H 3965 Session 112 (1997-1998)
H 3965 General Bill, By D. Smith
A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 21, TITLE 24, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO PROBATION, PAROLE AND PARDON, BY ADDING ARTICLE 12 SO AS TO
PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION; TO AMEND SECTION 24-3-40, AS
AMENDED, RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF THE WAGES OF CERTAIN PRISONERS, SO AS
TO REVISE THE DISPOSITION OF WAGES BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; TO AMEND
SECTION 24-13-1910, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT, CONSTRUCTION,
OPERATION, AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CENTERS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG REHABILITATION,
SO AS TO DELETE A PROVISION THAT ALLOWS THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO
CONSTRUCT ONE OR MORE CENTERS UPON THE NECESSARY APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS BY THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 24, RELATING TO THE STATE PRISON
SYSTEM BY ADDING ARTICLE 4, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR RESEARCH INTO AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, REDUCE RECIDIVISM
RATES, PREPARE INMATES FOR RELEASE; AND BY ADDING SECTION 24-12-310 SO AS TO
PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PROBATION, PAROLE, AND PARDON SERVICES SHALL
EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF "CRIMINAL THINKING" COUNSELING.
04/10/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-87
04/10/97 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-87
A BILL
TO AMEND CHAPTER 21, TITLE 24, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PROBATION,
PAROLE, AND PARDON, BY ADDING ARTICLE 12 SO AS TO
PROVIDE A SYSTEM OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION; TO
AMEND SECTION 24-3-40, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE
DISPOSITION OF THE WAGES OF CERTAIN PRISONERS, SO
AS TO REVISE THE DISPOSITION OF WAGES BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; TO AMEND SECTION
24-13-1910, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND
RESPONSIBILITIES OF CENTERS FOR ALCOHOL AND DRUG
REHABILITATION, SO AS TO DELETE A PROVISION THAT
ALLOWS THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO
CONSTRUCT ONE OR MORE CENTERS UPON THE
NECESSARY APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS BY THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY; TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 24, RELATING
TO THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM BY ADDING ARTICLE 4, SO
AS TO PROVIDE FOR RESEARCH INTO AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE
REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, REDUCE RECIDIVISIM RATES,
AND PREPARE INMATES FOR RELEASE; AND BY ADDING
SECTION 24-12-310 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE
DEPARTMENT OF PROBATION, PAROLE, AND PARDON
SERVICES SHALL EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
"CRIMINAL THINKING" COUNSELING.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 12
Community Supervision
Section 24-21-1050. (A) As used in this article:
(1) Limited probation supervision (LPS) is a level of
supervision that holds an offender accountable for making restitution
to victims who have been harmed in the commission of a criminal
act. The offenders placed in this level of supervision must be
nonviolent offenders with minimal or no prior criminal history.
(2) General probation supervision (GPS) is a level of
supervision that monitors the majority of offenders supervised in the
community. Offenders placed in this level of supervision must be
monitored to ensure compliance with all court ordered sentences and
conditions, to hold offenders accountable in making restitution to
victims who have been harmed in the commission of a criminal act,
and to ensure that these offenders participate in activities that will
reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
(3) Intensive probation supervision (IPS) is a level of
supervision that monitors offenders who require aggressive
community-based supervision because of their extensive criminal
history or the risk they may pose to the community. Offenders
placed in this level of supervision must be monitored to ensure
compliance with all court ordered sentences and conditions, held
accountable in making restitution to victims who have been harmed
in the commission of a criminal act, and to ensure that these offenders
participate in activities that will reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
(4) Community supervision (CS) is a level of supervision that
monitors the activities of offenders who have been released from
institutional supervision. Offenders placed in this level of
supervision must be monitored to ensure compliance with court or
parole board ordered conditions of release, effectively reintegrated
into the community, and held accountable in making restitution to
victims who have been harmed in the commission of a criminal act.
(5) Institutional supervision (IS) is a level of supervision for
offenders who are not appropriate for supervision in the community.
(B) Nothing in this article shall preclude the department from
having caseloads that combine the different levels of supervision as
long as an appropriate rating system is developed that guarantees that
the quality of supervision is not diminished.
