South Carolina House Bill H3480

South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/14/25
• Refer: 1/14/25

Caption

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE "HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE SECURITY ACT"; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-3-600, RELATING TO ASSAULT AND BATTERY OFFENSES AND DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO INCLUDE ASSAULT AND BATTERY OFFENSES COMMITTED WITHIN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES UPON HEALTHCARE WORKERS, TO DEFINE "HEALTHCARE FACILITY" AND "HEALTHCARE WORKER," AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE HEALTHCARE FACILITY'S ADDRESS SHALL SERVE AS THE ADDRESS OF A HEALTHCARE WORKER WHO IS A VICTIM OF ASSAULT AND BATTERY WITHIN A HEALTHCARE FACILITY.

Summary

H3480, the “Healthcare Workplace Security Act,” amends South Carolina’s assault and battery statute to create enhanced criminal penalties for certain assaults committed inside a healthcare facility against a healthcare worker. The bill adds specific healthcare-related aggravating circumstances to the existing assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and second-degree assault and battery offenses when the conduct occurs in a healthcare facility and involves serious injury, deadly weapons, strangulation, moderate bodily injury, sexual touching, or offensive physical contact such as spitting or exposure to bodily fluids, pathogens, or human waste. The bill also defines “healthcare facility” and “healthcare worker” for purposes of the statute, extending coverage to reception and administrative areas and to healthcare professionals’ or physicians’ offices. In addition to the criminal penalty changes, it requires that in certain incident reports, charging documents, and related legal documents, a victimized healthcare worker’s address be listed as the healthcare facility address rather than the worker’s personal address, providing a privacy measure for victims of covered offenses.

Impact

The bill would directly amend Section 16-3-600 of the South Carolina Code, expanding the state’s assault and battery framework to treat violence against healthcare workers in healthcare settings as a more serious category of offense. It creates new healthcare-specific aggravating factors within existing felony and misdemeanor assault classifications and establishes mandatory minimum sentences and higher fines for the covered conduct. It also changes how victim address information is recorded in certain legal documents, which would affect law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and healthcare employers involved in incident reporting.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the measure appears to be framed as a workplace safety and victim-protection bill for healthcare personnel. The overall tone of the legislation is protective and punitive, reflecting a policy preference for stronger deterrence and privacy safeguards in response to assaults on healthcare workers. No contrary sentiment is documented in the provided materials, but the bill’s structure suggests broad support for improving security in healthcare settings.

Contention

The main policy issue embedded in the bill is the creation of special criminal penalties for assaults occurring in healthcare facilities, which raises questions about whether healthcare workers should receive enhanced statutory protection compared with other victims in other workplaces. Another potential point of contention is the mandatory minimum sentencing language for covered offenses, which limits judicial discretion and bars suspension or probation for the minimum term. The address-protection provision may also draw attention because it changes standard reporting practices to shield victims’ personal information.