H 5441

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 5441
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 SECTION 15-3-710 SO AS TO DEFINE NECESSARY
TERMS, TO PROVIDE FOR CIVIL CAUSE OF ACTIONS AGAINST CERTAIN LICENSEES WHO
FURNISH ALCOHOL TO VISIBLY INTOXICATED INDIVIDUALS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES,
TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS TO LIABILITY, AND TO PROVIDE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION ARE THE EXCLUSIVE MANNER FOR BRINGING DRAM SHOP CAUSE OF ACTIONS.
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Article 5, Chapter 3, Title 15 of the S.C. Code is
amended by adding:
    Section
15-3-710.  (A) As used in this
section:
       (1)
"Alcohol" means beer, wine, alcoholic liquors, or alcoholic beverages as
defined in Section 61-6-20; alcoholic liquor by the drink or alcoholic beverage
by the drink as defined in Section 61-6-20; or any other type of alcoholic
beverage that contains any amount of alcohol and is used as a beverage for
human consumption.
       (2)
"Licensee" means any person or entity licensed to sell alcohol by the State of
South Carolina or any agency or department thereof. The term "licensee"
includes any owner, partner, manager, agent, employee, or other person or
entity engaged in a single business enterprise with another licensee or
permittee or one for whose conduct a licensee or permittee may be vicariously
liable.
       (3)
"Visibly intoxicated" means an individual who displayed visible signs and
symptoms of intoxication that would have been obvious to a trained alcohol
server under the circumstances.
       (4)
"Trained alcohol server" means an alcohol server who has completed the training
required by Chapter 3, Title 61.
    (B)
Except as provided in this section, a licensee is not liable in a civil action
arising out of the sale, service, or furnishing of alcohol.
    (C) A
person other than the intoxicated individual, who has suffered bodily injury,
death, or property damage caused by the acts or omissions of the intoxicated
individual possesses a civil cause of action against a licensee if the person
shows, by the preponderance of the evidence that the licensee knowingly sold,
served, or directly furnished alcohol to an individual who was visibly
intoxicated, and the sale, service, or direct furnishing of alcohol to the
intoxicated individual was a proximate cause of the person's bodily injury,
death, or property damage.
    (D) A
person who was nineteen years of age or older at the time of the sale, service,
or direct furnishing of alcohol by a licensee does not possess a civil cause of
action against a licensee for the sale, service, or furnishing of alcohol if:
       (1)
at the time the person suffered bodily injury or death, the person was riding
as a passenger in a motor vehicle operated by an intoxicated individual and had
knowledge of the operator's intoxication; or
       (2)
at the time the person suffered property damage, the person had placed the
damaged property in the possession, custody, or control of the intoxicated
individual with knowledge of either:
  (a)
the individual's intoxication;
  (b)
the individual's addiction to intoxication; or
  (c)
the individual's habit of becoming intoxicated and the individual's propensity
to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
    (E) A
person who was under the age of nineteen years at the time of the sale,
service, or direct furnishing of alcohol by a licensee possesses a civil cause
of action against the licensee if that person shows by the preponderance of the
evidence that:
       (1)
the licensee knowingly sold, served, or directly furnished alcohol to the
person under the age of nineteen; and
       (2)
the licensee's sale, service, or direct furnishing of alcohol to the person
under the age of nineteen was a proximate cause of the person's bodily injury,
death, or property damage.
    (F) A
licensee who affirmatively proves a forensic digital identification system
approved by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was used to confirm the
validity of the person's identification has not knowingly sold, served, or
furnished alcohol to that person for the purposes of subsection (E).
    (G)
Upon the death of any party, the action or right of action authorized by this
section will survive to or against the part's personal representative.
    (H) A
licensee is not chargeable with knowledge of acts by which a person becomes
intoxicated at other locations.
    (I) If
an attorney initiates or maintains a civil action against a licensee under this
section when a reasonable attorney in the same circumstances would not conclude
that under the facts, the civil action against the licensee was justifiably
initiated or maintained under this section, then the court shall award that
licensee reasonable attorney's fees of not less than five thousand dollars and
costs to be paid by that person to that licensee upon a motion made within ten
days following the conclusion of a trial and after a verdict has been rendered,
or a case has been dismissed by summary judgment, direct verdict, or judgment
notwithstanding the verdict.
    (J)
The provisions of this section are the exclusive manner for bringing a dram
shop cause of action.
SECTION 2.  The repeal or amendment by this act
of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect
pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter,
discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred
under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision
shall so expressly provide.  After the effective date of this act, all
laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in
full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested
right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal
existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of
rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the
repealed or amended laws.
SECTION 3.  If any section, subsection,
paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for
any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not
affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act,
the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and
each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause,
phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other
sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases,
or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise
ineffective.
SECTION 4.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on June 04, 2026 at 03:46 PM