2022 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 17 - Criminal Procedures
Chapter 5 - Coroners And Medical Examiners
Section 17-5-541. Local Child Fatality Review Teams; composition; notifications.

(A) For the purposes of this section, "a person responsible for a child's welfare" has the same meaning as in Section 63-7-20(16).

(B) The coroner of each county, within a timeframe not exceeding seven working days, shall schedule a local Child Fatality Review Team to perform a review of a case where a child under the age of eighteen dies in the county he serves. The team may be composed of:

(1) the county coroner or his designee;

(2) a local law enforcement officer;

(3) an agent from the State Law Enforcement Division's Department of Child Fatalities assigned to the case;

(4) a board certified child abuse pediatrician;

(5) a representative from the local county department of social services; and

(6) a forensic pathologist.

(C) In addition to the mandatory notification requirement in Section 17-5-540, the coroner shall immediately notify the local county department of social services and request any involvement of the agency, excluding any economic services, in the life of the child, a sibling, or a person responsible for a child's welfare that resulted in a referred, indicated, or unfounded case.

(D) The local county department of social services, within twenty-four hours or one working day, whichever comes first, must provide the coroner and the State Law Enforcement Division's Department of Child Fatalities information related to any involvement of the agency, excluding any economic services, in the life of the child, a sibling, or a person responsible for a child's welfare that resulted in a referred, indicated, or unfounded case.

HISTORY: 2018 Act No. 183 (S.170), Section 1, eff May 17, 2018.