South Carolina senators delay mental health transport bill

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A group of senators say a proposal to overhaul how mental health patients are transported in South Carolina needs more work.

Senator Marlon Kimpson introduced the measure after two people drowned in the back of a locked police van while being taken from the Myrtle Beach area during Hurricane Florence.

The proposal would allow family members or others to transport a patient who has been committed to a hospital, if that patient is not dangerous.

It also suggests police agencies create therapeutic transport teams to move patients.

Members of Senate Subcommittee say they are concerned about how to pay for it.