South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

S 175 — Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act

Last action — Referred to Committee on Judiciary

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 14, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 18% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    3 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT THE "HELPING ALLEVIATE LAWFUL OBSTRUCTION (HALO) ACT"; BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-1092 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF IMPEDING, INTERFERING, THREATENING, OR HARASSING A FIRST RESPONDER ENGAGED IN THE LAWFUL PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES, AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

40 added · 5 removed

40 line(s) added, 5 removed.

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PK ¢yd\ƒÑÍÑæ Ö customXml/item1.xmlµX펛Hý?OQòé©‰ù2†Ç³—ÛL0xg·PE·àÎD£Hy…ù?óry’½`c0¶'½;ŠÕ½çœºu«¸uéÑO¿nbôL³|&¯o¸Wì ¢I†ëäñõÍʝ1ò ʒ„$Núú&Io~7Š?ø‚Ä.hABR"Iþº÷TÛ»~?žè†ä¯Ò-MÀ¥Ù†0Ìû[¼'´Ï³¬Ôßèý½S{ãÑÔÒVlºžû°ÄãÉ:ŽGýSÛh¦ØTxü}\üXþ¢uL²¡ß?Â~£þ2Ò§cå}Žõ%F‘…•ˆ0Šèf(±"ËÂü¢"Žú éŽ7YMï±ëÕSŽg$Î)xÏ=%ÿG›«æ=ö––a¨·ð羑ëMtÃð&Þ\u×Öß`Õ0jÊegÃÑUsÏÀ{kõ³ª½ÁW°ß Ö3-×äZše:®î®\Ý2/ñ¯ ÛjšµX讋±—–})Š.â”mÎÀnjEï@Nø+Û.wÇÍvÖÁÑO±áªfØÛO¶:»žÖ¶·ÍÒM׶¦+ OÏãiùڔ…j¿ÁÓÕòÂ,G× Û÷ q½w´±K—/Æ%ôÑÕÆÛ¸ ¶k©šå6Ÿ-âѦ»xÛ£Úæk|5cêzo±í”"<˖c8ÑeÙ»êÃàÿ£D|ä{ûŒª.n 4Œ–»¡8P%\übTÓÍRÛ¦jb1W‹ ¶Çܑ{ Ñ(8Ø©VÁñR‹U[Üõ®)?`Õ®ÖÓÂV¶bã­°ãÖϱ‰På X™cDÂIQHÄÈ2ʊ/rÔd¥K>Šz–­ßë°âêsÂЗ Ç2”•ŒÈ†Cx‘2UCVö%6âѹu–Pk,»~ŽÞ‡".
2025-2026 Bill 175 Text of Previous Version (Jan.
Ö Rà32'ˆŒÀ…†T øF´K®E÷ê’xÇrÃÁ/GFËÓ²?t±§Éß? 8BÍw-TMäÎ1r¬•;Gšj[¬iÖ#k†õßøê €ÃiÓÜ þåósl,uóÁU€ßêpúJðle kwÄJ+«/úÇ\5¬Ð¾|þóG4y@êtZ²¼pҗϿðãX…ofÒl\*–SY³6*}±Ä%ûU‡Jm5pçÚ¬–æª ÷Tšé¶ã"—9žb–p¯BñJüòÄ,{¡Bá.ç™ëšÂõ[¤– ²ÐÒ¶Þꐰp ܇WDïsÚänØ*ó9ÜÿmkG=¶¨kú„£ÉÀ÷U›áCëáATÐë°-]Š­ºûP^ÛæýØ1¡cj1ºþ†yØ güCƒz±ÕJŸöîz¢D"^”áŒhZˆ0r ŠŒO†â0è€ò\ï¶&™Ðý I[о!’ 5(ZÞÝƧYïŽ;Z܏۟ЀÒҐìyïîÝ/·=w]ÄÔ¥¿€ÉSDrT¤Ð’ @Å­Î%·åTjÓç5$ äC´‹‘åçE¶«ÄŽç2(à\ÂDÓuNü˜jiRdisEå½ vӂ†Ç±M·”ÄzA7‡xÑMÒôý†dï«õs/Ùm<Îcƒaè‹~ õ>Ývó‰|HEIb4š"˙ç"FD ø0R†ä,ÐS/ߛÎÓÈwÓ؁wòù[ÛÐYB’{.'i‚Y¾˜ž!ùƒ(¤ ¢ç¦¼X»’v`3¤‡4ßG€2-0%½"™°£w°€qvþI}¦quZìfvGíµ9@óv ŽêÅϜçs[N¤A=sÃ>ژ`ScÐ L zÕN}-¢ÉË#šTÉBFá@þ͈økq/ˆƒˆx/ Ê@V†,ÿ­"â__EÄr8ðé›åHxyDBGàeôYÿïFtõi/H«Î‘8”ˆ"Fý¿"ª¨Mc(Œ¡›–ÖƒÍIÕ¼2-«fYNS˜(ÉË'Zo¶´ü¿E뤠YD³jP
14, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 175Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates 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 SO AS TO ENACT THE "HELPING ALLEVIATE LAWFUL OBSTRUCTION (HALO) ACT";
BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-1092 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF IMPEDING, INTERFERING, THREATENING, OR HARASSING A FIRST RESPONDER ENGAGED IN THE LAWFUL PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES, AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  This act may be cited as the "Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act".
  SECTION 2.  Article 11, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the S.C.
Code is amended by adding:
      Section 16-3-1092.
(A) As used in this section, the term "first responder" includes a firefighter, law enforcement officer, paramedic, emergency medical technician, or other individual with specialized training and skills who, in the course of his professional duties, responds to fire, medical, hazardous material, or other similar emergencies.
    (B) It is unlawful for a person, after receiving a verbal warning not to approach from a person he knows or reasonably should know is a first responder who is engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty, to knowingly and wilfully violate the warning and approach or remain within twenty-five feet of the first responder with the intent to:
       (1) impede or interfere with the first responder's ability to perform his duty;
       (2) threaten the first responder with harm;
or        (3) harass or taunt the first responder.
    (C) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars and imprisoned not more than sixty days.
  SECTION 3.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on January 14, 2025 at 12:25 PM
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Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  2. Introduced and read first time

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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3 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 167 not signed on

Sponsors (3)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (167)

167 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 167 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 175 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT THE "HELPING ALLEVIATE LAWFUL OBSTRUCTION (HALO) ACT"; BY ADDING SECTION 16-3-1092 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF IMPEDING, INTERFERING, THREATENING, OR HARASSING A FIRST RESPONDER ENGAGED IN THE LAWFUL PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES, AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY.
Who sponsors S 175?
S 175 is sponsored by Senator Jeff Zell, Senator Carlisle Kennedy, and Senator Luke A. Rankin.
What is the current status of S 175?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced January 14, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 175?
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