South Carolina Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities, 3003: Vermin, Insects, and Pests

Citation

Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities in South Carolina (Type II and/or IV Facility), 7/26/2013 version, Standard 3003, as published by the South Carolina Association of Counties. Read on September 26, 2026. A January 2026 draft of proposed revisions keeps Standard 3003 word for word; no evidence of its adoption was found. The statute was read on the South Carolina Legislature’s site.

What It Says (Verbatim)

Standard 3003 (in full):

“3003 VERMIN, INSECTS, AND PESTS (a) Each facility shall have a regularly scheduled program of pest and vermin control and extermination. (b) Effective measures shall be taken to keep flies, rodents, and other vermin out of the confinement facility and to prevent their breeding or continued presence on the premises. The facility shall be kept neat, clean, and free of litter. All openings to the outer air shall be effectively protected against the entrance of insects and rodents by self-closing doors, closed windows, sixteen (16) mesh or finer screening, or other effective means.”

Standard 1011, applicability:

“All standards and requirements herein shall apply to every local detention facility in South Carolina except as where distinctions are made by type of facility.”

Standard 1014, inspection:

“In accordance with South Carolina Code of Laws § 24-9-20, staff from the Jail and Prison Inspection Division of the Department of Corrections will conduct an annual inspection of each facility. A follow-up inspection will also be conducted at a later date.”

What It Means in Plain Language

1. A regularly scheduled program, of control and of extermination. The schedule is the facility’s.
2. Effective measures, out and not breeding. The same structure as North Carolina’s rule.
3. Exclusion. Self-closing doors, closed windows, 16-mesh or finer screening, or other effective means.
4. Annual state inspection by the Department of Corrections’ Jail and Prison Inspection Division, with the State Fire Marshal, and a follow-up.

Who It Applies To

Every local detention facility in South Carolina, under Standard 1011. The inspection division inspects at least annually every facility housing prisoners or pretrial detainees, and the standards it inspects against are those set by the Association of Counties and adopted by the Department (S.C. Code § 24-9-20).

S.C. Code Ann. § 24-9-20:

“The inspections of local confinement facilities shall be based on standards established by the South Carolina Association of Counties and adopted by the Department of Corrections, and appropriate fire and health codes and regulations.”

Documentation Evidence

• The written, regularly scheduled pest and vermin control and extermination program
• Service records matching the schedule
• Door, window, and screen condition records
• The annual inspection report and the follow-up

Confidence Notes

HIGH confidence in the text. The standards are authored by an association and draw their force from statute; no copyright notice appears on the document (the Association’s website footer carries a site-wide notice). This is the adult Type II and IV edition.