Journal of the Senate
of the Second Session of the 111th General Assembly
of the State of South Carolina
being the Regular Session Beginning Tuesday, January 9, 1996

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The failure of the person who requests a breath or urine test to actually be so tested shall bar the prosecution of the person for using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.

(C) The provisions of Section 56-5-2950 relating to the administration of tests for determining the weight of alcohol in an individual's blood, additional tests at the individual's expense, availability of test information to the individual or the individual's attorney, and liability of medical institutions and persons administering the tests are applicable to this section.

(D) The results of a test administered pursuant to this section for the purpose of detecting the presence of a controlled substance are not admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution for the possession of a controlled substance.

(E) Information obtained pursuant to this section must be released to a court, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, or law enforcement officer in connection with an alleged violation of Section 23-31-400 upon request for this information.

Section 23-31-415. (A) If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person used a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and caused the death or serious bodily injury of an individual, the person shall submit, upon the request of the law enforcement officer, to a test of his blood for the purpose of determining its alcohol content or for the presence of a controlled substance.

(B) A criminal charge resulting from the incident precipitating the officer's demand for testing should be tried concurrently with a charge of a violation of Section 23-31-400. If the charges are tried separately, the fact that the person refused, resisted, obstructed, or opposed testing is admissible at the trial of the criminal offense which precipitated the demand for testing.

(C) The results of any test administered pursuant to this section for the purpose of detecting the presence of a controlled substance is not admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution for the possession of a controlled substance.

Notwithstanding another provision of law pertaining to the confidentiality of hospital records or other medical records, information obtained pursuant to this section must be released to a court, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, or law enforcement officer in connection with an alleged violation of Section 23-31-400 upon request for such information.


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Section 23-31-420. (A) Upon the trial of a civil or criminal action or proceeding arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by a person while using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, the results of any test administered pursuant to Section 23-31-410 or 23-31-415 and this section is admissible into evidence and the amount of alcohol in the person's blood at the time alleged, as shown by chemical analysis of the person's blood or breath, shall create the following presumptions:

(1) If there was at that time five one-hundredths of one percent or less by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, it must be presumed that the person was not under the influence of alcohol.

(2) If there was at that time in excess of five one-hundredths of one percent but less than ten one-hundredths of one percent by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, that fact shall not give rise to any inference that the person was or was not under the influence of alcohol to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired, but that fact may be considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the person was under the influence of alcohol.

(3) If there was at that time ten one-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, this creates an inference that the person was under the influence of alcohol.

(B) The percent by weight of alcohol in the blood must be based upon grams of alcohol per one-hundred milliliters of blood. The provisions of this section must not be construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether the person was under the influence of alcohol."

SECTION 3. Section 16-23-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-23-20. It shall be is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person, whether concealed or not, any pistol, whether concealed or not, except as follows:

(1) Regular, salaried law enforcement officers and reserve police officers of a municipality or county of the State, uncompensated Governor's constables, law enforcement officers of the federal government or other states when they are carrying out official duties while in this State, and deputy enforcement officers of the Natural Resources Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources.

(2) Members of the Armed Forces of the United States or of the National Guard, organized reserves, or the State Militia when on duty.

(3) Members of organizations authorized by law to purchase or receive firearms from the United States or this State, or regularly enrolled members of clubs organized for the purpose of target shooting or


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collecting modern and antique firearms while such these members are at or going to or from their places of target practice or their shows and exhibits.

(4) Licensed hunters or fishermen while engaged in hunting or fishing and or going to and or from their places of hunting or fishing.

(5) Any person regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing, repossession, or dealing in firearms, or the agent or representative of such this person while possessing, using, or carrying a pistol in the usual or ordinary course of such the business.

(6) Guards engaged in protection of property of the United States or any agency thereof.

(7) Any authorized military or civil organizations while parading or the members thereof when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations.

(8) Any person in his home, or upon his real property, or fixed place of business.

(9) Any person in any a vehicle where the pistol is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, or closed trunk.

(10)

Any person carrying a pistol unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to his home or a fixed place of business or while in the process of the changing or moving of one's residence or the changing or moving of one's his fixed place of business.

(11) Any prison guard while engaged in his official duties.

