Subcommittee clears two housekeeping bills updating victim services statute and agency names

The House Judiciary subcommittee voted to give favorable reports to House Bills 3524 and 3525, measures described by the attorney general's office as statutory cleanups to bring South Carolina law into line with current practice and organizational names.

Matt Gates of Attorney General Alan Wilson's office told the subcommittee that HB3524 and HB3525 are intended to remove "antiquated" language and a grandfathering provision that no longer applies. "When the victim certification bill was passed in 02/2009, we had a lot of folks that were already doing victim services…this grandfather provision just needs to come out of the statute," Gates said. He also said mental-health clinicians already hold relevant certifications and do not require extra victim-service certification.

Gates told the committee the revisions follow recommendations from a 2022 House Oversight study of the attorney general's office and its crime victim services division. He described HB3525 as "totally clerical cleanup," changing division names to reflect the office's current organization, and said an amendment presented to HB3525 replaces a stricken reference to the "State Office of Victim Assistance" with the "Department of Crime Victim Compensation."

Representative Johnson's subcommittee adopted the Johnson amendment to HB3525 and then approved both bills. Roll-call votes recorded Chairman Jeff Johnson, Representative William Bailey, Representative Robbie Robbins and Representative Seth Rose voting aye; committee members announced the bills received favorable reports (HB3525 "as amended").

Committee members did not record further public testimony on the cleanup measures during the brief consideration; staff summaries were available to members, Gates said.