Animal Control Officers

2025-2026 Bill 5091: Animal Control Officers - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5091
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Luck
Document Path: LC-0421DG26.docx
Introduced in the House on February 4, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: Animal Control Officers
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

2/4/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 10
)

2/4/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 10
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
02/04/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION
4-9-145
, RELATING TO COUNTY CODE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, SO AS TO INCLUDE ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS; AND BY AMENDING
SECTION
47-3-20
, RELATING TO THE AUTHORIZATION OF LOCAL ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
ORDINANCES, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE A COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY TO ALLOW CLASS 3 ANIMAL
CONTROL OFFICERS TO CARRY FIREARMS.

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

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
4-9-145
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
4-9-145
.
(
A) Except as provided in
subsection (B), the governing body of a county may appoint and commission as
many code enforcement officers as may be necessary for the proper security,
general welfare, and convenience of the county. These officers are vested with
all the powers and duties conferred by law upon constables in addition to
duties imposed upon them by the governing body of the county. However, no code
enforcement officer commissioned under this section may perform a custodial
arrest, except as provided in subsection (B). These code enforcement officers
must exercise their powers on all private and public property within the
county. The governing body of the county may limit the scope of a code
enforcement officer's authority or the geographic area for which he is
authorized to exercise the authority granted.

(
B)
(
1) The number of litter
or animal
control officers vested with custodial arrest
authority who are appointed and commissioned pursuant to subsection (A) must
not exceed the greater of:

(
a)
the number of officers appointed and commissioned by the county on July 1,
2001; or

(
b)
one officer for every twenty-five thousand persons in the county, based upon
the most recent census. Each county may appoint and commission at least one
officer, without regard to the population of the county.

(
2)
(
a) A litter
or
animal
control officer appointed and commissioned pursuant to subsection
(A) may exercise the power of arrest with respect to his primary duties of
enforcement of litter control laws and ordinances and other state and local
laws and ordinances as may arise incidental to the enforcement of his primary
duties only if the officer has been certified as a law enforcement officer
pursuant to Chapter 23, Title 23.

(
b)
In the absence of an arrest for a violation of
the litter
control

any applicable
laws and ordinances,
a litter
or animal
control officer authorized to
exercise the power of arrest pursuant to subitem (a) may not stop a person or
make an incidental arrest of a person for a violation of other state and local
laws and ordinances.

(
3)
For purposes of this section
, the phrase
:

(
a) "Animal control officer" means a
code enforcement officer authorized to enforce animal control laws and ordinances.

(
b)
"
litter

Litter
control officer" means a code enforcement
officer authorized to enforce litter control laws and ordinances.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
47-3-20
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
47-3-20
. The governing body of each county or municipality in this State may
enact ordinances and promulgate regulations for the care and control of dogs,
cats, and other animals and to prescribe penalties for violations.
A governing body that enacts ordinances and promulgates
regulations must employ Class 3 animal control officers and, at the discretion
of the governing body, may authorize these officers to carry firearms.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on February 4, 2026 at 10:51 AM