SOUTH CAROLINA REVENUE AND FISCAL AFFAIRS OFFICE
S
TATEMENT OF ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT
WWW.RFA.SC.GOV • (803)734-3793
This fiscal impact statement is produced in compliance with the South Carolina Code of Laws and House and Senate rules. The focus of
the analysis is on governmental expenditure and revenue impacts and may not provide a comprehensive summary of the legislation.
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Fiscal Impact Summary
This bill allows each individual law enforcement agency to choose which test(s) to administer
when a law enforcement officer arrests a person for driving a motor vehicle under the influence
of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs. The bill also removes the requirement
that blood and urine samples collected during a DUI arrest be collected solely by medical
personnel. Additionally, the bill specifies that felony DUI or felony driving with an unlawful
alcohol concentration resulting in death pursuant to Section 56-5-2945(A)(2) is not a “no parole
offense.” The bill also removes the option for a person whose driver’s license has been
suspended for certain circumstances to obtain a temporary alcohol license (TAL) and provides
suspension penalties. Further, the bill requires the law enforcement officer initiating a traffic
stop to make reasonable efforts to ensure video recording of the stop, test(s), and arrest of a
person for a DUI.
The bill charges DMV with additional responsibilities that the agency will accomplish with
existing staff and resources. Therefore, there is no expenditure impact to DMV. However, DMV
indicates that the complex coding changes to its IT system will require at least twelve months to
implement and test.
The expenditure impact to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is undetermined. DPS reports
that allowing arresting officers to bypass breath tests in certain circumstances could save both
time and transportation-related costs. However, if the intent of the bill is for arresting officers to
have the ability to perform blood and urine tests, there will be a significant expenditure increase
to DPS to train the approximately 600 state troopers who patrol SC roads.
The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) indicates that it will request an increase in General
Fund appropriations of approximately $9,094,200 in FY 2025-26 for 39.0 new FTEs to process
additional blood tests, specialized instruments, equipment, consumable supplies, and the remodel
of building space to accommodate these additions. Expenses will decrease to $3,967,200 each
year thereafter. These estimates are based upon the assumption that approximately half of
annual breath tests will by bypassed to perform blood tests.
The fiscal impact of the bill on the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
(DAODAS) and the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services (PPP) is pending,
contingent upon a response from the agencies.
Bill Number: S. 192 Introduced on Januar
y 14, 2025
Subject: DUI Blood Draw and Implied Consent
Requestor: Senate Judiciary
RFA Analyst(s): Griffith
Impact Date: February 12, 2025
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This bill will have no expenditure impact to Judicial or the Commission on Prosecution
Coordination because the bill does not operationally or fiscally impact the court system.
The bill may increase expenditures of the Commission on Indigent Defense by an undetermined
amount since the bill modifies procedures affecting certain criminal prosecutions.
The fiscal impact of the bill on the Department of Corrections is pending, contingent upon
further clarification from the agency.
This bill will decrease Other Funds revenue of DOT and Other Funds revenue of DPS by an
undetermined amount due to removing the option to obtain a TAL for certain circumstances. For
reference, DMV collected $459,100 in TAL fees for ages 21 and older in FY 2023-24.
Explanation of Fiscal Impact
Introduced on January 14, 2025
State Expenditure
This bill allows each individual law enforcement agency to choose which test(s) to administer
when a law enforcement officer arrests a person for driving a motor vehicle under the influence
of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs. The bill also removes the requirement
that blood and urine samples collected during a DUI arrest be collected solely by medical
personnel. Additionally, the bill specifies that felony DUI or felony driving with an unlawful
alcohol concentration resulting in death pursuant to Section 56-5-2945(A)(2) is not a “no parole
offense.” The bill also removes the option for a person whose driver’s license has been
suspended for certain circumstances to obtain a TAL and provides suspension penalties. Further,
the bill requires the law enforcement officer initiating a traffic stop to make reasonable efforts to
ensure video recording of the stop, test(s), and arrest of a person for a DUI.
Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill charges DMV with additional responsibilities that the
agency will accomplish with existing staff and resources. Therefore, the bill will have no
expenditure impact on DMV. However, DMV indicates that the complex coding changes to its
IT system will require at least twelve months to implement and test.
