 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 130 / Section 44-130-50
SECTION 44-130-50. Caregiver may administer opioid antidote; immunity.
Status: in_force

(A) A caregiver may in an emergency administer, without fee, an opioid antidote to a person whom the caregiver believes in good faith is experiencing an opioid overdose if the caregiver has received the opioid overdose information provided for in Section 44-130-30. (B) A caregiver who administers an opioid antidote in accordance with the provisions of this section is not subject to civil or criminal liability.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-40 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 1 / Section 44-43-40
SECTION 44-43-40. Notification of donation on driver's license.
Status: in_force

Donations and gifts of all or part of a person's body made at the time of application, issuance, reissuance, or renewal of a driver's license pursuant to this chapter must be noted on the person's driver's license. After a driver's license has been issued, reissued, or renewed, the department shall issue to each person who has notified the department that he is a donor under the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act a suitable emblem embedded within the person's driver's license to indicate his status as a donor. The department is not the registry of anatomical gifts.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-1230 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 13 / Section 44-55-1230
SECTION 44-55-1230. Penalties for violation of rules and regulations.
Status: in_force

Any person violating the provisions of such rules and regulations shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-2420 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 20 / Section 44-7-2420
SECTION 44-7-2420. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this article: (1) "Department" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. (2) "Hospital" means a facility organized and administered to provide overnight medical or surgical care or nursing care of illness, injury, or infirmity and may provide obstetrical care, and in which all diagnoses, treatment, or care is administered by or under the direction of persons currently licensed to practice medicine, surgery, or osteopathy and is licensed by the department as a hospital. "Hospital" may include residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents in need of mental health treatment which are physically a part of a licensed psychiatric hospital. This definition does not include facilities that are licensed by the Department of Social Services. (3) "Hospital acquired infection" means a localized or systemic condition that: (a) results from adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent or agents or its toxin or toxins; and (b) was not present or incubating at the time of admission to the hospital.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-825 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 9 / Section 44-55-825
SECTION 44-55-825. Inspection and approval of permitted onsite wastewater treatment systems; installation pursuant to construction and operation permits; penalties.
Status: in_force

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the department has conducted soil suitability testing and has issued a permit for the installation of an onsite wastewater system, the department is required to conduct random final inspections and approvals of no less than three percent annually of the total number of installed systems during the preceding fiscal year. (B) Any installed system not inspected within a specified time period designated by the department is deemed approved by the department. The department shall establish documentation and record requirements. (C) Onsite wastewater systems must be installed pursuant to construction and operation permits issued by the department pursuant to regulation. Deviation from the installation design and conditions in onsite wastewater permits may be considered by the department to be a violation. Violation of an onsite wastewater system permit installation must be enforced in accordance with the following: (1) First offense violations may be enforced under Section 44-1-150 or by suspension of the installer's license by a period not to exceed one year. (2) Second offense violations may be enforced under Section 44-1-150 or by suspension of the installer's license by a period not to exceed three years. (3) Third offense violations may be enforced under Section 44-1-150 or by permanent revocation of the installer's license.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-1680 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 15 / Section 44-53-1680
SECTION 44-53-1680. Violations and penalties.
Status: in_force

(A) A dispenser or authorized delegate who knowingly fails to submit prescription monitoring information to drug control as required by this article, or who knowingly submits incorrect prescription information, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. (B) A person who knowingly discloses prescription monitoring information in violation of this article is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (C) A person who knowingly uses prescription monitoring information in a manner or for a purpose in violation of this article is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (D) A pharmacist or practitioner, licensed in Title 40, who knowingly discloses prescription monitoring information in a manner or for a purpose in violation of this article shall be reported to his respective board for disciplinary action. (E) Nothing in this chapter requires a pharmacist to obtain information about a patient from the prescription monitoring program. A practitioner or authorized delegate of a practitioner who knowingly fails to review a patient's controlled substance prescription history, as maintained in the prescription monitoring program, or a practitioner who knowingly fails to consult with his authorized delegate regarding a patient's controlled substance prescription history before issuing a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance, as required by this article, must be reported to his respective board for disciplinary action. (F) A pharmacist or practitioner does not have a duty and must not be held liable in damages to any person in any civil or derivative criminal or administrative action for injury, death, or loss to person or property on the basis that the pharmacist or practitioner did or did not seek or obtain information from the prescription monitoring program. A pharmacist or practitioner acting in good faith is immune from any civil, criminal, or administrative liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed for requesting or receiving information from the prescription monitoring program. Effect of Amendment 2017 Act No. 91, SECTION 4, amended the section, establishing a penalty if a practitioner or authorized delegate fails to review a patient's controlled substance prescription history before prescribing a schedule II controlled substance.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-52-200 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 52 / Section 44-52-200
SECTION 44-52-200. Authority of State Department of Mental Health.
Status: in_force

The Office of Mental Health may prescribe the form of applications, reports, records, and medical certificates provided for under this chapter, and the information required to be contained; require reports from the head of any treatment facility relating to the admission, examination, diagnosis, release, or discharge of any patient; visit each facility regularly; review the admission procedures of all new patients admitted between visits; provide care and treatment for involuntary admissions of chemically dependent persons; investigate by personal visit complaints made by any patient or by any person on behalf of a patient; and adopt regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter which it finds to be reasonably necessary for proper and efficient hospitalization and care of chemically dependent persons. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-1670 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 15 / Section 44-53-1670
SECTION 44-53-1670. Promulgation of regulations.
Status: in_force

Drug control may promulgate regulations setting forth the procedures and methods for implementing this article.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-12-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 12 / Section 44-12-30
SECTION 44-12-30. Director; appointment and removal.
Status: in_force

The department shall be headed by a director who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The director may be removed from office as provided in Section 1-3-240(B).
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-139-70 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 139 / Section 44-139-70
SECTION 44-139-70. Consent of health care practitioner to perform, facilitate, or participate in an abortion.
Status: in_force

A health care practitioner may not be scheduled for or assigned to directly or indirectly perform, facilitate, or participate in an abortion unless the practitioner first affirmatively consents in writing to perform, facilitate, or participate in the abortion.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-23-1150 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 23 / Article 11 / Section 44-23-1150
SECTION 44-23-1150. Sexual misconduct with an inmate, patient, or offender.
Status: in_force

(A) As used in this section: (1) "Actor" means an employee, volunteer, agent, or contractor of a public entity that has statutory or contractual responsibility for inmates or patients confined in a prison, jail, or mental health facility. Actor includes individuals who supervise inmate labor details outside of an institution or who have supervisory responsibility for offenders on parole, probation, or other community supervision programs. (2) "Victim" means an inmate or patient who is confined in or lawfully or unlawfully absent from a prison, jail, or mental health facility, or who is an offender on parole, probation, or other community supervision programs. A victim is not capable of providing consent for sexual intercourse or sexual contact with an actor. (B) An actor is guilty of sexual misconduct when the actor, knowing that the victim is an inmate, offender, or patient voluntarily engages with the victim in an act of sexual intercourse, whether vaginal, oral, or anal, or other sexual contact for the purpose of sexual gratification. (C)(1) When the sexual misconduct involves an act of sexual intercourse, whether vaginal, oral, or anal, the actor is guilty of the felony of sexual misconduct, first degree and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than ten years. (2) When the sexual misconduct does not involve sexual intercourse but involves other sexual contact which is engaged in for sexual gratification, the actor is guilty of the felony of sexual misconduct, second degree and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than five years. The term sexual contact, as used in this subsection, refers to an intrusion of any part of a person's body or of any object into the "intimate parts", as defined in Section 16-3-651(d), of another person's body, or to the fondling of the "intimate parts" of another person's body, which is done in a manner not required by professional duties, but instead is done to demonstrate affection, sexually stimulate that person or another person, or harass that person. (D) A person who knowingly or wilfully submits inaccurate or untruthful information concerning sexual misconduct as defined in this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of falsely reporting sexual misconduct and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than one year. (E) A person who has knowledge of sexual misconduct who has received information in the person's professional capacity and fails to report it to the appropriate law enforcement authority, or a person who threatens or attempts to intimidate a witness is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more then five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both. Editor's Note 2001 Act No. 68, SECTION 2, provides, in pertinent part, as follows: "A person arrested, charged, or indicted under the provision of law amended by this act must be tried and sentenced as provided by the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense."
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-2-60 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 2 / Section 44-2-60
SECTION 44-2-60. Registration of underground storage tanks; environmental impact fee.
Status: in_force

