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Bill

H 3480

Healthcare Workplace Security Act

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Gilda Cobb-Hunter and 1 co-sponsor

SC Healthcare Workplace Security Act elevates assaults on healthcare workers in facilities to aggravated offenses with mandatory minimums and higher penalties.

Scrivener's error corrected
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Bill Summary · H 3480

Summary — “Healthcare Workplace Security Act” (text included in packet)

Note: the document you provided contains mixed materials (a Massachusetts House docket about a clean-energy bank and a South Carolina bill titled the “Healthcare Workplace Security Act”). The summary below focuses on the Healthcare Workplace Security Act text (South Carolina) as that is the bill titled in your request.

Purpose / Intent

The bill creates the "Healthcare Workplace Security Act" by amending Section 16‑3‑600 of the South Carolina Code to (1) define “healthcare facility” and “healthcare worker,” (2) expressly treat assaults and batteries committed against healthcare workers in healthcare settings as aggravated offenses, and (3) increase penalties and impose mandatory minimum sentences for certain assaults on healthcare workers. It also provides that a healthcare facility’s address may be used as the victim address on legal documents for victim safety/privacy.

Key provisions

  • Definitions (new or clarified)

    • “Healthcare facility”: adopts the meaning in Section 44‑7‑130 and explicitly includes reception/administrative areas and healthcare professionals’/physicians’ offices.
    • “Healthcare worker”: includes persons licensed under Title 40, registered providers, or employees of a healthcare facility.

  • Expanded offense descriptions and enhanced penalties

    • Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature (Section B): now includes acts committed within a healthcare facility upon a healthcare worker where the offender knowingly causes great bodily injury, uses/display of a deadly weapon, or commits strangulation/attempted strangulation.
    • Penalty for (B)(1)(c): felony with fine up to $50,000 and imprisonment mandatory minimum of 90 days (no suspension or probation for the 90‑day minimum) up to 15 years.
    • Other high aggravated provisions (great bodily injury or acts likely to produce great bodily injury) remain felonies (up to 20 years).
    • Assault and battery in the second degree (Section D): now includes acts committed within a healthcare facility upon a healthcare worker that knowingly cause moderate bodily injury, involve nonconsensual touching of private parts, or intentionally cause offensive/ provocative physical contact (examples: spitting, throwing/transferring bodily fluids, bodily pathogens, or human waste).
    • Penalty for (D)(1)(c): misdemeanor with fine up to $25,000 and imprisonment mandatory minimum of 30 days (no suspension/probation for the 30‑day minimum) up to 5 years.
    • Other second‑degree provisions remain misdemeanor punishable by up to 3 years or $2,500 fine.
    • First‑degree and third‑degree assault and battery provisions largely preserved; the bill clarifies lesser‑included relationships among these offenses.

  • Victim address confidentiality

    • (F) Requires that healthcare workers who are victims of offenses under (B)(1)(c) and (D)(1)(c) have their addresses recorded on incident reports, charging documents, and related legal documents as the address of their place of employment (the healthcare facility).

  • Savings clause

    • The bill includes a standard provision preserving pending actions, rights, duties, liabilities, and penalties under prior law unless expressly altered.

Who is affected

  • Primary: healthcare workers in South Carolina (licensed providers, registered providers, and employees of healthcare facilities).
  • Secondary: patients, visitors, and employees in healthcare facilities who may interact with or be protected by expanded enforcement; law enforcement and prosecutors (new offense elements and mandatory minimums); healthcare facilities (address used on records).
  • Courts and corrections systems may see changes in charging practices, sentencing outcomes, and case processing because of mandatory minimums and enhanced fines.

Procedural notes (from provided packet)

  • The Healthcare Workplace Security Act text in the packet is dated filings in Dec 2024–Feb 2025. The packet also shows later hearing scheduling entries (e.g., hearings listed for 10/16/2025) and notes about technical (scrivener) corrections on 2025‑02‑05. The source material mixes items from different jurisdictions; confirm the bill number and originating legislature if you need jurisdiction‑specific status tracking.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a one‑page side‑by‑side comparison of current law vs. proposed changes, or
- Extract the exact statutory text changes ready for markup in legislative amendment format.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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