Section 24-21-1100. (A) The Department of Probation, Parole,
and Pardon Services must be provided sufficient resources by the
General Assembly to provide that the caseloads for LPS agents do
not exceed a supervision ratio of one hundred forty offenders a
probation agent. Probation agents assigned to LPS caseloads must be
provided sufficient administrative and clerical support.
(B) The general sessions court may sentence offenders to LPS
terms of not less than six months and not more than eighteen months.
The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
administratively may reduce the terms of LPS offenders by a
maximum of six months if all restitution and other financial
obligations have been paid by the offenders and if no criminal
violations have occurred during the LPS sentence.
(C) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
hearing officers may extend the terms of LPS offenders by up to six
months if the offenders violate financial court ordered sentence
conditions. The offender is not responsible for his community
reparation and offender supervision and rehabilitation fees during this
extension.
(D) The general sessions court may extend the terms of LPS
offenders by up to twelve months if financial obligations have not
been paid by the end of the original term or if technical or criminal
violations have occurred. The Department of Probation, Parole, and
Pardon Services may retain extended term offenders in a regular LPS
caseload, transfer them to a residential restitution center, or seek civil
actions.
(E) The general sessions court may resentence LPS technical
violators to the GPS or IPS levels of correctional programming.
Criminal violators of supervision may be sentenced to GPS, IPS, or
IS.
Section 24-21-1150. (A) The Department of Probation, Parole,
and Pardon Services must be provided sufficient resources by the
General Assembly to provide that the caseloads for GPS agents do
not exceed a supervision ratio of seventy offenders an agent for
first-year GPS offenders and a supervision ratio of one hundred forty
offenders an agent for second and subsequent year GPS offenders.
Probation agents assigned to GPS caseloads must be provided with
sufficient administrative and clerical support to effectively perform
their duties.
(B) The general sessions court may sentence offenders to GPS
terms of not less than twelve months nor more than thirty-six months.
The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
administratively may reduce the terms of GPS offenders by not more
than six months if all restitution and other financial obligations have
been paid and if no criminal violations have occurred.
(C) An offender sentenced to GPS must:
(1) report to his agent once a month;
(2) be contacted by his agent once each quarter; and
(3) undergo a test for alcohol and illicit drug abuse twice a year.
(D) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
Hearing Officers may extend the terms of GPS offenders by up to six
months if the offenders violate financial court ordered sentence
conditions. The offender is not responsible for his community
reparation and offender supervision and rehabilitation fees during this
extension.
(E) The general sessions court may extend the terms of GPS
offenders by up to twelve months if financial obligations have not
been paid by the end of the original term or if technical or criminal
violations occur. The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon
Services may retain extended term offenders in a regular GPS
caseload, transfer them to a residential restitution center, or seek civil
actions.
(F) The general sessions court may resentence GPS technical
violators to the IPS level of correctional programming or revoke their
probation and place them in IS.
Section 24-21-1200. (A) The Department of Probation, Parole,
and Pardon Services must be provided sufficient resources by the
General Assembly to provide that the caseloads for IPS agents do not
exceed a supervision ratio of thirty-five offenders an agent for IPS
offenders in their first twelve months of supervision and a
supervision ratio of seventy offenders an agent for IPS offenders in
their second or subsequent years of supervision, or both. Probation
agents assigned to IPS caseloads must be provided with sufficient
administrative and clerical support to effectively perform their duties.
(B) The general sessions court may sentence offenders to IPS
terms of not less than twenty-four months nor more than forty-eight
months. The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
may reduce the terms of IPS offenders by not more than six months
if all restitution and other financial obligations have been paid by the
offenders and if no criminal violations have occurred.
(C) An offender sentenced to IPS must:
(1) report to his agent on a weekly basis;
(2) be contacted by his agent who will make out-of-office
contacts once each quarter; and
(3) be alcohol or drug-tested once each quarter, or both.
(D) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
hearing officers may extend the terms of IPS offenders by not more
than six months if the offenders violate financial court ordered
sentence conditions. The offender is not responsible for his
community reparation and offender supervision and rehabilitation
fees during this extension.
(E) The general sessions court may extend the terms of IPS
offenders by not more than twelve months if financial obligations
have not been paid by the end of the original term or if technical or
criminal violations occur. The Department of Probation, Parole, and
Pardon Services may retain extended term offenders in a regular IPS
caseload, transfer them to a residential restitution center or seek civil
actions.
