South Carolina
Medical Records Custodian & Retention Laws
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South Carolina Medical Record Retention Law:
S.C. Code s.44-115-120 (Physicians' Patient Records Act)
- Adult patients: At least 10 years.
- Patients who were minors: At least 13 years.
- The retention period runs from: The last date of treatment; after that the records may be destroyed.
If you are closing, selling or relocating your practice South Carolina sets out what has to happen to patient records. The points below are taken from the source above.
- S.C. CODE 44-115-130, 'Sale of medical records by physician restricted; notice of intent to sell': 'Before a physician may sell medical records, he must cause to be published a PUBLIC NOTICE OF HIS INTENTION TO SELL the records in a NEWSPAPER OF GENERAL CIRCULATION in the area of his practice AT LEAST THREE TIMES IN THE NINETY DAYS PRECEDING THE SALE.'
- 'The notice shall advise patients that THEY MAY RETRIEVE THEIR RECORDS if they prefer that their records not be included in the sale.'
- State it rather than glossing it: the Act addresses the SALE of records only. It contains NO provision for a physician who retires, closes, or dies without a sale - no patient-notification duty, no transfer procedure, no custodian arrangement. A South Carolina practice that simply closes has no statutory roadmap, which is a reason to have one contractually, not a reason to claim the statute supplies it.
South Carolina closing-practice checklist
The same requirements as a checklist you can print and work through, with the retention periods, the notice each rule requires and what you may charge for copies.
Open the South Carolina checklist →
Cost
No state copying-fee schedule was located for South Carolina. Charges should be reasonable and cost-based.
Verified September 2026
Also referred to above
S.C. Code s.44-115-130 (sale of records; notice of intent to sell)
This page summarises the source above and is not legal advice. Retention periods change and several states adjust their copying fees every year, so confirm the current text before you rely on a date or a figure.