Governor Nikki Haley has signed into law a bill that establishes a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee in each of the state’s 16 Solicitor Circuits. The move was based on recommendations from the Governor’s Domestic Violence Task Force’s Report.
Under the new law, Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committees will identify and review deaths linked to domestic violence and make recommendations to the State Domestic Violence Advisory, which was created by the 2015 Domestic Violence Reform Bill.
Committees will be made up of local domestic violence advocates, law enforcement professionals, medical professionals, and others with expertise in investigating domestic violence cases.
"This is the beginning of what is going to be South Carolina reforming herself to say that survivors matter, victims matter, and that domestic abuse is part of the past, and not part of the future of South Carolina," Haley said.
Among the sponsors of the bill were state representatives Kevin Hardee (R-Loris), Cezar McKnight (D-Kingstree), Jay Jordan (R-Florence), Wayne George (D-Mullins), Robert Ridgeway (D-Manning), Pat Henegan (D-Bennettsville) and Jackie Hayes (D-Dillon).
To read the bill, click here.
South Carolina ranks high nationally in the number of criminal domestic violence cases and the rate of men who kill women. Until last week, South Carolina was just one of nine states that did not have a domestic fatality review team.