Senate Judiciary subcommittee hears victims, prosecutors and experts on bills to expand blood testing and stiffen DUI penalties

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee heard hours of testimony on two proposed bills, S.52 and S.192, that would change South Carolina law on impaired driving by expanding when officers may seek blood tests, creating new felony tiers tied to bodily injury, altering ignition-interlock and license-suspension rules and adding a statutory victim-impact panel.

Supporters said the changes are aimed at reducing fatalities and addressing drug-impaired driving; critics warned about due‑process and operational burdens on state agencies. The session included victim statements, testimony from prosecutors and law-enforcement laboratory officials, comments from the Department of Motor Vehicles and filings from criminal-defense groups.

Why it matters: South Carolina legislators, prosecutors and victim advocates told the panel that existing DUI laws and collection procedures too often leave courts without evidence that would show impairment from drugs — not just alcohol — and that that gap contributes to low conviction rates and preventable deaths. Witnesses also flagged practical barriers to implementation, including laboratory capacity, DMV software limits and local hospital cooperation.

The bills and what they would change

Staff told the committee S.52 would "make comprehensive changes" to South Carolina DUI laws by creating new offenses (including second‑degree DUI resulting in bodily injury, reckless driving producing great or moderate bodily injury), broadening who may collect blood and urine samples, altering video-recording requirements and extending possible license suspensions. The staff explanation said S.192 is "similar" but would: remove the statutory requirement that a breath test be performed before other alcohol/blood testing; expand who may collect blood; require officers to make a "reasonable effort" to meet statutory evidence-collection rules; remove the "no parole" label for felony DUI resulting in death; and change some ignition-interlock and temporary alcohol license provisions.

Victims and advocacy groups

Donna Gerald, who identified herself as a family member of a DUI victim, told the subcommittee, "I am all for whatever you can do today to get drunk drivers off of South Carolina highways," and urged lawmakers to act to prevent other families' grief. Lisa Hagberg, who said her daughter was killed by a speeding,…