Veterinarians

2025-2026 Bill 4729: Veterinarians - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4729
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Grant
Document Path: LC-0462WAB26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Summary: Veterinarians
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 69
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
(
House Journal-page 69
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
40-69-20
, RELATING TO THE INVESTIGATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD
OF VETERINARY EXAMINERS, SO AS TO REVISE THE COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE AND
ITS FUNCTIONS; BY AMENDING SECTION
40-69-90
, RELATING TO PROCEDURES FOR
HANDLING COMPLAINTS BY THE BOARD OF VETERINARY EXAMINERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE
BOARD TO IMPLEMENT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AND GIVE THE BOARD DISCRETION over
CERTAIN OTHER RELATED MATTERS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION
40-69-120
, RELATING TO
SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS BY LICENSEES OF THE BOARD, SO AS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN
MANDATORY SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS FOR ENGAGING IN INCOMPETENT OR NEGLIGENT
CONDUCT IN THE PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
40-69-20
(8) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
8) "Investigative Review Committee"
(IRC) means an investigative review panel appointed by the board chairman, in
consultation with the other members of the board. The IRC must be comprised of
four members who are former board members or other experienced
licensed veterinarians
one physician actively
licensed to practice medicine in this State by the State Board of Medical
Examiners, one attorney actively licensed to practice law in this State by the
South Carolina Supreme Court, one person appointed to represent a nonprofit
animal protection organization in this State, two members of the general public
with a demonstrated interest in animal protection, and two experienced
veterinarians licensed in this State who have not previously served as members
of the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
. The board chairman
must appoint the Chairman of the IRC. Veterinarian members of the IRC must have
a current license issued pursuant to this chapter to be eligible to serve. The
IRC shall review any complaint against a licensed veterinarian or veterinary
technician and make a recommendation as to whether the board should proceed
with formal action.
The board must consider the
recommendation of the IRC, but the final determination whether to proceed with
formal action must be made by the board.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
40-69-90
(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
A) The department may receive
complaints against a licensee from any person, including the board, and shall
require the complaints to be submitted in writing and to be signed by the
complainant. The person who is the subject of the complaint must be provided a
notice of the complaint including the substance of the allegations within five
days after the department begins its investigation. The department shall
investigate the allegations in the complaint to the extent that there is a
potential violation of this chapter. The department must submit its
investigative findings to the IRC, as provided for in Section
40-69-20
(8),
along with any other additional information related to the investigation
requested by any IRC member. The IRC must review the investigation and
recommend to the board whether to proceed with formal action.
If the IRC recommends that the board proceed with formal action,
the board shall proceed with formal action accordingly, but if the IRC does not
recommend that the board proceed with formal action, the board either may
disregard the recommendation and proceed with a formal action or accept the
recommendation and not proceed with a formal action.
If the board
is directed to proceed further or
desires to proceed
further, it
may
shall

direct the department to file a formal complaint charging the licensee with a
violation of this chapter or a regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

If the department files a formal complaint,
The
department must make the formal complaint and any answer filed by the licensee
available for public inspection. The licensee must be provided a copy of the
formal complaint prior to making any complaint available for public inspection.
The board administrator shall notify the licensee in writing not less than
sixty days before the disciplinary hearing. The formal complaint and the
hearing notice must be served personally or sent to the licensee by mail,
return receipt requested, directed to the last mailing address furnished to the
board. The post office receipt signed by the licensee, the licensee's agent, or
a responsible member of the licensee's household or office staff or if not
accepted by the person to whom addressed, the postal authority stamp showing
the notice refused is prima facie evidence of service of the notice. Informal
disposition may be made of any complaint, formal or otherwise, by stipulation
or consent agreement. No stipulation or consent agreement is final until it has
been submitted to and approved by the board.

S
ECTION 3.
S
ection
40-69-120
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
40-69-120
.
U
pon a determination by the board, after
a disciplinary hearing conducted pursuant to the requirements of this chapter,
that one or more of the grounds for discipline of a licensee exists, the board
:

(
A)
may impose sanctions as
provided in Section
40-1-120
, including imposing a fine of
not
no
more than one thousand
dollars for each violation
, excluding violations for engaging
in incompetent or negligent conduct in the practice of veterinary medicine
pursuant to Section
40-69-110
(12); and

(
B) shall impose the following
sanctions for violations for engaging in incompetent or negligent conduct in
the practice of veterinary medicine pursuant to Section
40-69-110
(12):

(
1) a fine of no more than five
thousand dollars for a first violation;

(
2) a fine of no more than ten
thousand dollars for a second violation; and

(
3) permanent license revocation for a
third violation
.

S
ECTION 4. This act takes effect on July 1,
2026.

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This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:39 PM