(A) The owner or operator of an underground storage tank which stores or is intended to store a regulated substance shall register the tank with the department. The owner or operator of the tank shall display a registration certificate listing all registered tanks at a facility and in plain view in the office or the kiosk of the facility where the tanks are registered. Upon application for a registration certificate, the owner or operator shall pay to the department an initial registration fee of one hundred dollars a tank; however, the department may prorate the initial registration fees on a daily basis for underground storage tanks installed on or after July 1, 1997. The owner or operator shall pay to the department an annual renewal fee of one hundred dollars a tank a year. Beginning January 1, 2012, the annual renewal fee for each tank will be as follows: (1) 2012—two hundred dollars; (2) 2013—three hundred dollars; (3) 2014—four hundred dollars; and (4) 2015—five hundred dollars. The additional revenue generated from the tank fee increases listed above must be deposited into the Superb Account. No portion of the increases may be used by the department for administration of the program or for orphan sites as defined in Section 44-2-20(11). When the Superb Account is credited with an additional thirty-six million dollars from the increase in tank fees, general appropriations, settlements, or other sources of funds including federal funds designated for cleanup, or declared insolvent, the tank registration fee shall revert to one hundred dollars annually for each tank beginning January first of the next year. (B) No person may place a regulated substance and no owner or operator may cause a regulated substance to be placed into an underground storage tank for which the owner or operator does not hold a currently valid registration. The department may not issue a registration certificate until all past and present fees and penalties owed on a tank are paid. The department may not issue a registration certificate to any owner or operator who has not complied with all terms of a consent or final administrative order issued under Section 44-2-140. (1) All fees are due to the department within thirty days of billing. The department shall issue a late notice, with no penalty due, to an underground storage tank owner or operator who has unpaid fees thirty days after billing. An owner or operator who fails to pay the fees within sixty days of the initial billing must pay a ten percent penalty in addition to the ten percent penalty for any fees remaining unpaid ninety days after the initial billing. An owner or operator with unpaid fees ninety days after the initial billing is subject to additional enforcement action as provided for in Section 44-2-140. (2) The department may not disburse Superb Account or Superb Financial Fund monies to any person or persons for the rehabilitation of a petroleum or petroleum product release from any underground storage tank or underground storage tank system where all past and present fees and penalties owed on the applicable tank have not been paid. (3) The funds generated by the registration and late penalty fees may be used by the department for administration of the provisions of this chapter and for administration of the underground storage tank regulatory program established by this chapter. The amount used for administration may not exceed the amount collected from funds received from federal grants specifically designated for administrative use, interest, the first one hundred dollars for tank registration and late penalty fees. (C) In addition to the inspection fee of one-fourth cent a gallon imposed pursuant to Section 39-41-120, an environmental impact fee of one-half cent a gallon is imposed which must be used by the department for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this chapter. This one-half cent a gallon environmental impact fee must be paid and collected in the same manner that the one-fourth cent a gallon inspection fee is paid and collected except that the monies generated from these environmental impact fees must be transmitted by the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health and Environmental Control which shall deposit the fees as provided for in Section 44-2-40.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-980 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 7 / Section 44-7-980
SECTION 44-7-980. Terms, form, and execution of bonds.
Status: in_force

