South Carolina H 3497: Liquor liability

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3497 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 15, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3497

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

April 15, 2025

H. 3497

Introduced by Reps. W. Newton, Wooten, Pope, 
Chapman, Forrest, Kirby, Ligon, Bailey, M. M. Smith, B. L. Cox, Holman, Oremus, 
Sanders, Willis, Brewer, Hiott, Hixon, Caskey, Henderson-Myers, Wickensimer, 
Yow, Mitchell, Bamberg, Hart and Garvin 

S. Printed 4/15/25--S.

Read the first time March 11, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 38-90-20, RELATING TO INSURANCE LICENSURE, SO AS TO ALLOW AN INSURANCE 
COMPANY TO PROVIDE LIQUOR LIABILITY INSURANCE; BY AMENDING SECTION 61-2-60, 
RELATING TO THE PROMULGATION OF ALCOHOL REGULATIONS, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE 
REGULATIONS REGARDING ALCOHOL SERVER TRAINING POSITIONS; BY AMENDING SECTION 
61-2-145, RELATING TO REQUIRED LIQUOR LIABILITY INSURANCE COVERAGE, SO AS TO 
ESTABLISH A LIQUOR LIABILITY MITIGATION PROGRAM; BY ADDING CHAPTER 3 TO TITLE 61 
SO AS TO ESTABLISH AN ALCOHOL SERVER TRAINING PROGRAM; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 
61-6-2220, RELATING TO ALCOHOL SALES, SO AS TO PROHIBIT A PERSON FROM KNOWINGLY 
SELLING ALCOHOL TO AN INTOXICATED PERSON.

 Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 15-38-15 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 15-38-15. (A) 
In an action to recover damages in tort: resulting from personal injury, wrongful death, or damage to 
property or to recover damages for economic loss or for noneconomic loss such 
as mental distress, loss of enjoyment, pain, suffering, loss of reputation, or 
loss of companionship resulting from tortious 
conduct, if indivisible damages are determined to be proximately caused by more 
than one defendant, joint and several liability does not apply to any defendant 
whose conduct is determined to be less than fifty percent of the total fault 
for the indivisible damages as compared with the total of: (i) the fault of 
all the defendants; and (ii) the fault (comparative negligence), if any, of 
plaintiff. A defendant whose conduct is determined to be less than fifty 
percent of the total fault shall only be liable for that percentage of the 
indivisible damages determined by the jury or trier of fact.

 (1) The trier of fact shall 
determine the percentage of fault of the plaintiff, of the defendant or 
defendants, and of any nonparty whose tortious act or omission was proven to be 
a proximate cause of the plaintiff's alleged damages. For purposes of 
apportioning fault on the verdict form, a "nonparty" means an individual or 
entity who has previously settled a claim arising out of the same tortious act 
or omission with the plaintiff, or if more than one plaintiff, who has 
previously settled with any plaintiff in the same civil action.

 (2) A settling party shall be 
placed on the verdict form if there is any evidence sufficient to survive a 
South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 50 Directed Verdict Motion that 
the settling party was proximate cause, in whole or in part, of the plaintiff's 
damages.

 (3) If the percentage of fault 
of the plaintiff is greater than fifty percent of the total fault involved in 
the tortious act or omission that caused the plaintiff's damages, then the 
trier of fact shall return a verdict for the defendant and no further deliberation 
is required.

 (4) If the plaintiff's percentage 
of fault is not greater than fifty percent of the total fault involved in the 
tortious act or omission that caused the plaintiff's damages, then the trier of 
fact shall determine the total amount of damages that the plaintiff would be 
entitled to recover if comparative fault were disregarded.

 (5) Upon the completion of 
subitem (4), the court shall enter judgment for the plaintiff against each 
defendant in an amount equal to the total amount of damages awarded in subitem (4) 
multiplied by the percentage of fault assigned to each respective defendant in subitem 
(1) using the following criteria: 

 (a) each defendant is severally 
liable for his share of the total amount of the plaintiff's noneconomic 
damages, as defined in Section 15-32-210, and any punitive or exemplary 
damages; and

 (b) if the percentage of fault 
of any one defendant is greater than fifty percent of the total fault involved 
in the act or omission that cause the plaintiff's damages, then the defendant 
is jointly and severally liable to the total amount of plaintiff's economic 
damages.

 (6) If the percentage of fault 
of any defendant that is charged under Section 56-5-2930, 56-5-2933, or 
56-5-2945 is greater than fifty percent of the total fault in the tortious act 
or omission that caused the p