South Carolina § 43-35-35 - Reporting deaths where abuse or neglect suspected.

§ 43-35-35. Reporting deaths where abuse or neglect suspected.

(A) A person required to report or investigate cases under this chapter who has reasonable suspicion to believe that a vulnerable adult died as a result of abuse or neglect shall report the death and suspected cause of death to the coroner or medical examiner. The coroner or medical examiner shall conduct an investigation and may conduct or order an autopsy. The coroner or medical examiner must report the investigative findings to the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

(B) All deaths involving a vulnerable adult in a facility operated or contracted for operation by the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, or their contractors must be referred to the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for investigation pursuant to Section 43-35-520.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 110, SECTION 1, eff three months after June 11, 1993; 2006 Act No. 301, SECTION 6, eff May 23, 2006; 2010 Act No. 223, SECTION 5, eff June 7, 2010.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.