Department of Public Safety. DPS reports that if the intent of the bill is for state troopers to
have the ability to collect blood and urine samples, the bill will have a significant expenditure
increase to the agency. However, the amount of the increase is undetermined. For reference,
there are approximately 600 state troopers who patrol SC roads.
DPS also anticipates that in the instance of a trooper suspecting a drug-related DUI, allowing the
arresting officer to bypass the breath test will save both time and fuel costs, as the typical breath
test takes about thirty minutes to administer, and, currently, the officer has to travel from the jail
to the hospital and back to the jail. The time and fuel saved will vary depending on the
proximity of the jail to the hospital. Therefore, the expenditure impact to DPS is undetermined.
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State Law Enforcement Division. SLED indicates that in FY 2023-24, there were 18,461
breath tests and approximately 1,500 blood and urine tests administered for DUI. SLED
estimates that if half of the breath tests administered in a fiscal year are replaced with blood tests,
the current testing demands and costs would increase by 513 percent, and the division’s current
$5,250,000 investment in upgrades to video recording capabilities and to evidential breath testing
instruments would be negated.
SLED indicates that to accomplish the provisions of this bill, it will need to expand its
Toxicology department to include 39.0 additional FTEs, specialized instruments, equipment,
consumable supplies, and the remodel of building space to accommodate these additions. The
new FTEs will increase recurring General Fund expenditures by approximately $3,287,000 and
will include the following positions:
25.0 Toxicologists, who will perform specialized toxicology testing and analysis,
6.0 Technicians, who will prepare samples for specialized forensic testing and analysis,
and
8.0 Evidence Control Technicians, who will assist with the submission, inventory, and
destruction of physical evidence.
Other recurring operating expenses will total $680,200 and will be used for training and
transportation, cellular devices with mobile hotspot capabilities, lab consumables, and
maintenance contracts for instruments. Non-recurring Operating Expenses will total $5,127,000
and will be used for specialized instruments and equipment and the remodel of SLED’s building
space to accommodate the additional personnel and equipment.
In total, General Fund expenditures of SLED will increase by approximately $9,094,200 in FY
2025-26. Expenses will decrease to $3,967,200 each year thereafter. The agency will request a
General Fund appropriation increase for this amount.
Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. The fiscal impact of the bill on
DAODAS is pending, contingent upon a response from the agency.
Judicial. This bill will have no expenditure impact to Judicial because the bill does not
operationally or fiscally impact the court system.
Commission on Prosecution Coordination. This bill will have no expenditure impact to the
Commission on Prosecution Coordination because the bill does not operationally or fiscally
impact the court system.
Commission on Indigent Defense. The bill modifies procedures affecting certain criminal
prosecutions and may have an undetermined expenditure impact to the Commission on Indigent
Defense.
Department of Corrections. The fiscal impact of the bill on the Department of Corrections is
pending, contingent upon further clarification from the agency.
__________________________________
Frank A. Rainwater, Executive Director
DISCLAIMER: THIS FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REPRESENTS THE OPINION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE
AGENCY OFFICIAL WHO APPROVED AND SIGNED THIS DOCUMENT. IT IS PROVIDED AS INFORMATION TO
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS AN EXPRESSION OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT.
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Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. The expenditure impact of the bill on
PPP is pending, contingent upon a response from the agency.
State Revenue
This bill removes the option for a person whose driver’s license has been suspended for certain
circumstances to obtain a TAL. Pursuant to Section 56-5-2951(B)(1)(c), a $100 fee is assessed
by DMV for obtaining a TAL, $25 of which is allocated to DPS for vehicle videotaping
equipment and $75 of which is placed in the State Highway Fund of DOT. Since the number of
driver’s licenses that will be suspended for these circumstances in the future is unknown, the
decrease in Other Funds revenue of DOT and Other Funds revenue of DPS is undetermined. For
reference, DMV collected $459,100 in TAL fees for ages 21 and older in FY 2023-24.
Local Expenditure
N/A
Local Revenue
N/A