2015-2016 Bill 162: Hailey's Law - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 S. 162 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senators McElveen and Johnson 10 Document Path: l:\s-res\jtm\002idle.kmm.jtm.docx 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015 13 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry 14 15 Summary: Hailey's Law 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 12/3/2014 Senate Prefiled 22 12/3/2014 Senate Referred to Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry 23 1/13/2015 Senate Introduced and read first time ( Senate Journalpage 109) 24 1/13/2015 Senate Referred to Committee on Fish, Game and Forestry ( Senate Journalpage 109) 25 26 View the latest legislative information at the website 27 28 29 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 30 31 12/3/2014 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND CHAPTER 21, TITLE 50 OF THE 1976 CODE, 12 RELATING TO EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION OF 13 WATERCRAFT, TO ENACT “HAILEY’S LAW”, BY ADDING 14 SECTION 5021118, TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL 15 TO OPERATE A BOAT IN EXCESS OF THE NO WAKEIDLE 16 SPEED ON CERTAIN LAKES AND RESERVOIRS AFTER 17 DARK; AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS. 18 19 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 20 Carolina: 21 22 SECTION 1. This act may be referred to as “Hailey’s Law”. 23 24 SECTION 2. Chapter 21, Title 50 of the 1976 Code is amended 25 by adding: 26 27 “Section 5021118. (A) It is unlawful for a person to operate a 28 boat in excess of the no wakeidle speed between one half hour 29 after official sundown of a day and one half hour before official 30 sunrise the following day on any of the lakes identified in Section 31 5150(132) through (164). 32 (B)(1) Except as provided in subsection (C), a person who 33 violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor 34 and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred 35 dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not 36 more than thirty days; or both. 37 (2) The department shall require a person who is convicted, 38 pleads guilty, or pleads nolo contendre to a violation of this section 39 to attend and complete a boating safety education program 40 approved by the department. The person required to attend the 41 program shall reimburse the department for the expense of the 42 program. A person’s privilege to operate a water device within this

[162] 2 1 State shall be suspended until successful completion of the 2 required program. 3 (3) The department shall suspend a person’s privilege to 4 operate a boat within this State for a period of thirty days upon his 5 conviction, guilty plea, or plea of nolo contendere to a second 6 offense of this section within a fiveyear period. The department 7 shall suspend a person’s privilege to operate a boat within this 8 State for a period of ninety days upon his conviction, guilty plea, 9 or plea of nolo contendere to a third or subsequent offense of this 10 section within a fiveyear period. Following a suspension, the 11 person’s privilege shall remain suspended until successful 12 completion of a boating safety education program approved by the 13 department. The person required to attend the program shall 14 reimburse the department for the expense of the program. 15 (4) The suspensions under this subsection shall be imposed 16 in addition to and not in lieu of any other civil remedies or 17 criminal penalties. 18 (C)(1) A person who violates the provisions of this section and 19 causes damage to property other than his own, or injury other than 20 great bodily injury to a person other than himself, is guilty of a 21 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of 22 not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand 23 dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both. 24 (2) A person who violates the provisions of this section and 25 causes great bodily injury or death of a person other than himself, 26 is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be punished by a 27 mandatory fine of not less than: 28 (a) five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand 29 dollars and mandatory imprisonment for not less than thirty days 30 nor more than fifteen years when great bodily injury results; or 31 (b) ten thousand dollars nor more than twentyfive 32 thousand dollars and mandatory imprisonment for not less than 33 one year nor more than twentyfive years when death results. 34 (3) The department shall suspend the privilege of a person 35 who is convicted or who pleads guilty or nolo contendere under 36 this subsection to operate a boat within this State for a period to 37 include any term of imprisonment plus: 38 (a) three years in the case of death or great bodily injury; 39 or 40 (b) one year in the case of property damage or injury other 41 than great bodily injury. 42 (4) The suspensions under this subsection are in addition to 43 and not in lieu of any other civil remedies or criminal penalties.

[162] 3 1 (5) No part of the mandatory sentences required to be 2 imposed by this subsection may be suspended, and probation may 3 not be granted for any portion. 4 (6) As used in this subsection ‘great bodily injury’ means 5 bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which 6 causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or 7 impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.” 8 9 SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the 10 Governor. 11 XX 12

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