(12) Any person who is granted a permit under provision of law by the State Law Enforcement Division to carry a pistol about his person, in circumstances and under conditions set forth in such the permit.

Persons authorized to carry weapons pursuant to items (6) and (12) of this section may exercise such this privilege only after acquiring a permit from the State Law-Enforcement Law Enforcement Division as provided for in Article 3 4 of Chapter 31 of Title 23."

SECTION 4. Section 16-23-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-23-460. Any person carrying a dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon usually used for the infliction of personal injury concealed about his person is guilty of a misdemeanor, shall must forfeit to the county, or, if convicted in a municipal court, to the municipality the concealed weapon so carried concealed, and must be fined in the sum of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars and not less than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days nor less than thirty days.


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Nothing herein contained may be construed to apply to (1) persons carrying concealed weapons upon their own premises or pursuant to and in compliance with Article 4 of Chapter 31 of Title 23, or (2) to peace officers in the actual discharge of their duties. The provisions of this section do not apply to rifles, or shotguns, dirks, slingshots, metal knuckles, or razors unless they are used with the intent to commit a crime or in furtherance of a crime."

SECTION 5. Section 16-23-465 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-23-465. In addition to the penalties provided for by Sections 16-11-330 and 16-23-460 and by Article 1 of Chapter 23 of Title 16, a person convicted of unlawfully carrying a pistol or firearm onto the premises of a business which sells alcoholic liquor, beer, or wine for consumption on the premises is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

In addition to the penalties described above, a person who violates this section while carrying a concealable weapon pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23 must have his concealed weapon permit revoked."

SECTION 6. Section 16-23-420 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-23-420. (A) It is unlawful for a person to carry into onto any premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, or university building, technical college, other post-secondary institution, or any publicly owned building, or have in his possession in the area immediately adjacent to these buildings, a firearm of any kind, without the express permission of the authorities in charge of the buildings premises or property.

(B) It is unlawful for a person to enter these buildings, or the immediately adjacent areas, the premises or property described in subsection (A) and to display, brandish, or threaten others with a firearm.

(C) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(D) This section does not apply to a guard, law enforcement officer, or member of the armed forces, or student of military science. A married student residing in apartments provided by the private or public school whose presence with a weapon in or around a particular building is authorized by persons legally responsible for the security of the buildings is also exempted from the provisions of this section.


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(E) For purposes of this section, the terms `premises' and `property' do not include state or locally owned or maintained roads, streets, or rights-of-way thereof, running through or adjacent to premises or property owned, operated, or controlled by a private or public school, college, university, technical college, or other post-secondary institution, which are open full time to public vehicular traffic."

SECTION 7. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 23-31-217. Nothing in this article shall affect the provisions of Section 16-23-20."

SECTION 8. Nothing contained in this article shall in any way be construed to limit, diminish, or otherwise infringe upon:

(1) the right of a public or private employer to prohibit a person who is licensed under this article from carrying a concealable weapon upon the premises of the business or work place or while using any machinery, vehicle, or equipment owned or operated by the business;

(2) the right of a private property owner or person in legal possession or control to allow or prohibit the carrying of a concealable weapon upon his premises.

The posting by the employer, owner, or person in legal possession or control of a sign stating "No Concealable Weapons Allowed" shall constitute notice to a person holding a permit issued pursuant to this article that the employer, owner, or person in legal possession or control requests that concealable weapons not be brought upon the premises or into the work place. A person who brings a concealable weapon onto the premises or work place in violation of the provisions of this paragraph may be charged with a violation of Section 16-11-620. In addition to the penalties provided in Section 16-11-620, a person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of the provisions of this paragraph must have his permit revoked for a period of one year. The prohibition contained in this section does not apply to persons specified in Section 16-23-20, item (1).

SECTION 9. Section 10-11-340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 10-11-340. Nothing contained in this article shall forbid prohibits any member of the General Assembly or any officer or employee or persons otherwise authorized and required to perform duties within the capitol building from performing their normal duties, including the carrying of firearms, except as may be limited by the rules of either House within their respective chambers."

SECTION 10. Section 40-17-120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:


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"Section 40-17-120. (A) Except as provided in subsection (D), the division may grant to a person licensed or registered in accordance with this chapter a permit to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm. Application for the permit must be made on forms provided by the division, and the fee is twenty dollars a year. The permit is for one year and application for renewal must be on a form furnished by the division. The permit is not transferable.

