South Carolina H 3796: Personhood

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3796 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 28, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3796

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 article 
29 to chapter 1, title 1 SO AS TO PROHIBIT A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY FROM GRANTING 
OR RECOGNIZING LEGAL PERSONHOOD IN CERTAIN ITEMS.

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

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

Article 29

Legal Personhood

 Section 
1-1-1910. (A) As used in this 
article:

 (1) 
"Body of water" means any natural or man-made accumulation of water, regardless 
of whether the accumulation of water is static or subject to a force that 
causes a hydrological current.

 (2) 
"Governmental entity" means:

 (a) 
a court;

 (b) 
the General Assembly;

 (c) 
the governing body of a political subdivision; or

 (d) 
another entity of the State or a political subdivision, if the entity has 
adjudicatory or rulemaking authority.

 (3) 
"Human being" means a member of the species classified as Homo sapiens;

 (4) 
"Land" means the solid terrestrial surface or subsurface of the earth.

 (5) 
"Legal personhood" means:

 (a) 
the legal rights and obligations of an individual under the laws of this State; 
or

 (b) 
the legal rights and obligations of a person other than an individual under the 
laws of this State.

 (6) 
"Political subdivision" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
2-7-76.

 (7) 
"Real property" means any building, fixture, improvement, appurtenance, 
structure, or other development that is affixed permanently to land.

 (8) 
"State" means the same as that term is defined in Section 1-3-490.

 (B) 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a governmental entity may not grant 
legal personhood to, nor recognize legal personhood in:

 (1) 
artificial intelligence;

 (2) 
an inanimate object;

 (3) 
a body of water;

 (4) 
land;

 (5) 
real property;

 (6) 
atmospheric gases;

 (7) 
an astronomical object;

 (8) 
weather;

 (9) 
a plant;

 (10) 
a nonhuman animal; or

 (11) 
any other member of a taxonomic domain that is not a human being.

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

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This web page was last updated on January 28, 2025 at 01:09 PM