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Senate subcommittee presses for fixes to youth-coach background-check bill, carries it over
Summary
Witnesses and lawmakers praised the intent of S.809—requiring background checks for youth sports coaches—but DSS and members flagged gaps on cost allocation, required checks and discretionary disqualifiers; the subcommittee carried the bill over for amendment and further study.
The Senate subcommittee heard testimony on Senate Bill 809 on background checks for youth sports coaches and agreed to carry the bill over for more work. Conley Ann Ragley of the South Carolina Department of Social Services said the bill’s intent is "well meaning" but needs clarifying amendments on which checks are required and who pays for them.
Ragley urged keeping both an FBI fingerprint-based check and a SLED criminal-history check in the text because "South Carolina does not share necessarily all of our data with the FBI," and the state’s central child-abuse-and-neglect registry is managed by DSS. She also flagged a subsection that allows youth organizations to consider pardons, convictions or pleas "and the circumstances surrounding them," warning that leaving disqualifying decisions fully to leagues could produce inconsistent results across organizations.
Lawmakers repeatedly raised practical concerns. One senator told the panel that some convictions—such as distributing child sexual-abuse material—would be nonstarters for any league, but members worried about volunteer recruitment and timing, noting "finding the coach the day before the season" is common in local youth sports. Ragley outlined approximate fees for commonly required checks: "the central registry for South Carolina is $8 per check," SLED checks "between $25 and $30," and the FBI fingerprint process under the state contract through Identigo is roughly $50, so the costs can "almost add up to $100." She asked the bill specify who pays each fee so local volunteers and community leagues are not unduly burdened.
Committee members also asked whether public-school districts or recreation commissions already require similar clearances and whether the bill should follow those standards. DSS said it could not speak for the State Department of Education and recommended staff research local practices and statutory requirements before final language is adopted.
After discussion the committee voted to carry S.809 over for amendment and further examination of the implementation, cost and standards issues raised by witnesses and members.