Such bonds shall mature serially over a period not exceeding thirty years from the date of their issue, shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding four per cent per annum, payable annually, shall be payable to bearer within or without the State and shall be in such form and denominations as the city council of such municipality may determine. The said bonds shall be signed by the mayor and the treasurer, and the seal of the issuing municipality shall be impressed thereon, but the coupons attached may be authenticated by only the lithographed or the facsimile signatures of the mayor and treasurer of such municipality. The bonds so executed shall be valid notwithstanding any change in officials occurring before delivery thereof.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-110 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-110
SECTION 44-53-110. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this article and Sections 44-49-10, 44-49-40, and 44-49-50: (1) "Administer" means the direct application of a controlled substance, whether by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, to the body of a patient or research subject by: (a) a practitioner (or, in his presence, by his authorized agent); or (b) the patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner. (2) "Agent" means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser, except that this term does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman, when acting in the usual or lawful course of the carrier's or warehouseman's business. (3) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, United States Department of Justice, or its successor agency. (4) "Office of Substance Use Services" means the Office of Substance Use Services, a component office of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. (5) "Confidant" means a medical practitioner, a pharmacist, a pharmacologist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a full-time staff member of a college or university counseling bureau, a guidance counselor or a teacher in an elementary school or in a junior or senior high school, a full-time staff member of a hospital, a duly ordained and licensed member of the clergy, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or any professional or paraprofessional staff member of a drug treatment, education, rehabilitation, or referral center who has received a communication from a holder of the privilege. (6) "Controlled substance" means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V in Sections 44-53-190, 44-53-210, 44-53-230, 44-53-250, and 44-53-270. (7) "Controlled substance analogue" means a substance that is intended for human consumption and that either has a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in Schedules I, II, or III or has a stimulant, depressant, analgesic, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to that of a controlled substance in Schedules I, II, or III. Controlled substance analogue does not include a controlled substance; any substance generally recognized as safe and effective within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.; any substance for which there is an approved new drug application; or, with respect to a particular person, any substance if an exemption is in effect for investigational use for that person under Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 355. (8) "Counterfeit substance" means a controlled substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person who, in fact, manufactured, distributed, or dispensed such substance and which, thereby, falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been distributed by, such other manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. (9) "Cocaine base" means an alkaloidal cocaine or freebase form of cocaine, which is the end product of a chemical alteration whereby the cocaine in salt form is converted to a form suitable for smoking. Cocaine base is commonly referred to as "rock" or "crack cocaine". (10) "Deliver" or "delivery" means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a controlled drug or paraphernalia whether or not there exists an agency relationship. (11) "Department" means the State Department of Health and Environmental Control. (12) "Depressant or stimulant drug" means: (a) a drug which contains any quantity of barbituric acid or any of the salts of barbituric acid, or any derivative of barbituric acid which has been designated as habit forming by the appropriate federal agency or by the department; (b) a drug which contains any quantity of amphetamine or any of its optical isomers, any salt of amphetamine or any salt of any optical isomer of amphetamine, or any other substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department, after investigation, has found to be capable of being, and by regulation designated as, habit forming because of its stimulant effect on the central nervous system; or (c) lysergic acid diethylamide or mescaline, or any other substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department, after investigation, has found to have, and by regulation designates as having a potential for abuse because of its stimulant or depressant effect on the central nervous system or its hallucinogenic effect. (13) "Detoxification treatment" means the dispensing, for a period not in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in decreasing doses to an individual in order to alleviate adverse physiological or psychological effects incident to withdrawal from the continuous or sustained use of a narcotic drug and as a method of bringing the individual to a narcotic drug-free state within this period. (14) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs under the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. (15) "Dispense" means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for the delivery. (16) "Dispenser" means a practitioner who delivers a controlled substance to the ultimate user or research subject. (17) "Distribute" means to deliver (other than by administering or dispensing) a controlled substance. (18) "Distributor" means a person who so delivers a controlled substance. (19) "Drug" means a substance: (a) recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; (b) intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man and animals; (c) other than food intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man and animals; and (d) intended for use as a component of any substance specified in subitem (a), (b), or (c) of this paragraph but does not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories. (20) "Drug problem" means a mental or physical problem caused by the use or abuse of a controlled substance. (21) "Holder of the privilege" means a person with an existing or a potential drug problem who seeks counseling, treatment, or therapy regarding such drug problem. (22) "Imitation controlled substance" means a noncontrolled substance which is represented to be a controlled substance and is packaged in a manner normally used for the distribution or delivery of an illegal controlled substance. (23) "Immediate precursor" means a substance which the appropriate federal agency or the department has found to be and by regulation has designated as being, or can be proven by expert testimony as being, the principal compound commonly used or produced primarily for use, and which is an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance, or is a reagent, solvent, or catalyst used in the manufacture of controlled substances, the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit such manufacture. (24) "Maintenance treatment" means the dispensing, for a period in excess of twenty-one days, of a narcotic drug in the treatment of an individual for dependence upon heroin or other morphine-like drugs. (25) "Manufacture" means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container, except that this term does not include the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for his own use or the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance: (a) by a practitioner as an incident to his administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of his professional practice; or (b) by a practitioner, or by his authorized agent under his supervision, for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale. (26) "Manufacturer" means any person who packages, repackages, or labels any container of any controlled substance, except practitioners who dispense or compound prescription orders for delivery to the ultimate consumer. (27)(a) "Marijuana" means: (i) all species or variety of the marijuana plant and all parts thereof whether growing or not; (ii) the seeds of the marijuana plant; (iii) the resin extracted from any part of the marijuana plant; or (iv) every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the marijuana plant, marijuana seeds, or marijuana resin. (b) "Marijuana" does not mean: (i) the mature stalks of the marijuana plant or fibers produced from these stalks; (ii) oil or cake made from the seeds of the marijuana plant, including cannabidiol derived from the seeds of the marijuana plant; (iii) any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivatives, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), including cannabidiol derived from mature stalks; (iv) the sterilized seed of the marijuana plant which is incapable of germination; (v) for persons participating in a clinical trial or in an expanded access program related to administering cannabidiol for the treatment of severe forms of epilepsy pursuant to Article 18, Chapter 53, Title 44, a drug or substance approved for the use of those participants by the federal Food and Drug Administration; or (vi) for persons, or the persons' parents, legal guardians, or other caretakers, who have received a written certification from a physician licensed in this State that the person has been diagnosed by a physician as having Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome, also known as "severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy", or any other severe form of epilepsy that is not adequately treated by traditional medical therapies, the substance cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, or any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of any plant of the genus cannabis that contains nine-tenths of one percent or less of tetrahydrocannabinol and more than fifteen percent of cannabidiol. (c) For purposes of this item, written certification means a document dated and signed by a physician stating that the patient has been diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, Dravet Syndrome, also known as "severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy", or any other severe form of epilepsy that is not adequately treated by traditional medical therapies and the physician's conclusion that the patient might benefit from the medical use of cannabidiol. (d) A physician is not subject to detrimental action, including arrest, prosecution, penalty, denial of a right or privilege, civil penalty, or disciplinary action by a professional licensing board for providing written certification for the medical use of cannabidiol to a patient in accordance with this section. (28) "Methamphetamine" includes any salt, isomer, or salt of an isomer, or any mixture or compound containing amphetamine or methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is commonly referred to as "crank", "ice", or "crystal meth". (29) "Narcotic drug" means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis: (a) opium, coca leaves, and opiates; (b) a compound, manufacture, salt, derivative or preparation of opium, coca leaves, or opiates; (c) a substance (and any compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, or preparation thereof) which is chemically identical with any of the substances referred to in subitem (a) or (b). This term does not include decocainized coca leaves or extracts of coca leaves, which extracts do not contain cocaine or ecgonine. (30) "Noncontrolled substance" means any substance of chemical or natural origin which is not included in the schedules of controlled substances set forth in this article or included in the federal schedules of controlled substances set forth in Title 21, Section 812 of the United States Code or in Title 21, Part 1308 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (31) "Opiate" means any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability. It does not include, unless specifically designated as controlled under this article, the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n-methylmorphinan and its salts (dextromethorphan). It does include racemic and levorotatory forms. (32) "Opium poppy" means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except the seed thereof. (33) "Paraphernalia" means any instrument, device, article, or contrivance used, designed for use, or intended for use in ingesting, smoking, administering, manufacturing, or preparing a controlled substance and does not include cigarette papers and tobacco pipes but includes, but is not limited to: (a) metal, wooden, acrylic, glass, stone, plastic, or ceramic marijuana or hashish pipes with or without screens, permanent screens, hashish heads, or punctured metal bowls; (b) water pipes designed for use or intended for use with marijuana, hashish, hashish oil, or cocaine; (c) carburetion tubes and devices; (d) smoking and carburetion masks; (e) roach clips; (f) separation gins designed for use or intended for use in cleaning marijuana; (g) cocaine spoons and vials; (h) chamber pipes; (i) carburetor pipes; (j) electric pipes; (k) air-driven pipes; (l) chilams; (m) bongs; (n) ice pipes or chillers. (34) "Peyote" means all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as Lophophora Williamsii Lemaire, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; any extract from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or extracts. (35) "Poppy straw" means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing. (36) "Practitioner" means: (a) a physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State; (b) a pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this State. (37) "Production" includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance. (38) "Ultimate user" means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for administration to an animal owned by him or a member of his household. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-6-1050 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 6 / Article 8 / Section 44-6-1050
SECTION 44-6-1050. Prior authorization for drug; refills; appeals.
Status: in_force

A grant of prior authorization for a drug is specific to the drug, rather than the actual prescription, and extends to all refills allowed pursuant to the original prescription and to subsequent prescriptions for the same drug at the same dosage provided the time allowed by the prior authorization has not expired. A Medicaid recipient who has been denied prior authorization for a prescribed drug is entitled to appeal this decision through the department's appeals process.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-650 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 4 / Section 44-53-650
SECTION 44-53-650. Director to obtain and distribute marijuana.
Status: in_force

(a) The director shall obtain marijuana through whatever means he deems most appropriate consistent with federal law. (b) The director shall cause such analyzed marijuana to be transferred to various locations throughout the State that provide adequate security as set forth in federal and state regulations for the purpose of distributing such marijuana to the certified patient in such manner as is consistent with federal law. The patient shall not be required to pay for such marijuana but the director may charge for ancillary medical services provided by the department to compensate the department for the cost, if any, of securing such marijuana, and providing it to the patient.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-720 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 5 / Section 44-7-720
SECTION 44-7-720. Powers of board.
Status: in_force

The board of trustees when so organized shall adopt and promulgate such rules, regulations and bylaws for the government of the hospital or tuberculosis camp as may be deemed expedient for the economic and equitable conduct thereof. It shall have control of the expenditure of all moneys collected to the credit of the hospital or tuberculosis camp, the construction of any building or buildings and the care of the grounds, rooms and buildings purchased. It may also appoint a superintendent, an assistant superintendent and a matron, fix their compensation and do all things necessary to carry out the establishment and maintenance of the hospital or tuberculosis camp.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-78-65 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 78 / Section 44-78-65
SECTION 44-78-65. Regulations to provide direction to emergency personnel in identifying patients having "do not resuscitate orders".
Status: in_force

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control shall promulgate regulations necessary to provide direction to emergency personnel in identifying patients who have a "do not resuscitate order for emergency services".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-330 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 5 / Section 44-43-330
SECTION 44-43-330. Refusal to make anatomical gift; documentation.
Status: in_force

(A) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part by: (1) a record signed by: (a) the individual; or (b) subject to subsection (B), another individual acting at the direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to sign; (2) the individual's will, whether or not the will is admitted to probate or invalidated after the individual's death; or (3) any form of communication made by the individual while competent during the individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness. (B) A record signed pursuant to subsection (A)(1)(b) must: (1) be witnessed by at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness, who have signed at the request of the individual; and (2) state that it has been signed and witnessed as provided in item (1). (C) An individual who has made a refusal may amend or revoke the refusal: (1) in the manner provided in subsection (A) for making a refusal; (2) by subsequently making an anatomical gift pursuant to Section 44-43-320 that is inconsistent with the refusal; or (3) by destroying or cancelling the record evidencing the refusal, or the portion of the record used to make the refusal, with the intent to revoke the refusal. (D) Except as otherwise provided in Section 44-43-335(H), in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the individual set forth in the refusal, an individual's unrevoked refusal to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-17-620 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 17 / Article 7 / Section 44-17-620
SECTION 44-17-620. Appeal.
Status: in_force

