A bill

TO AMEND THE south carolina CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 24-3-980 SO AS TO PROVIDE INMATES CONFINED IN STATE OR LOCAL DETENTION FACILITIES MUST BE ALLOWED AT LEAST ONE IN-PERSON MEETING EACH MONTH AND TO DEFINE THE TERM "IN-PERSON MEETING".

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

SECTION 1.   Article 9, Chapter 3, Title 24 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

   Section 24-3-980.   (A) An inmate confined in a state, county, or municipal detention facility must be allowed at least one in-person meeting with another person each month as long as the meeting does not jeopardize the security of the detention facility or prohibit its normal operations.

   (B) As contained in this section, an "in-person meeting" is a meeting that occurs when an inmate and another person have been placed in the same room or general area with no continuous partition. The state, county, or municipal detention facility may provide general visual observation of the area in which the in-person meeting occurs, but may not provide audio or video supervision of the area.

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

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