2015 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
CHAPTER 3 - OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON
Section 16-3-1410. Victim assistance services; membership of Victim Services Coordinating Council.

(A) The Victim Compensation Fund is authorized to provide the following victim assistance services, contingent upon the availability of funds:

(1) provide information, training, and technical assistance to state and local agencies and groups involved in victim and domestic violence assistance, such as the Attorney General's Office, the solicitors' offices, law enforcement agencies, judges, hospital staff, rape crisis centers, and spouse abuse shelters;

(2) provide recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on needed legislation and services for victims;

(3) serve as a clearinghouse of victim information;

(4) develop ongoing public awareness and programs to assist victims, such as newsletters, brochures, television and radio spots and programs, and news articles;

(5) provide staff support for a Victim Services Coordinating Council representative of all agencies and groups involved in victim and domestic violence services to improve coordination efforts, suggest policy and procedural improvements to those agencies and groups as needed, and recommend needed statutory changes to the General Assembly; and

(6) coordinate the development and implementation of policy and guidelines for the treatment of victims with appropriate agencies.

(B) The Victim Services Coordinating Council shall consist of the following twenty-two members:

(1) the director of the State Office of Victim Assistance, or his designee;

(2) the director of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, or his designee;

(3) the director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, or his designee;

(4) the director of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, or his designee;

(5) the director of the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination, or his designee;

(6) the Governor's Crime Victims' Ombudsman, or his designee;

(7) the director of the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association, or his designee;

(8) the president of the South Carolina Police Chiefs Association, or his designee;

(9) the president of the South Carolina Jail Administrators' Association, or his designee;

(10) the president of the Solicitors' Advocate Forum, or his designee;

(11) the president of the Law Enforcement Victim Advocate Association, or his designee;

(12) the director of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, or his designee;

(13) the Attorney General, or his designee;

(14) the administrator of the Office of Justice Programs, Department of Public Safety, or his designee;

(15) four representatives appointed by the State Office of Victim Assistance for a term of two years and until their successors are appointed and qualified for each of the following categories:

(a) one representative of university or campus services;

(b) one representative of a statewide crime victim organization;

(c) one representative of a statewide child advocacy organization; and

(d) one crime victim; and

(16) four at-large seats elected upon two-thirds vote of the other eighteen members of the Victim Services Coordinating Council for a term of two years and until their successors are appointed and qualified, at least one of whom must be a crime victim and two of which must be representatives of community-based nongovernmental organizations.

The Victim Services Coordinating Council shall solicit input on issues affecting relevant stakeholders when those stakeholders are not explicitly represented. The Victim Services Coordinating Council shall meet at least four times per year.

HISTORY: 1984 Act No. 489, Section 2; 2008 Act No. 271, Section 3, eff January 1, 2009.