South Carolina General Assembly
123rd Session, 2019-2020

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Indicates New Matter

H. 4965

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Rutherford
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gt\5787cm20.docx

Introduced in the House on January 21, 2020
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Prisoners

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   1/21/2020  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 5)
   1/21/2020  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 5)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/21/2020

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 24-13-185 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT AN INMATE SHALL NOT BE DENIED VISITATION RIGHTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES AND TO PROVIDE THAT ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION DEVICES MAY BE USED TO ALLOW AN INMATE TO COMMUNICATE WITH VISITORS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

    "Section 24-13-185.    (A)    Notwithstanding another provision of law, a jail, detention facility, correctional facility, or prison shall not:

        (1)    prohibit, eliminate, or unreasonably limit in-person visitation of inmates; or

        (2)    coerce, compel, or pressure an inmate to forego or limit in-person visitation.

    (B)    A jail, detention facility, correctional facility, or prison may use video or other types of electronic devices for inmate communication with visitors. However, communication by way of these types of devices is in addition to and shall not replace in-person visitation.

    (C)    Nothing contained in this section prohibits the temporary suspension of visitation privileges for good cause including, but not limited to, misbehavior or during an emergency."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 27, 2020 at 10:54 AM