The petitioner or the person shall have the right to appeal from any order of the probate court issued pursuant to Section 44-17-580 to the court of common pleas of the county where the probate court is situated. The notice of intention to appeal together with the grounds for the appeal shall be filed in the probate court and the court of common pleas within fifteen days of the date of the order issued pursuant to Section 44-17-580. The appeal shall be heard by any circuit judge having jurisdiction in the county upon the record of the probate court. The judge may require that additional evidence be presented in the hearing if notice is given to both appellant and respondent. The probate court shall be responsible for certifying the record on the proceedings before the probate court to the circuit court judge within thirty days of filing of the notice of intention to appeal. The circuit judge shall hold the hearing and render a decision affirming or reversing the order of the probate court within fifteen days of receipt of the record of the probate court. The costs shall be borne by the applicant unless the court determines that he cannot afford them. Any appeal from the order of the circuit judge shall be taken in the manner provided by the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules. An order of a circuit judge requiring release of the person shall be of force and effect unless it is reversed on appeal.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-44-160 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 44 / Section 44-44-160
SECTION 44-44-160. Funding contingency.
Status: in_force

Implementation of this chapter is contingent upon the appropriation of state general funds or the availability of financial support from other sources and must be operational within one year of adequate funding becoming available.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 1 / Section 44-56-20
SECTION 44-56-20. Definitions.
Status: in_force

Definitions as used in this chapter: (1) "Board" means the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control which is charged with responsibility for implementation of the Hazardous Waste Management Act. (2) "Director" means the director of the department or his authorized agent. (3) "Department" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control, including personnel thereof authorized by the board to act on behalf of the department or board. (4) "Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater. (5) "Generation" means the act or process of producing waste materials. (6) "Hazardous waste" means any waste, or combination of wastes, of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semisolid form which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may in the judgment of the department: a. cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness; or b. pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. Such wastes may include, but are not limited to, those which are toxic, corrosive, flammable, irritants, strong sensitizers, persistent in nature, assimilated, or concentrated in tissue, or which generate pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means. The term does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid dissolved materials in irrigation return flows, or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to NPDES permits under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Pollution Control Act of South Carolina or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. (7) "Hazardous waste management" means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, and disposal of hazardous wastes. (8) "Manifest" means the form used for identifying the quantity, composition, or origin, routing, and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment, or storage. (9) "Permit" means the process by which the department can ensure cognizance of, as well as control over the management of hazardous wastes. (10) "Storage" means the actual or intended containment of wastes, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous wastes. (11) "Transport" means the movement of hazardous wastes from the point of generation to any intermediate points and finally to the point of ultimate treatment, storage or disposal. (12) "Treatment" means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, reduced in volume, or suitable for final disposal. (13) "Uncontrolled hazardous waste site" means any site where hazardous wastes or other hazardous substances have been released, abandoned, or otherwise improperly managed so that governmental response action is deemed necessary to remedy actual or potential damages to public health, the public welfare, or the environment. For the purpose of this item the term "hazardous waste" does not include petroleum, including crude oil or fraction thereof; natural gas; natural gas liquids; liquified natural gas; synthetic gas usable for fuel; or mixtures of natural gas and such synthetic gas. (14) "Response action" is any cleanup, containment, inspection, or closure of a site ordered by the director as necessary to remedy actual or potential damages to public health, the public welfare, or the environment.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-990 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 7 / Section 44-7-990
SECTION 44-7-990. Sale of bonds.
Status: in_force

Such bonds shall be sold for not less than par and accrued interest, upon sealed bids, after notice of such sale by publication in some newspaper published in the city or town or having general circulation therein for at least fifteen days prior thereto. The award shall be given to the bidder offering the most advantageous terms for the purchase of such bonds, but the city or town council may reject any and all bids and reoffer the bonds for sale.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-96-330 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 96 / Article 2 / Section 44-96-330
SECTION 44-96-330. Minimum requirements for new and existing municipal solid waste landfills.
Status: in_force

(A) In addition to the requirements imposed by this article, the regulations promulgated by the department shall, at a minimum, require the following for new and existing municipal solid waste landfills: (1) controls to detect and prevent the disposal of hazardous waste, nonhazardous bulk liquids, and nonhazardous liquids in containers, other than household wastes. Such controls shall include random inspections of incoming loads, inspection of suspicious loads, records of inspections, training of facility personnel to recognize illegal materials, and procedures for notifying the proper authorities if any regulated hazardous waters are found; (2) daily cover to control disease vectors, fires, odors, blowing litter, and scavenging; (3) landfill gas monitoring and controls to minimize the buildup of explosive gases beneath, around, or in facility structures excluding gas control or recovery components; (4) access controls to protect human health and safety and the environment, to prevent unauthorized vehicular traffic, and to prevent illegal dumping of wastes; (5) run-on and run-off controls; (6) landfill closure requirements that: (a) minimize the need for further maintenance; (b) ensure that no adverse effect will be caused from postclosure releases to the groundwater, surface water, or atmosphere; and (c) upon issuance of a permit, require the owner or operator to record in the clerk's office or Register of Deeds Office, in the county in which the site is located, a survey plat indicating the location and dimensions of landfill cells or other solid waste disposal units with respect to permanently surveyed benchmarks. Upon recordation, the owner or operator must submit to the department a copy of the recorded document; (7) closure and postclosure care plans which identify for each facility the steps necessary to ensure closure and postclosure care, time estimates, modifications to monitoring and collection systems, final cover, and cost estimates. The postclosure care period shall be determined by results from the monitoring of the landfill, including leachate quality and quantity and methane gas generation or some alternative; (8) financial responsibility for closure and postclosure care; (9) groundwater monitoring; and (10) corrective action requirements. (B) The regulations promulgated pursuant to this article shall require, at a minimum, for each new municipal solid waste landfill and lateral expansion to existing municipal solid waste landfills the following: (1) a single composite liner, natural or manmade materials, or both, or in situ soil, or a combination of both, capable of preventing the migration of wastes out of the landfill to the aquifer or surface water during the active life of the facility and during the required postclosure period and ensuring that leachate does not contaminate the aquifer or surface water during the active life of the facility and during the required postclosure period; (2) leachate collection and removal systems; (3) a construction quality assurance plan specifying the materials to be used in liner construction, the construction techniques, the engineering plans, and the installation test procedures; and (4) landfills, at a minimum, shall not be located in the following locations: (a) within the one hundred-year flood plain unless it can be demonstrated by the owner or operator that engineering measures have been incorporated into the landfill design to ensure the landfill will not restrict the flow of the one hundred-year base flood, reduce the temporary water shortage capacity of the flood plain, or result in the washout of solid waste so as to pose a hazard to human health or the environment; (b) within two hundred feet of a fault that has had displacement in Holocene time; (c) within a seismic impact zone or other unstable areas unless it can be demonstrated by the owner or operator that engineering measures have been incorporated into the landfill design to ensure the structural stability of the landfill capable of protecting human health and safety and the environment; and (d) within proximity of airports or wetlands to be determined by the department by regulation.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-1-260 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 1 / Section 44-1-260
SECTION 44-1-260. Early periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment screening; referral for assistive technology evaluation; definitions.
Status: in_force

Upon conducting an early periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment screening (EPSDT), or another physical examination of a child from which it is determined that the child may benefit from the use of assistive technology, the department or person conducting the screening or examination may refer the child to an appropriate agency for an assistive technology evaluation. For purposes of this section, "assistive technology" means a device or service which is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capacities of an individual with a disability. An "assistive technology device" is an item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capacities of an individual with a disability including, but not limited to, aids for daily living, augmentative communication devices, wheelchairs, and mobility aids, seating and positioning aids, computer aids, environmental controls, home and workplace modifications, prosthetics and orthotics, or aids for vision or hearing impairments. An "assistive technology service" is a service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-1-130 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 1 / Section 44-1-130
SECTION 44-1-130. Department may establish health districts and district advisory boards of health.
Status: in_force