(B) No person may be issued a permit until he has presented to the division proof that he is proficient in the use of firearms and has received a minimum of four hours' classroom instruction.

(C) A person engaged in the private security business or registered in accordance with Section 40-17-80 and issued a permit in accordance with this section may carry a firearm in an open and fully-exposed manner only while on duty, in uniform, and going to and from work. However, the division in its discretion may issue an additional written permit to the person to carry the firearm about his person, concealed or not, even though he is not in uniform nor on duty if the division determines that the additional permit will enable the permittee to better perform his assigned duties. No additional permit may be issued to a permittee to be effective in a place where alcoholic beverages, beer, or wine are sold or consumed.

(D) Permits for carrying firearms must not be issued pursuant to this section to persons registered as private detectives. Nothing in this section prohibits a private detective from carrying a concealable weapon pursuant to and in compliance with Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23.

(E) A person licensed or registered in accordance with this chapter may, in addition to the permit issued pursuant to subsections (A) through (C) of this section, apply for a permit pursuant to Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23."

SECTION 11. Nothing herein affects the validity of permits issued prior to the effective date of this act pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 31 of Title 23. These permits are valid until they expire and are governed by any laws or regulations in effect on the date of their issuance.

SECTION 12. No person who holds a permit issued pursuant to this article may carry a concealable weapon into the residence or dwelling place of another person without the express permission of the owner or person in legal control or possession, as appropriate. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the court and have his permit revoked for five years.


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SECTION 13. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, any requirement of or allowance for the posting of signs prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon upon any premises may be satisfied by a sign expressing the prohibition in written language interdict or universal sign language.

SECTION 14. Notwithstanding any provision of law, any person may carry a concealable weapon from an automobile or other motorized conveyance to a room or other accommodation he has rented and upon which an accommodations tax has been paid.

SECTION 15. Section 23-31-120 of the 1976 Code is repealed.

SECTION 16. This act takes effect thirty days after approval by the Governor./

Amend title to conform.

/s/Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. .......... /s/J. Gary Simrill
/s/C. Tyrone Courtney .......... /s/James S. Klauber
James E. Bryan, Jr. .......... /s/W. Jeffrey Young

On Part of the Senate. .......... On Part of the House.

, and a message was sent to the House accordingly.

S. 1117--REPORT OF THE

COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE ADOPTED

S. 1117 -- Education Committee: A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO EDUCATION, BY ADDING CHAPTER 144 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES ASSISTANCE ACT", TO MAKE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO CONSTRUCT AND RENOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF SCHOOL REVENUE BONDS FOR SPECIFIED PURPOSES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.

On motion of Senator SETZLER, with unanimous consent, the Report of the Committee of Conference was taken up for immediate consideration.

Senator SETZLER spoke on the report.

On motion of Senator SETZLER, the Report of the Committee of Conference to S. 1117 was adopted as follows:


Printed Page 3627 . . . . . Wednesday, June 12, 1996

S. 1117--Conference Report

The General Assembly, Columbia, S.C., June 12, 1996

The COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE, to whom was referred:

S. 1117 -- Education Committee: A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO EDUCATION, BY ADDING CHAPTER 144 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES ASSISTANCE ACT", TO MAKE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO CONSTRUCT AND RENOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES, AND TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF SCHOOL REVENUE BONDS FOR SPECIFIED PURPOSES IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.
Beg leave to report that they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend:

That the same do pass with the following amendments:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the acting words and inserting the following:

/SECTION 1. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"CHAPTER 144

Public School Facilities Assistance

Article 1

General Provisions

Section 59-144-10. Funds available from the Children's Education Endowment Fund, as established in Chapter 143 of this title, must be used for public school facilities assistance as provided in this chapter.

Section 59-144-20. For the benefit of the people of the State and the increase of their commerce, welfare, and prosperity, it is essential that the school districts of this State be assisted in obtaining adequate school facilities to assist youth in achieving the required levels of learning. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide a measure of assistance to the school districts of this State in securing the facilities and structures which are needed to accomplish the goals and purposes of public education, all to the public benefit and good, to the extent and manner provided in this chapter.

