Upon receipt of a report of a vulnerable adult death, as required by Section 17-5-555 or Section 43-35-35, the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division shall:

(1) investigate and gather all information on the vulnerable adult fatality pursuant to Section 43-35-520. The coroner or medical examiner immediately must request an autopsy if the unit determines that an autopsy is necessary. The autopsy must be performed by a pathologist with forensic training as soon as possible. The forensic pathologist must inform the unit of the findings within forty-eight hours of completion of the autopsy. If the autopsy reveals the cause of death to be pathological or an unavoidable accident, the case must be closed by the unit. If the autopsy reveals physical or sexual trauma, suspicious markings, or other findings that are questionable or yields no conclusion to the cause of death, the unit immediately must begin an investigation;

(2) request assistance of any other local, county, or state agency to aid in the investigation;

(3) upon receipt of additional investigative information, reopen a case for another coroner's inquest;

(4) upon receipt of the notification required by item (1), review agency records for information regarding the deceased vulnerable adult or family. Information available to the department pursuant to Section 43-35-570 and information that is public under Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act, must be available as needed to the county coroner or medical examiner, the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, the Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Adult Protective Services Program of the Department of Social Services;

(5) report the activities and findings related to vulnerable adult deaths to the Vulnerable Adults Fatalities Review Committee; and

(6) develop a protocol for vulnerable adult death investigations.

HISTORY: 2006 Act No. 301, Section 9, eff May 23, 2006.