The Department of Health and Environmental Control may divide the State into health districts and establish in these districts advisory boards of health which shall consist of representatives from each county in the district. Boards of health now existing in the districts shall have representation on the district advisory board. Counties not having local boards of health shall be represented by individuals appointed by the county legislative delegation. The number of members of a district advisory board shall be determined by the Department with due consideration to the population and community needs of the district. District advisory boards of health shall be subject to the supervisory and advisory control of the Department. District advisory boards are charged with the duty of advising the district medical director or administrator in all matters of sanitary interest and scientific importance bearing upon the protection of the public health. The district medical director or administrator shall be secretary of the advisory board and the district advisory board shall elect annually from its membership a chairman.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-117-40 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 117 / Article 1 / Section 44-117-40
SECTION 44-117-40. Violations and penalties.
Status: in_force

An individual or entity, corporate or otherwise, who knowingly violates a provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten thousand dollars per occurrence.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-17-430 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 17 / Article 5 / Section 44-17-430
SECTION 44-17-430. Examination under custody of person requiring immediate hospitalization when examination not otherwise possible.
Status: in_force

If a person believed to be mentally ill and because of this condition likely to cause serious harm if not immediately hospitalized cannot be examined by at least one licensed physician pursuant to Section 44-17-410 because the person's whereabouts are unknown or for any other reason, the petitioner seeking commitment pursuant to Section 44-17-410 shall execute an affidavit stating a belief that the individual is mentally ill and because of this condition likely to cause serious harm if not hospitalized, the ground for this belief and that the usual procedure for examination cannot be followed and the reason why. Upon presentation of an affidavit, the judge of probate for the county in which the individual is present may issue an order requiring a state or local law enforcement officer to take the individual into custody for a period not exceeding twenty-four hours. The order expires seventy-two hours after it was issued, and if the person is not taken into custody within those seventy-two hours, the order is no longer valid. During the person's detention the person must be examined by at least one licensed physician as provided for in Section 44-17-410(2). The individual taken into custody has the right to representation by an attorney. If within the twenty-four hours the person in custody is not examined by a licensed physician or, if upon examination the physician does not execute the certification provided for in Section 44-17-410(2), the proceedings must be terminated and the individual in custody must be released immediately. Otherwise, proceedings must be held pursuant to Section 44-17-410(3).
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-1350 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 13 / Section 44-43-1350
SECTION 44-43-1350. Election of chairman; adoption of rules; meetings; quorum.
Status: in_force

The board shall elect a chairman from among its members and shall adopt rules for the governance of its operations. The board shall meet at least semiannually. Six members constitute a quorum.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-115-60 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 115 / Section 44-115-60
SECTION 44-115-60. Physician's release of summary or portion in lieu of full record.
Status: in_force

Except as otherwise provided by law, a physician may refuse to release a copy of the entire medical record and may furnish instead a summary or portion of the record when he has a reasonable belief that release of the information contained in the entire record would cause harm to the patient's emotional or physical well-being, the emotional or physical well-being of another person who has given information about the patient to the physician, or where release of the information is otherwise prohibited by law. An unreasonable refusal to release the entire medical record constitutes unprofessional conduct and subjects the physician to disciplinary action of the South Carolina State Board of Medical Examiners. However, notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a physician may not refuse to release the entire record or a portion of the record if the information is requested by a licensed attorney representing the patient, when the request is accompanied by a written authorization signed by the patient, the patient's legal guardian, or the patient's personal representative, for any reason, a licensed attorney representing the patient, or by an insurance company with reference to an application for life or health insurance or the payment and adjudication of claims relating to life and health insurance or if the information is requested with reference to the payment or adjudication of personal injury claims.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-9-70 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 9 / Section 44-9-70
SECTION 44-9-70. Administration of Federal funds; development of mental health clinics.
Status: in_force

The Office of Mental Health is hereby designated as the State's mental health authority for purposes of administering Federal funds allotted to South Carolina under the provisions of the National Mental Health Act, as amended. The Office of Mental Health is further designated as the State agency authorized to administer minimum standards and requirements for mental health clinics as conditions for participation in Federal-State grants-in-aid under the provisions of the National Mental Health Act, as amended, and is authorized to promote and develop community mental health outpatient clinics. Provided, that nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the operation of outpatient mental health clinics by the South Carolina Medical College Hospital in Charleston. Provided, further, that nothing herein shall be construed to include any of the functions or responsibilities now granted the Department of Health and Environmental Control, or the administration of the State Hospital Construction Act (Hill-Burton Act), as provided in the 1976 Code of Laws and amendments thereto. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-81-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 81 / Section 44-81-20
SECTION 44-81-20. Legislative findings.
Status: in_force

The General Assembly finds that persons residing within long-term care facilities are isolated from the community and often lack the means to assert their rights fully as individual citizens. The General Assembly recognizes the need for these persons to live within the least restrictive environment possible in order to retain their individuality and personal freedom. The General Assembly further finds that it is necessary to preserve the dignity and personal integrity of residents of long-term care facilities through the recognition and declaration of rights safeguarding against encroachments upon each resident's need for self-determination.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-137-40 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 137 / Section 44-137-40
SECTION 44-137-40. Sanctions against health care providers prohibited.
Status: in_force

(A) A licensing board shall not revoke, fail to renew, suspend, or take any other disciplinary action against a health care provider licensed in this State, based solely on the health care provider's recommendations to an eligible patient regarding access to or treatment with an investigational drug, biological product, or device. (B) An entity responsible for Medicare certification shall not take action against a health care provider's Medicare certification based solely on the health care provider's recommendation that a patient have access to an investigational drug, biological product, or device.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-61-620 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 61 / Article 6 / Section 44-61-620
SECTION 44-61-620. Legislative findings.
Status: in_force

The General Assembly finds that: (1) An effective system to support optimal stroke care is needed in our communities in order to treat stroke patients in a timely manner, improve the overall treatment of stroke patients, increase survival, and decrease the disabilities associated with stroke. (2) There is a public health need for acute care hospitals in this State to become primary stroke centers to ensure the rapid triage, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment of patients suffering a stroke. There is also a need for a pre-hospital emergency transport system that identifies and transports potential stroke patients as quickly as possible to the most appropriate facility for stroke treatment. (3) Primary stroke centers for the treatment of acute stroke should be established in as many acute care hospitals as possible. In addition, hospitals that do not have primary stroke center certification but use telemedicine or other means to facilitate acute or early stroke treatment should be integrated, along with primary stroke centers, within a system of care to evaluate, stabilize, and provide emergency and inpatient care to patients with acute stroke. (4) It is in the best interest of the residents of South Carolina to establish a program to facilitate identification and development of stroke treatment capabilities throughout the State. This program will provide a system of stroke care that will include specific patient care and support services criteria that will ensure stroke patients receive safe and effective care in stroke care centers statewide. (5) It is also in the best interest of the people of South Carolina to modify the state's emergency medical response system to ensure that potential stroke patients are quickly identified and transported to and treated in facilities that have the capability for providing timely and effective treatment for stroke patients.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-33-340 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 33 / Article 3 / Section 44-33-340
SECTION 44-33-340. Prohibited use of registry information.
Status: in_force

The information maintained in the Sickle Cell Disease Voluntary Patient Registry may not be released to or used by an entity responsible for the licensure, regulation, or discipline of physicians or other health care practitioners for any purpose.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-66-10 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 66 / Section 44-66-10
SECTION 44-66-10. Short title.
Status: in_force

This chapter may be cited as the "Adult Health Care Consent Act".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-360 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 3 / Section 44-53-360
SECTION 44-53-360. Prescriptions.
Status: in_force