Section 59-144-30. Funds made available through this chapter must be used for permanent school instructional facilities and fixed equipment including the costs for construction, improvement, enlargement, or renovation of public school facilities. The district may use its fiscal year 1996-97 allocation for payment of debt service provided that the debt service relates to school facilities as defined herein. In subsequent years, after all construction and renovation needs identified in a district's school facilities improvement plan have been met, the district may request to use


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its allocation for payment of debt service provided the debt service relates to school facilities as defined herein.

As used in this chapter, `school facilities' only includes facilities necessary for instructional and related purposes including, but not limited to, classrooms, libraries, media centers, laboratories, cafeterias, physical education spaces, related interior and exterior facilities, and the conduit, wiring, and powering of hardware installations for classroom computers or for area network systems. `School facilities' does not include unimproved real property, centralized district administration facilities, portable classrooms, or other facilities, including those normally identified with interscholastic sports activities. However, for fiscal year 1996-97 only, 'school facilities' includes portable classrooms. As used in this chapter, fixed equipment means a fixture as defined in Section 36-9-313(1)(a).

Section 59-144-40. From annual allotments made to the various districts, a school district may accumulate its allotments for up to seventy-two months to meet the facilities' needs identified in its capital improvement plan.

Article 2

School Facilities Assistance Allocation

Section 59-144-100. (A) Funds made available under this chapter must be allocated annually to the school districts in the following manner:

(1) thirty-five percent of the funds allocated annually to the several school districts for facilities' needs must be allocated on a per pupil basis using the weighted pupil units of each district for the preceding year;

(2) thirty-five percent must be allocated according to the preceding year's Education Finance Act (EFA) formula;

(3) fifteen percent of the funds allocated annually to the several school districts for facilities' needs must be distributed based on a standardized assessment of the districts' needs for facilities using a uniform estimate of costs as established in Section 59-144-120. Individual district allotments must be based on the district facilities need relative to the state total facilities need;

(4) fifteen percent of the funds allocated annually to the school districts must be distributed based on equalized effort defined as the prior five years' average expenditures for capital projects and debt service, including lease-purchase obligations, for school instructional facilities divided by the average assessed value of all property subject to ad valorem school taxation and adjusted to reflect an equalized per pupil mill value. Individual district allotments must be based on a district's equalized effort


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relative to the state total equalized effort. The amount included for lease-purchase obligations shall not include the costs of utilities or operation and maintenance of the leased facility;

(5) a district's annual allotment must be the sum of the four amounts calculated as provided in this section. Funds from a district's allotment shall be made available as needed once approval is received from the State Board of Education pursuant to Chapter 23 of this title.

(B) The Department of Juvenile Justice, the Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School, the John de la Howe School, and the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind also shall be annually allocated funds from the Children's Education Endowment Fund for facilities needs on a per pupil basis using weighted pupil units for one hundred percent of their allocations. For purposes of these allocations only, all pupils of these schools are considered K-12 pupils.

Section 59-144-120. The State Board of Education responsibilities in regard to this chapter include:

(1) developing policies, guidelines, and standards for a uniform assessment of facilities' needs and standardized cost allowances for estimating the cost in meeting these needs in order to provide for a systematic reporting of each district's needs to be used in calculating the allotment of funds under Section 59-144-100. Any standardized cost allowances must take into account regional variances that are beyond the control of individual districts. Facilities' needs include, but are not limited to, facility need capacity and condition, space requirements, program standards, and pupil growth. Costs allowances shall be developed to include such measures as costs per square foot, costs per pupil, or costs per teaching unit with such costs adjusted annually to reflect changes in the cost of labor and materials. These standards and cost allowances are to be used only for providing a uniform reporting of districts' needs for formula allotment purposes and are not intended to limit district options in determining the most appropriate manner in which to meet individual district needs; and

(2) adopting policies, standards, and regulations to ensure the accuracy of district reporting required under this chapter and the use of funds disbursed under this chapter.

Section 59-144-130. Every three years by December first beginning with the year 1998, the State Board of Education shall report to the General Assembly the projected five-year school facilities improvement requirements reported by the school districts, the needs identified since the last report, and those previously identified needs addressed since the last report.


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