South Carolina H 4260: Lawrence L. Rouse

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4260 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 27, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4260

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 AMENDING 
SECTION 10-1-165, RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF CERTAIN MONUMENTS AND 
MEMORIALS, SO AS TO EXPAND THE TYPE OF MONUMENTS OR MEMORIALS THAT MAY NOT BE 
RELOCATED, REMOVED, OR DISTURBED, TO WITHHOLD DISBURSEMENTS FROM THE LOCAL 
GOVERNMENT FUND FOR ANY COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY THAT VIOLATES THIS SECTION, TO 
PROVIDE FOR THE CARE AND PRESERVATION OF MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS BY CERTAIN 
PEOPLE OR ORGANIZATIONS, TO PROVIDE STANDING TO CERTAIN PEOPLE OR ORGANIZATIONS 
TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION IN RESPONSE TO VIOLATIONs OF THIS SECTION OR TO PREVENT 
SUCH VIOLATIONs, AND TO PROVIDE FOR LIMITATIONS ON THE TRANSFER OF REAL 
PROPERTY UNDERNEATH MONUMENTs OR MEMORIALs OR THE TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY 
NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN, ACCESS, OR VIEW MONUMENTs OR MEMORIALs.

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

SECTION 1. Section 10-1-165(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (A)(1) No colonial war, Revolutionary 
War, War of 1812, Mexican War, War Between the States, Spanish-American War, 
World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, any armed conflict involving South Carolinians, Native 
American, or African-American African 
American History monuments or memorials erected on public property of 
the State or any of its political subdivisions may be relocated, removed, 
disturbed, or altered. No historical monument or memorial 
including, but not limited to, any street, bridge, structure, park, 
preserve, reserve, installation, nameplate or other 
public area of the State or any of its political subdivisions dedicated in 
memory of or named for any historic figure, or public figure, person, historic event, commemorated event, celebrated event, occurrence, 
commemoration, memorial, recognition, or any other facts resulting in the 
placement of the monument or memorial on public property may be relocated, removed, disturbed, altered, renamed, or rededicated. The within 
prohibition shall apply to plaques, markers, or other messages, including those 
accessible by a QR code or other similar barcode, which are related to the 
historical monument or memorial, but which are not original to the monument or 
memorial and are located anywhere on the property upon which the monument or 
memorial is located. No person may prevent the public body responsible 
for the monument or memorial from taking proper measures and exercising proper 
means for the protection, preservation, and care of these monuments, memorials, 
or nameplates.

 (2) If a county or municipality 
violates the provisions of item (1), then the State Treasurer shall withhold 
all disbursements from the Local Government Fund for that county or 
municipality until the violation is corrected. Further, the State nor its 
agencies nor its political subdivisions may assert its sovereign immunity as a 
defense to any civil action commenced to remedy violations committed by the 
State or its agencies or subdivisions.

 (3) Any person, firm, group, 
corporation, or other legal entity shall have a right to bring civil action, to 
prevent or redress a violation of this section to include injunctive relief, 
declaratory relief, and the recovery of damages for the cost of restoration and 
repair of any damaged or destroyed monument or memorial, including attorney's 
fees and court costs. No person commencing a civil action as authorized herein 
shall be required to show a particularized or personal concrete injury in order 
to establish standing to sue.

 (4) The Department of History and 
Archives shall promulgate regulations to establish a process for affinity 
organizations to maintain monuments and memorials, as well as restore and 
replace monuments and memorials that have been damaged or destroyed.

 (5) For the purposes of this 
subsection, an "affinity organization" means an organization chartered for the 
purpose, primary or otherwise, to honor a particular event, people, or time 
period including, but not limited to, historical or heritage organizations and 
having a clearly demonstrable record of these actions.

 (6) A county, municipality, or other 
political subdivision of the State, including a school district, may not 
transfer ownership of the real property underneath a monument or memorial or 
the real property necessary to view or access a monument or memorial subject to 
the provisions of item (1) to a private entity.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on March 27, 2025 at 11:19 AM