(a) Except when dispensed directly by a practitioner, other than a pharmacist, to an ultimate user, or in emergency situations as prescribed by the department by regulation, no controlled substance included in Schedule II may be dispensed without the written or electronic prescription of a practitioner. Prescriptions shall be retained in conformity with the requirements of Section 44-53-340. No prescription for a controlled substance in Schedule II may be refilled. (b) A pharmacist may dispense a controlled substance included in Schedule III, IV, or V pursuant to either a written or electronic prescription signed by a practitioner, or a facsimile of a written, signed prescription, transmitted by the practitioner or the practitioner's agent to the pharmacy, or pursuant to an oral prescription, reduced promptly to writing and filed by the pharmacist. A prescription transmitted by facsimile must be received at the pharmacy as it was originally transmitted by facsimile and must include the name and address of the practitioner, the phone number for verbal confirmation, the time and date of transmission, and the name of the pharmacy intended to receive the transmission, as well as any other information required by federal or state law. Such prescription, when authorized, may not be refilled more than five times or later than six months after the date of the prescription unless renewed by the practitioner. (c) No controlled substances included in any schedule may be distributed or dispensed for other than a medical purpose. No practitioner may dispense a Schedule II narcotic controlled substance for the purpose of maintaining the addiction of a narcotic dependent person outside of a facility or program approved by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. No practitioner may dispense a controlled substance outside of a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship. (d) Unless specifically indicated in writing on the face of the prescription or noted in the electronic prescription that it is to be refilled, and the number of times specifically indicated, no prescription may be refilled. The indication of "PRN" or "ad lib" or phrases, abbreviations, or symbols of like meaning shall not be construed as to exceed five refills or six months, whichever shall first occur. Preprinted refill instructions on the face of a prescription shall be disregarded by the dispenser unless an affirmative marking or other indication is made by the prescriber. (e) Prescriptions for controlled substances in Schedule II with the exception of transdermal patches and surgically implanted drug delivery systems, must not exceed a thirty-one-day supply. Prescriptions for Schedule II substances must be dispensed within ninety days of the date of issue, after which time they are void. Prescriptions for controlled substances in Schedules III through V, inclusive, must not exceed a ninety-day supply. (f) Preprinted prescriptions for controlled substances in any schedule are prohibited. (g) The Board shall, by rules and regulations, specify the manner by which prescriptions are filed. (h) A prescription, in order to be effective in legalizing the possession of a controlled substance and eliminating the need for registration of the recipient, must be issued for legitimate medical purposes. The responsibility for the proper prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances is upon the prescribing practitioner, but a corresponding liability rests with the pharmacist who fills and ultimately dispenses the prescription. An order purporting to be a prescription issued to a drug dependent person, not in the course of generally accepted medical treatment, but for the purpose of providing the user with controlled substances sufficient to maintain his dependence upon the substance, or to provide him with quantities of controlled substances in great excess of normal dosage ranges as recommended by the manufacturer of the substance, is not a prescription within the meaning and intent of this article; and the person filling or dispensing such an order, as well as the person issuing it, shall be deemed in violation of this section. (i) Excepting a mail order prescription dispensed in compliance with Chapter 43 of Title 40 for which the dispenser requires proper identification of the recipient, a prescription for a controlled substance in Schedules II through V may not be filled unless the dispenser knows the recipient or requires the recipient to produce a government issued photo identification, and the dispenser notes the identification source and number on the prescription, or in a readily retrievable log including: (1) prescription number; (2) date prescription filled; (3) number and type of identification; (4) initials of person obtaining and recording information. (j)(1) Initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain management or postoperative pain management must not exceed a seven-day supply, except when clinically indicated for cancer pain, chronic pain, hospice care, palliative care, major trauma, major surgery, treatment of sickle cell disease, treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome, or medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder. Upon any subsequent consultation for the same pain, the practitioner may issue any appropriate renewal, refill, or new opioid prescription. (2) This subsection does not apply to opioid prescriptions issued by a practitioner who orders an opioid prescription to be wholly administered in a hospital, nursing home, hospice facility, or residential care facility. (3) A practitioner who acts in accordance with the limitation on prescriptions as set forth in this subsection is immune from any civil liability or disciplinary action from the practitioner's professional licensing board. (4) As used in this subsection: (A) "Acute pain" means pain that a practitioner reasonably expects to last for three months or less, whether resulting from disease, accident, intentional trauma, or other cause. The term does not include "chronic pain" or pain being treated as part of cancer care, chronic care, hospice care, palliative care, major trauma, major surgery, treatment of sickle cell disease, treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome, or medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder. (B) "Chronic pain" means pain that typically lasts for longer than three months or that lasts beyond the time of normal tissue healing. (C) "Postoperative pain" means acute pain experienced immediately after a surgical procedure. (D) "Surgical procedure" means a procedure performed for the purpose of altering the human body by incision or destruction of tissues as part of the practice of medicine such as diagnostic or therapeutic treatment of conditions or disease processes by use of instruments and includes lasers, ultrasound, ionizing, radiation, scalpels, probes, or needles that cause localized alteration or transportation of live human tissue by cutting, burning, vaporizing, freezing, suturing, probing, or manipulating by closed reduction for major dislocations and fractures, or otherwise altering by any mechanical, thermal, light-based, electromagnetic, or chemical means. (k)(1) Unless otherwise exempted by this subsection, a practitioner shall electronically prescribe any controlled substance included in Schedules II, III, IV, and V. This subsection does not apply to prescriptions for a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V issued by any of the following: (A) a practitioner, other than a pharmacist, who dispenses directly to the ultimate user; (B) a practitioner who orders a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V to be administered in a hospital, nursing home, hospice care program, home infusion pharmacy, outpatient dialysis facility, or residential care facility; (C) a practitioner who experiences temporary technological or electrical failure or other extenuating technical circumstances that prevent a prescription from being transmitted electronically; however, the practitioner must document the reason for this exception in the patient's medical record; (D) a practitioner who writes a prescription for a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V to be dispensed by a pharmacy located on federal property; however, the practitioner must document the reason for this exception in the patient's medical record; (E) a person licensed to practice veterinary medicine pursuant to Chapter 69, Title 40; (F) a practitioner who writes a prescription for a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V for a patient who is being discharged from a hospital, emergency department, or urgent care or for a patient who is receiving services from a facility established pursuant to Section 44-11-10; or (G) a practitioner who issues an oral authorization in the case of an emergency situation. (2) A prescription for a controlled substance included in Schedules II, III, IV, and V that includes elements that are not supported by the most recently implemented version of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Prescriber/Pharmacist Interface SCRIPT Standard is exempt from this subsection. (3) A dispenser is not required to verify that a practitioner properly falls under one of the exceptions specified in item (1) or (2) before dispensing a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V. A dispenser may continue to dispense a controlled substance included in Schedules II through V from valid written, oral, faxed, or electronic prescriptions that are otherwise consistent with applicable laws. (4) A dispenser is immune from any civil or criminal liability or disciplinary action from the State Board of Pharmacy for dispensing a prescription written by a prescriber that is in violation of this subsection. (l)(1) A written prescription for any Schedule II, III, IV, and V controlled substance must be written on tamper-resistant prescription pads which contain one or more industry-recognized features designed to prevent all of the following: (A) unauthorized copying of a completed or blank prescription form; (B) erasure or modification of information written on the prescription by the prescriber; and (C) use of counterfeit prescription forms. (2) Prescription orders transmitted by facsimile, orally, or electronically are exempt from the tamper-resistant prescription pad requirements of this section. (3) The tamper-resistant prescription pad requirements do not apply to refill prescriptions of an original written prescription that was presented to a pharmacy before the effective date of this act. (4) The exceptions set forth in Section 1927(k)(3) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 1396r-8(k)(3), concerning nursing facilities, hospitals, and other institutional and clinical settings, are exempt from the tamper-resistant prescription pad requirements of this section. (5) If a written prescription is not submitted on a tamper-resistant prescription form meeting the requirements of this section, a pharmacy may fill the prescription in full as written on an emergency basis as long as the pharmacy receives a verbal, facsimile, electronic, or compliant written prescription from the prescriber within seventy-two hours after the date on which the prescription was filled. Editor's Note 2019 Act No. 65, preamble, provides as follows: "Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly is committed to combatting the opioid epidemic occurring within this State; and "Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly has enacted and is working to enact legislation aimed at stemming the misuse of opioids in South Carolina; and "Whereas, collecting information related to opioid use and misuse helps those working to better understand the complexities of substance abuse disorders and enables those working with patients suffering from this disease to develop strategies for treatment, education, and care; and "Whereas, the purpose of this legislation is to provide data to health care professionals treating patients who have been diagnosed with an opioid overdose and received an antidote in response to that overdose; and "Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly intends for the information collected pursuant to this law to be used by health care professionals to assist patients in getting appropriate treatment including, but not limited to, treatment for substance abuse disorder; and "Whereas, the General Assembly intends further that the information collected pursuant to this law should not be used as the sole determining factor in a decision regarding whether to treat or refuse to treat a patient suffering from an opioid misuse. Now, therefore, [text of act]." Effect of Amendment 2018 Act No. 201, SECTION 1, added (j), establishing limitations for initial opioid prescriptions. 2018 Act No. 243, SECTION 1, added (k), requiring written prescriptions for controlled substances to be written on tamper-resistant prescription pads, with exceptions. 2019 Act No. 65, SECTION 5, in (a), in the first sentence, substituted "department" for "Department" and inserted "or electronic" following "written"; in (b), in the first sentence, inserted "or electronic" following "written"; and in (d), in the first sentence, inserted "or noted in the electronic prescription". 2019 Act No. 65, SECTION 6, in (j), added (5), providing for the use of electronic prescriptions. 2020 Act No. 160, SECTION 1, in (j), redesignated (5) as (k) and rewrote (k), and redesignated former (k) as (l). 2021 Act No. 23, SECTION 1, in (e), in the first sentence, substituted "and surgically implanted drug delivery systems, must not exceed a thirty-one-day supply" for ", must not exceed a thirty-one day supply".
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-2340 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 23 / Section 44-55-2340
SECTION 44-55-2340. Permits; water quality.
Status: in_force

