Current Status Bill Number:3184 Ratification Number:371 Act Number:307 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19970114 Primary Sponsor:Davenport All Sponsors:Davenport Drafted Document Number:gjk\23160sd.97 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19980416 Date of Last Amendment:19970515 Governor's Action:S Date of Governor's Action:19980526 Subject:Human remains or repositories, destruction or desecration of; Cemeteries, Medical, Crimes and Offenses
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________ ------ 19980611 Act No. A307 ------ 19980526 Signed by Governor ------ 19980521 Ratified R371 House 19980416 Concurred in Senate amendment, enrolled for ratification House 19980415 Debate adjourned upon Senate amendments until 19980416 Senate 19980402 Read third time, returned to House with amendment Senate 19970515 Read second time, ordered to third reading with notice of general amendments Senate 19970515 Committee amendment adopted Senate 19970514 Committee report: Favorable with 11 SJ amendment Senate 19970218 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ referred to Committee House 19970214 Read third time, sent to Senate House 19970213 Read second time, unanimous consent for third reading on Friday, 19970214 House 19970213 Committee amendment adopted House 19970212 Committee report: Favorable with 25 HJ amendment House 19970114 Introduced, read first time, 25 HJ referred to Committee House 19970108 Prefiled, referred to Committee 25 HJView additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
(A307, R371, H3184)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 16-17-600, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE UNLAWFUL DESTRUCTION OR DESECRATION OF HUMAN REMAINS OR REPOSITORIES AND THE PENALTIES THEREFOR, SO AS TO INCREASE THE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS, TO REQUIRE COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS, TO PROVIDE THAT A CREMATORY OPERATOR IS NEITHER CIVILLY NOR CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR CREMATING A BODY WHICH HAS BEEN INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED OR THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR HAS OBTAINED INVALID AUTHORIZATION TO CREMATE, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS IMMUNITY DOES NOT APPLY TO A CREMATORY OPERATOR WHO KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THE BODY WAS INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Penalties increased; community service; crematory operators' immunity
SECTION 1. Section 16-17-600 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 37, Act 184 of 1993, is further amended to read:
Section 16-17-600. (A) It is unlawful for a person wilfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:
(1) destroy or damage the remains of a deceased human being;
(2) remove a portion of the remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository; or
(3) desecrate human remains.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not less than one year nor more than ten years, or both.
A crematory operator is neither civilly nor criminally liable for cremating a body which (1) has been incorrectly identified by the funeral director, coroner, medical examiner, or person authorized by law to bring the deceased to the crematory; or (2) the funeral director has obtained invalid authorization to cremate. This immunity does not apply to a crematory operator who knew or should have known that the body was incorrectly identified.
(B) It is unlawful for a person wilfully and knowingly, and without proper legal authority to:
(1) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a burial ground where human skeletal remains are buried, a grave, graveyard, tomb, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;
(2) deface, vandalize, injure, or remove a gravestone or other memorial monument or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield; or
(3) obliterate, vandalize, or desecrate a park or other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a deceased person or group of persons.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(C) It is unlawful for a person wilfully, knowingly, and without proper legal authority to destroy, tear down, or injure only fencing, plants, trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a repository for human remains, or within a human graveyard or memorial park.
A person violating the provisions of subsection (C) 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. Injury or loss of property less than two hundred dollars is a misdemeanor triable in magistrate's court. Upon conviction, the person must be fined, imprisoned, or both, not more than is permitted by law, without presentment or indictment by the grand jury, and further must be required to perform up to five hundred hours of community service in an amount to be determined by the court.
Time effective
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 26th day of May, 1998.