Bill
H 4265
SC H 4265 boosts penalties for fires on certain lands and repeals exemptions, raising fines and jail terms.
Status and jurisdiction
- Jurisdiction: South Carolina General Assembly (bill text amends S.C. Code)
- Introduced: March 27, 2025
- Current status: Introduced, read first time (3/27/2025); referred to Committee on Judiciary
- Effective date: On approval by the Governor (per the bill)
Purpose
- Increase criminal penalties for violations of Chapter 35, Title 48 (laws governing fires on certain lands).
- Eliminate a statutory exemption provision for certain fires by repealing Section 48‑35‑55.
Key provisions
- Amends Section 48‑35‑60 (penalties for violations of the chapter):
- First offense: classifies a violation as a misdemeanor; upon conviction the bill increases the potential sanctions to include:
- A fine with a stated floor of $1,000 and a stated ceiling of $205,000 (text as filed contains overlapping edits; see note below), and/or
- Imprisonment for up to one year (replacing the prior shorter term)
- Second or subsequent offense (defined as an offense committed within ten years of a previous offense):
- A fine with a new minimum stated at $2,000 (the draft shows conflicting insertion “five hundredtwo thousand dollars”) and a maximum of $25,000, and/or
- Imprisonment for up to three years (increased from the prior shorter term)
- Repeals Section 48‑35‑55, which in current law provided certain exemptions from the chapter’s fire regulations (text of that former section is not included in this filing).
Who and what would be affected
- Individuals who ignite or manage fires on lands governed by Chapter 35 (including but not limited to wildland, rural, and other regulated lands).
- Landowners, agricultural and forestry operators, land managers, and prescribed‑fire practitioners who previously relied on statutory exemptions.
- Local fire and law‑enforcement agencies and prosecuting authorities (potentially more prosecutions and higher penalty assessments).
- Courts adjudicating Chapter 35 violations.
Potential impacts
- Deterrence: substantially higher monetary penalties and longer incarceration terms could deter illegal or negligent burning.
- Legal exposure: repeal of the exemption section may subject activities previously exempt to criminal penalties unless covered elsewhere by regulation or permit.
- Administrative and fiscal: possible increase in prosecutions and enforcement costs; potential for larger fines collected by the state (amounts depend on final enacted figures).
- Practical implications for prescribed burns, agricultural burns, and forestry operations—these stakeholders may need to seek clarifying guidance or statutory/regulatory relief if exemptions are removed.
Procedural/timing notes and cautions
- The bill text as provided contains overlapping edits and formatting artifacts (e.g., mixed numeric strings such as “thirty daysone year” and “five hundredtwo thousand dollars”) that make some inserted figures ambiguous. Readers should consult the final enrolled version or bill as printed by the legislature to confirm the exact penalty amounts and terms before relying on specific numeric values.
- The bill takes effect immediately upon the Governor’s approval, per its language.
Recommendation
- Interested parties (agriculture, forestry, fire practitioners, municipal authorities, and defense/prosecution counsel) should review the existing Section 48‑35‑55 (the repealed exemptions) and monitor committee activity to assess potential need for technical amendments or transition provisions.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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