Subcommittee amends H4188 to clarify handling of unidentified and unclaimed remains
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Summary
A legislative subcommittee approved amendments to H4188 that define 'unidentified' and 'unclaimed' bodies and allow coroners to take custody and arrange disposal when no one will assume financial responsibility; the measure was forwarded to the full committee.
The subcommittee approved an amendment to H4188 that rewrites how unidentified and unclaimed human remains are defined and handled, and moved the bill to the full committee.
Paula, the subcommittee staff member who presented the draft, said staff consulted three coroners and prepared language "to define what an unidentified and an unclaimed body is and to specify in particular with an unclaimed body if there is a person who could take custody of the body, but that person cannot or will not assume the financial responsibility, then the coroner may take care of the disposal of the body." She told members the draft eliminates prior phrasing that raised concerns about situations in which a person was charged with a crime.
Charleston County Coroner Bobby Joe O'Neil, speaking for the South Carolina Coroners Association, said the association "is completely behind that change in language" and asked to modify one clause so that a coroner "may have the remains buried or entered in a cemetery in the county in which the remains were found," noting some counties lack public cemeteries.
When the chair asked how coroners would handle remains in counties without a cemetery, O'Neil replied that coroners would keep cremains in custody and "should we ever find family, we can give those cremains back." He said coroners sometimes retain custody because there is no immediate family or interment option.
The subcommittee voted by voice to adopt the amendment with no recorded opposition. As amended, H4188 will be sent to the full committee for further consideration.
The committee did not record a roll-call vote; members indicated approval by saying "aye."
