South Carolina H 3261: Safe and Supportive School Environment Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3261 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3261

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
42-9-50 SO AS TO PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A FIRST RESPONDER TO FILE A 
WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIM FOR A STRESS OR MENTAL INJURY UNACCOMPANIED BY A PHYSICAL 
INJURY.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 9, Title 42 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
42-9-50. (A) As used in this 
section:

 (1) 
"First responder" means a law enforcement officer or firefighter employed by 
state or local government. A volunteer law enforcement officer or firefighter 
engaged by state or local government is also considered a first responder of 
the state or local government for the purposes of this section.

 (2) 
"Significant traumatic experience or situation" means one of the following 
events:

 (a) 
witnessing a deceased minor or the death of a minor;

 (b) 
witnessing an injury to a minor who subsequently died before or upon arrival at 
a hospital emergency department;

 (c) 
participating in the physical treatment of an injured minor who subsequently 
died before or upon arrival at a hospital emergency department;

 (d) 
manually transporting an injured minor who subsequently died before or upon 
arrival at a hospital emergency department;

 (e) 
seeing for oneself a decedent whose death involved grievous bodily harm;

 (f) 
witnessing a death, including suicide, that involved grievous bodily harm;

 (g) 
witnessing a homicide, regardless of whether the homicide was criminal or 
excusable, including murder; mass killing, which means the killing of three or 
more individuals in a single incident; voluntary manslaughter; involuntary 
manslaughter; and self defense;

 (h) 
witnessing an injury, including an attempted suicide, to a person who 
subsequently died before or upon arrival at a hospital emergency department if 
the person was injured with grievous bodily harm;

 (i) 
participating in the physical treatment of an injury, including an attempted 
suicide, to a person who subsequently died before or upon arrival at a hospital 
emergency department if the person was injured with grievous bodily harm;

 (j) 
manually transporting a person who was injured, including by attempted suicide, 
and subsequently died before or upon arrival at a hospital emergency department 
if the person was injured with grievous bodily harm; or

 (k) 
using deadly force or being subjected to deadly force in the course of the 
first responder's employment.

 (3) 
"Witnessing" means to see, hear, or smell for oneself.

 (4) 
"Grievous bodily harm" means serious bodily injury including fractured or 
dislocated bones, deep cuts, torn members of the body, serious damages to 
internal organs, and other severe bodily injuries.

 (B) A 
first responder who sustains a stress or mental injury unaccompanied by a 
physical injury arising out of and in the course of his employment shall be 
concluded to have sustained injury by accident if:

 (1) 
the employee is employed as a first responder and if the impairment causing the 
stress, mental injury, or mental illness is medically diagnosed as 
post-traumatic stress disorder, as described in the most recent edition of the 
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American 
Psychiatric Association, arising from the first responder's involvement in a 
significant traumatic experience or situation in the course and scope of his 
employment, without regard to whether the experience or situation was 
extraordinary or unusual in comparison to the normal working conditions of a 
first responder's employment;

 (2) 
the first responder is participating in and receiving clinical care through the 
South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program (SCLEAP), the South Carolina 
First Responders Assistance and Support Team (SC FAST), or their successor 
programs. An injured worker who is receiving medical benefits under this 
section must exhaust the clinical care provided through SCLEAP, SC FAST, or 
their successor programs before he is entitled to medical care under Section 
42-15-60; and

 (3) 
there is an incapacity to work as determined by the treating physician.

 (C) 
When the incapacity for work resulting from an injury under this section is 
total, the employer shall pay, or cause to be paid, as provided in this 
chapter, to the injured employee during the total disability a weekly 
compensation equal to sixty-six and two-thirds of his average weekly wages, but 
not less than seventy-five dollars a week so long as this amount does not 
exceed his average weekly wages; if this amount does exceed his average weekly 
wages, the inju