(A) No person may construct, materially alter, or enlarge a public swimming pool until an application for a construction permit has been submitted to, and a construction permit is issued by, the department. An application submitted for a construction permit must be signed by the owner and include drawings, plans, and specifications prepared and signed by an architect or engineer registered in this State which demonstrate compliance with the design standards promulgated by the department. No newly constructed or altered public swimming pool may be placed into operation until the department has conducted a final inspection and issued written approval that the construction is completed satisfactorily. (B) No person may operate an existing public swimming pool until he has obtained an annual operating permit from the department for the calendar year in which the pool is to be operated. All annual operating permits expire on the last day of the calendar year for which they are issued. An annual operating permit for a newly constructed pool is not required until the calendar year following the year in which the pool is constructed. (C) The owner shall operate and maintain his public swimming pool in a manner to provide water quality which is bacteriologically, chemically, and physically safe for swimming or its other intended use and assure that it is free from potential safety hazards to the users. The owner shall keep records of operation on forms approved by the department and shall make the records available to the department upon request. The records must include information as specified in the regulations promulgated by the department.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-890 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 53 / Article 6 / Section 44-53-890
SECTION 44-53-890. Annual report.
Status: in_force

The fund board annually by February first shall submit a report to the General Assembly concerning its expenditures of fund monies and activities.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-210 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-210
SECTION 44-7-210. Certificate of Need review procedures.
Status: in_force

(A) After the department has determined that an application is complete, affected persons must be notified in accordance with departmental regulations. The notification to affected persons that the application is complete begins the review period; however, in the case of competing applications, the review period begins on the date of notice to affected persons that the last of the competing applications is complete and notice is published in the State Register. The staff shall issue its decision to approve or deny the application no earlier than thirty calendar days, but no later than ninety calendar days, from the date affected persons are notified that the application is complete, unless a public hearing is timely requested as may be provided for by department regulation. If a public hearing is properly requested, the staff's decision must not be made until after the public hearing, but in no event shall the decision be issued more than one hundred twenty calendar days from the date affected persons are notified that the application is complete. The staff may reorder the relative importance of the project review criteria no more than one time during the review period. The staff's reordering of the relative importance of the project review criteria does not extend the review period provided for in this section. (B) The department may not issue a Certificate of Need unless an application complies with the South Carolina Health Plan, Project Review Criteria, and other regulations. Based on project review criteria and other regulations, which must be identified by the department, the department may refuse to issue a Certificate of Need even if an application complies with the South Carolina Health Plan. In the case of competing applications, the department shall award a Certificate of Need, if appropriate, on the basis of which, if any, most fully complies with the requirements, goals, and purposes of this article and the State Health Plan, Project Review Criteria, and the regulations adopted by the department. (C) On the basis of staff review of the application, the staff shall make a staff decision to grant or deny the Certificate of Need and the staff shall issue a decision in accordance with Section 44-1-60(D). Notice of the decision must be sent to the applicant and affected persons who have asked to be notified. The decision becomes the final agency decision unless a timely written request for a final review is filed with the department as provided for in Section 44-1-60(E). However, a person may not file a request for final review in opposition to the staff decision on a Certificate of Need unless the person provided written notice to the department during the staff review that he is an affected person and specifically states his opposition to the application under review. (D) The staff's decision is not the final agency decision until the completion of the final review process provided for in Section 44-1-60(F). (E) A contested case hearing of the final agency decision must be requested in accordance with Section 44-1-60(G). The issues considered at the contested case hearing considering a Certificate of Need are limited to those presented or considered during the staff review. (F) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including Section 1-23-650(C), in a contested case arising from the department's decision to grant or deny a Certificate of Need application, grant or deny a request for exemption under Section 44-7-170, or the issuance of a determination regarding the applicability of Section 44-7-160, the following apply: (1) each party may name no more than five witnesses who may testify at the contested case hearing; (2) each party is permitted to take only the deposition of a person listed by an opposing party as a witness who may testify at the contested case hearing and one Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30(b)(6) deposition; (3) each party is permitted to serve only ten interrogatories pursuant to Rule 33 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure; (4) each party is permitted to serve only ten requests for admission, including subparts; (5) each party is permitted to serve only fifteen requests for production, including subparts; and (6) the parties shall complete discovery within one hundred twenty days after the assignment of the administrative law judge. (G) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a contested case arising from the department's decision to grant or deny a Certificate of Need application, grant or deny a request for exemption under Section 44-7-170, or the issuance of a determination regarding the applicability of Section 44-7-160, the Administrative Law Court shall file a final decision no later than twelve months after the contested case is filed with the Clerk of the Administrative Law Court. An affected person who was a party to the contested case has a right to appeal to the Supreme Court final decisions issued by the Administrative Law Court for a contested case arising from the department's decision to grant or deny a Certificate of Need application, grant or denial of a request for exemption under Section 44-7-170, or the issuance of a determination regarding the applicability of Section 44-7-160. Effect of Amendment 2023 Act No. 20, SECTION 13, in (A), in the third sentence, substituted "ninety calendar days" for "one hundred twenty calendar days", and in the fourth sentence, substituted "one hundred twenty calendar days" for "one hundred fifty calendar days"; and rewrote (F) and (G).
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-55-300 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 55 / Article 3 / Section 44-55-300
SECTION 44-55-300. Penalties.
Status: in_force

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article, other than Section 44-55-260, and any person who is responsible for the sanitary maintenance of a privy and who permits such privy, after an official notice reading, "Unsanitary, Unlawful To Use," has been fastened on it, to be used shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-360 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-360
SECTION 44-7-360. Itemized billing.
Status: in_force

Community residential care facilities are required to furnish an item-by-item billing for all charges to the resident or the person paying the bill, upon request by the resident or person paying the bill. Items which remain unpaid are not required to be itemized again. A request for itemized billing remains in effect until further notification by the resident or person paying the bill. The provisions of this section do not apply to the contracted amount of a state agency. Any amount above the contract must be itemized accordingly. Residents receiving an optional supplement from the State Department of Social Services must not be charged an amount greater than that set by that department.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-970 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 7 / Section 44-7-970
SECTION 44-7-970. Issuance of bonds.
Status: in_force

If a majority of the qualified voters in the election held for the establishment of a hospital shall also vote for the issuance of bonds in a designated sum recited in the petition calling for an election and in the notices of such election and stated on the ballots, for the purposes of purchasing the required real estate and constructing and equipping the hospital building or buildings, the city or town council may proceed to issue and sell municipal coupon bonds, in the name of the municipality, in a sum not exceeding that voted for in the election.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-100 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 1 / Section 44-56-100
SECTION 44-56-100. Modification or revocation of orders to prevent violations of chapter.
Status: in_force

The board may issue, modify or revoke any order to prevent any violation of this chapter.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-43-1450 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 43 / Article 14 / Section 44-43-1450
SECTION 44-43-1450. Confidentiality.
Status: in_force

