Current Status Bill Number:242 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19950110 Primary Sponsor:Gregory All Sponsors:Gregory, Giese, Hayes, Rose Drafted Document Number:DKA\3502CM.95 Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:DUI, chemical blood tests
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19950110 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
Senate 19941031 Prefiled, referred to Committee 11 SJ
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TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-2950, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE IMPLIED CONSENT TO CHEMICAL BREATH TESTS TO DETERMINE THE PRESENCE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS IN OPERATORS OF MOTOR VEHICLES, SO AS TO INCREASE FROM NINETY TO ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS THE TIME A DRIVER'S LICENSE MUST BE SUSPENDED FOR REFUSAL TO SUBMIT TO A CHEMICAL BREATH TEST.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 56-5-2950(a) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 36T, Part II, Act 479 of 1994, is further amended to read:
"(a) A person who operates a motor vehicle in this State is considered to have given consent to chemical tests of his breath, blood, or urine for the purpose of determining the presence of alcohol or drugs if arrested for an offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them. A test must be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer who has apprehended a person for operating a motor vehicle in this State while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them. At the direction of the arresting officer the person first must be offered a breath test to determine the alcohol concentration of his blood. If the person is physically unable to provide an acceptable breath sample because he has an injured mouth, is unconscious, dead, or for another reason considered acceptable by the licensed medical personnel, a blood sample may be taken. If the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is under the influence of drugs other than alcohol, the officer may order that a urine sample be taken for testing. If the breathalyzer reading is ten one-hundredths of one percent by weight of alcohol in the person's blood or above, the officer may not require additional tests of the person as provided in this chapter. The breath test must be administered by a person trained and certified by SLED, using methods approved by SLED. The arresting officer may not administer the tests. Blood and urine samples must be taken by physicians licensed by the State Board of Medical Examiners, registered nurses licensed by the State Board of Nursing, and other medical personnel trained to take the samples in a licensed medical facility. Blood samples or urine samples must be obtained and handled in accordance with procedures approved by SLED. No tests may be administered or samples taken unless the person has been informed that he does not have to take the test or give the samples but that his privilege to drive must be suspended or denied for ninety one hundred eighty days if he refuses to submit to the tests. A hospital, physician, qualified technician, chemist, or registered nurse who takes the samples or conducts the test or participates in the process of taking the samples or conducting the test in accordance with this section is not subject to a cause of action for assault, battery, or another cause contending that the drawing of blood or taking samples at the request of the arrested person or a law enforcement officer was wrongful. This release from liability does not reduce the standard of medical care required of the person taking the samples or conducting the test. This qualified release also applies to the employer of the person who conducts the test or takes the samples.
The person tested or giving samples for testing may have a qualified person of his own choosing conduct additional tests at his expense and must be notified of that right. A person's failure to request additional blood or urine tests is not admissible against the person in the criminal trial. The failure or inability of the person tested to obtain additional tests does not preclude the admission of evidence relating to the tests or samples taken at the direction of the law enforcement officer.
The arresting officer shall provide reasonable assistance to the person to contact a qualified person to conduct additional tests.
SLED shall administer the provisions of this subsection and may make regulations necessary to carry out its provisions. The costs of the tests administered at the direction of the law enforcement officer must be paid from the general fund of the State.
A qualified person who obtains samples or administers the tests or assists in obtaining samples or administration of tests at the direction of a law enforcement officer is released from civil and criminal liability unless the obtaining of samples or tests is performed in a negligent manner. No person may be required by the arresting officer, or by another law enforcement officer, to obtain or take any sample of blood or urine."
SECTION 2. Section 56-5-2950(d) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 1420, Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"(d) If a person under arrest refuses, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to submit to chemical tests as provided in subsection (a) of this section, none may be given, but the department, on the basis of a report of the law enforcement officer that the arrested person was operating a motor vehicle in this State while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them and that the person had refused to submit to the tests shall suspend his license or permit to drive, or any nonresident operating privilege for a period of ninety one hundred eighty days. If the person is a resident without a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle in this State, the department shall deny to the person the issuance of a license or permit for a period of ninety one hundred eighty days after the date of the alleged violation. The ninety-day one hundred eighty-day period of suspension begins with the day after the date of the notice required to be given, unless a hearing is requested as provided, in which case the ninety-day one hundred eighty-day period begins with the day after the date of the order sustaining the suspension or denial of issuance. The report of the arresting officer must include what grounds he had for believing that the arrested person had been operating a motor vehicle in this State while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of them. If the arrested person took the chemical breath test but refused to provide a blood or urine sample, the report of the arresting officer must include what were his grounds for believing that the arrested person was under the influence of drugs other than alcohol. If a person who refuses, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to submit to chemical tests as provided in subsection (a) of this section, pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or forfeits bond for a first offense violation of Section 56-5-2930, within thirty days of arrest, the period of the suspension of driving privileges under this section must be canceled and any suspension of driving privileges under Section 56-5-2990 for a first conviction may not exceed six months."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.