USCB Police Officer Helps S.C. First Responders Gain Death Benefits
USCB police officer Sheldon Epstein (back row, third from left), John Pontillo, Jim Fitzgerald, Sen. Tom Davis, and Rep. Shannon Erickson accompanied Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner at a press conference where he explained the new death benefits for South Carolina’s first responders.
A new South Carolina law gives enhanced death benefits to the state’s first responders and a University of South Carolina Beaufort police officer is among those who advocated tirelessly for it.
First responders who die in the line of duty in South Carolina are now ensured benefits of up to $150,000, thanks to a bill signed by Governor Henry McMaster in June 2023.
Sheldon Epstein, a police officer with USCB’s Department of Public Safety, is an active member of the Lowcountry Retired Law Enforcement Officers Association (LRLEOA). This group brought the issue of death benefits for first responders to the attention of the region’s legislative delegation.
“I had found [that], at that time, South Carolina was among the 16 states and the District of Columbia which did not have a state death benefit for law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty," Epstein said.
The law provides a one-time death benefit of $75,000 to the families of first responders and corrections officers who die in the line of duty and $150,000 if they lose their lives in an emergency situation. Before this new law, the preretirement incidental death benefit was equal to the first responder’s yearly income at the time of death.
Epstein and Sun City Hilton Head resident Jim Fitzgerald, also a member of (LRLEOA), reached out to the Lowcountry’s elected officials and asked them to consider drafting legislation to benefit the families of law enforcement officers. As the bill moved through the process to become law, it was expanded to include firefighters, emergency medical personnel, correction officers, and coroners.
Sheriff Tanner said the new law is an incentive to attract people to careers in public safety, where they put their lives on the line.
Senator Tom Davis said he was proud that members of the S.C. House and Senate voted unanimously to pass the law.