All information contained in the registry is confidential and only may be accessed by procurement organizations that are licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law, and only for the purpose of identifying a potential donor. Identifying information on a registrant or donor may not be disclosed or used for any other purpose without the express written consent of the registrant, donor, or the person who made the anatomical gift.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-1640 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 11 / Section 44-7-1640
SECTION 44-7-1640. Authorization to issue bonds with proceeds to be loaned to more than one hospital agency or public agency; procedures; bonds to be limited obligations.
Status: in_force

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the authorization of an issue of bonds the proceeds of which are loaned to more than one hospital agency or public agency to construct or acquire hospital facilities, whether or not the hospital facilities are located or will be located in the jurisdiction of one or more counties, may be governed by Sections 44-7-1640 through 44-7-1720 of this article. The governing body of the authorizing issuer may authorize an issue of bonds for hospital facilities located outside the jurisdiction of the authorizing issuer, provided, hospital facilities will be simultaneously financed under this article in the jurisdiction of the authorizing issuer pursuant to a subsidiary loan agreement. However, no proceeds may be used to acquire or construct hospital facilities in any project county unless an intergovernmental loan agreement is executed between the authorizing issuer and the project county and unless the county board of the project county consents to the intergovernmental loan agreement. (B) All bonds issued by an authorizing issuer under authority of this article are limited obligations of the authorizing issuer and the project county. The principal, interest, and redemption premiums, if any, on the bonds are payable solely out of the monies to be derived by the authorizing issuer pursuant to one or more intergovernmental loan agreements between the authorizing issuer and the project county or subsidiary loan agreements between the authorizing issuer and a hospital agency or public agency relating to the hospital facilities in the jurisdiction of the authorizing issuer which the bonds are issued to finance or refinance or a subsidiary loan agreement between the project county and the hospital agency or public agency within the jurisdiction of the project county. Bonds and interest coupons issued under authority of this article do not constitute an indebtedness of the authorizing issuer or project county within the meaning of any state constitutional provision or statutory limitation and do not constitute nor give rise to a pecuniary liability of the authorizing issuer or project county or a charge against their general credit or taxing powers, and this fact must be plainly stated on the face of each bond.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-1700 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 11 / Section 44-7-1700
SECTION 44-7-1700. Personal liability or accountability with respect to issuance of bonds.
Status: in_force

Neither the members of the county board of the authorizing issuer or the project county nor any person executing any bonds, the intergovernmental loan agreement, or the subsidiary loan agreement is liable personally on the bonds nor subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-30-20 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 30 / Article 1 / Section 44-30-20
SECTION 44-30-20. Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this article: (1) "CDC" means the Centers for Disease Control of the Public Health Service. (2) "CDC recommendations" means the July 12, 1991, CDC document (MMWR, Volume 40, No. RR-8) entitled "Recommendations for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Patients During Exposure-Prone Invasive Procedures" or equivalent guidelines developed by the department and approved by the CDC and any appropriate supplements or revisions thereto. (3) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (4) "Educational institutions" means the health professional schools of dentistry, medicine, and nursing and any other educational program or institution providing training for health care professionals. (5) "Expert review panel" means a panel of experts in composition and function as defined in the CDC recommendations and appointed or approved by the department. (6) "Health care professional" means a physician, physician's assistant, dentist, dental hygienist, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or podiatrist practicing or licensed to practice in South Carolina. (7) "Licensing board" means these health professional licensing boards which are state agencies and which license and regulate specific health care professions: the State Board of Medical Examiners, the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry, and the State Board of Podiatry Examiners. (8) "Public law" means Public Law 102-141, Section 633, enacted October 28, 1991, applicable to health care professionals. (9) "State public health official" means the director of the department or the director's designee.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-31-350 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 31 / Article 5 / Section 44-31-350
SECTION 44-31-350. Association of prisoners on public works not prohibited.
Status: in_force

Nothing in this article shall be so construed as to interfere with or prevent the county authorities from working or housing together all prisoners on public works as provided by law.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-80-110 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 80 / Section 44-80-110
SECTION 44-80-110. APRN may create, execute, and sign POST form under certain circumstances.
Status: in_force

An advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) may create, execute, and sign a POST form if authorized to do so by his or her practice agreement. The POST form must be for a patient of the APRN, the physician with whom the APRN has entered into a practice agreement, or both.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-30-30 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 30 / Article 1 / Section 44-30-30
SECTION 44-30-30. Department to oversee implementation of PL 102-141, Section 633, and CDC recommendations; assistance to licensing boards to ensure compliance; expert review panel.
Status: in_force

(A) The department is authorized to ensure and oversee the implementation of Public Law 102-141, Section 633, and applicable CDC recommendations and any appropriate supplements and revisions to the CDC recommendations which apply to health care professionals. (B) The department shall provide consultation and assistance to licensing boards, as appropriate, to ensure compliance with CDC recommendations. (C) The department shall appoint at least one or approve an existing expert review panel, consistent with the CDC recommendations in composition and function, whose recommendations must be considered requirements and must be binding upon the affected health care professionals.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-120 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 1 / Section 44-56-120
SECTION 44-56-120. Notification of department of identification and activity relating to hazardous wastes.
Status: in_force

Not later than ninety days after final promulgation or revision of regulations under Section 44-56-30 identifying by its characteristics or listing any substance as hazardous waste subject to this chapter, any person generating or transporting such substance or owning or operating a facility for treatment, storage, or disposal of such substance shall file with the department a notification stating the location and general description of such activity and the identified or listed hazardous waste handled by such person. Not more than one such notification shall be required to be filed with respect to the same substance. No identified or listed hazardous waste subject to this chapter may be transported, treated, stored, or disposed of unless notification has been given as required under this section.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-810 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 9 / Section 44-56-810
SECTION 44-56-810. Creation of fund; purpose; financing and expenditures.
Status: in_force

There is created within the State Treasury the Hazardous Waste Management Research Fund, separate and distinct from the general fund of the State, to ensure the availability of funds for the conduct of research related to waste minimization and reduction and for the development of more effective and efficient methods of conducting governmental response actions at uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The fund must be financed in accordance with Section 44-56-160(B) and expended only in accordance with the provisions of this article.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-9-160 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 9 / Section 44-9-160
SECTION 44-9-160. Construction of certain references in Code.
Status: in_force

Wherever in the 1976 Code reference is made to the State Hospital, it shall mean a state hospital; wherever reference is made requiring the signature of the superintendent of any mental health facility, it shall mean the superintendent or his designee; and wherever reference is made to the Office Director of the Office of Mental Health, it shall mean the Office Director of the Office of Mental Health, a component office of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-175 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 56 / Article 1 / Section 44-56-175
SECTION 44-56-175. Crediting of fees imposed pursuant to Sections 44-56-170(C), (E), and (F) and 44-56-510.
Status: in_force

(A) Of the fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-56-170(C) and (E): (1) eighty-three percent must be credited to the Hazardous Waste Contingency Fund; (2) two percent must be credited to the Pinewood Development Fund; and (3) fifteen percent must be credited to the general fund. (B) Of the fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-56-510: (1) fifty-three percent must be credited to the Hazardous Waste Contingency Fund; (2) twenty percent must be credited to the Pinewood Development Fund; and (3) twenty-seven percent must be credited to the general fund. (C) All fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-56-170(F) must be credited to the general fund.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-225 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 3 / Section 44-7-225
SECTION 44-7-225. State Health Plan in effect at application and at decision.
Status: in_force

The department, the Administrative Law Court, and the Court of Appeals shall consider the South Carolina Health Plan in place at the time the application was filed and may consider the current South Carolina Health Plan when making its decision.
S.C. Code Ann. § 44-7-2115 — SC Code / Title 44 / Chapter 7 / Article 15 / Section 44-7-2115
SECTION 44-7-2115. Meaning of "health care facility" and "public hospital corporation."
Status: in_force

For the purposes of the article: (1) The term "health care facilities" means and includes those hospital facilities as defined in subsection (d) of Section 44-7-1430 of the 1976 Code; (2) The term "public hospital corporation" means any public authority, corporation, or association or entity organized on a local or regional basis by or with the consent of any county or municipality (or any two or more counties or municipalities) and having the power to own or operate any health care facilities, including without limitation, any public corporation or authority heretofore or hereafter organized under the provisions of this article.