(F) The general sessions court may require offenders sentenced to
IPS to participate in not more than six months of specialized
punishment and treatment programming when the Department of
Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services certifies to the court that this
programming is available. The department may contract these
services if necessary. Offenders must be assessed a daily fee to offset
the cost of the services provided. These fees may be collected after
an inmate's release from the specialized program, if the inmate is
unable to work while in the program. The inventory of specialized
programming and service fees are:
(1) one dollar a day for house arrest or curfews;
(2) two dollars a day for placement in a mental health facility;
(3) three dollars a day for placement in a halfway house; and
(4) three dollars a day for placement in community control
center.
These fees must be reviewed every five years.
(G) The general sessions court may require IPS technical violators
to participate in one or more punishment or treatment enhancement
programs or revoke their probation and place them in IS.
Section 24-21-1250. (A) The Department of Probation, Parole,
and Pardon Services must be provided sufficient resources by the
General Assembly to provide that violent offenders (offenders
sentenced to twenty years or more as outlined in the 1995 Crime Bill)
transferred to CS from IS will be placed in IPS caseloads for not less
than one year but not more than two years.
(B) A person placed on parole must be placed at an appropriate
level of supervision comparable to IPS, GPS, or LPS by the state
parole board.
Section 24-21-1300. The Department of Corrections may review
the Department of Juvenile Justice juvenile offender records to make
security and classification decisions for IS Offenders.
Section 24-21-1350. The Director of the Department of Probation,
Parole, and Pardon Services shall notify the Governor, the Speaker
of the South Carolina House of Representatives, the President of the
South Carolina Senate, and the general public whenever the statewide
average caseload for LPS, CPS, IPS, or CS exceeds the guidelines
established in this plan.
Section 24-21-1400. (A) Offenders sentenced to LPS, GPS, IPS,
and CS shall pay an 'offender supervision and rehabilitation fee' of
thirty dollars a month.
(B) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
shall deposit fifty percent of the proceeds from the 'offender
supervision and rehabilitation fee' paid by LPS, GPS, IPS, and CS
offenders in an 'Offender Rehabilitation Fund' controlled by the
Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services. The
department shall deposit the remaining fifty percent in the state's
general fund.
(C) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
shall use thirty percent of the funds deposited in the offender
rehabilitation fund each year to purchase rehabilitation services from
private service providers for GPS offenders, thirty percent of the
funds to purchase services for IPS offenders. The remaining forty
percent of the funds must be used by the department for the
development and operation of IPS enhancement programs. The
money generated for each level of supervision must be divided
statewide between each supervising agent, who will have the
discretion to direct the expenditure of these resources among his
caseload.
(D) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
may use the first six thousand dollars of the funds deposited in the
offender rehabilitation fund each year for salary bonuses for six
probation agents who excel in the reduction of recidivism in their
caseloads.
Section 24-21-1450. (A) The General Assembly shall provide
sufficient resources to the Department of Probation, Parole, and
Pardon Services for the department to employ three additional sex
offense probation agents in the more populated areas of the State.
These agents must be assigned to IPS level caseloads that are
exclusively devoted to sex offenders. The two current sex offender
caseloads must be upgraded to intensive supervision.
(B) The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services
shall develop a training curriculum for teaching volunteers to serve
as mentors to GPS, IPS, and CS.
(C) The General Assembly shall provide the Department of
Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services sufficient resources to provide
or contract with private service providers for a minimum of two
halfway house beds for every one thousand offenders supervised by
the department. The support services provided to the offenders
supervised in the halfway house must include:
(1) case management services and referrals;
(2) vocational assistance; and
(3) random twenty-four hour verification of an offender's
location.
Section 24-21-1500. (A) The Department of Probation, Parole,
and Pardon Services hearing officers must provide findings of fact
and conclusions of law at the conclusion of all hearings sufficient for
additional adjudication on any case in which incarceration is among
a hearing officer's recommendation at the time of adjudication.
(B) During an administrative hearing, probation and parole officers
shall provide recommendations to the hearing officer. These
recommendations must remain confidential between the probation
and parole officers and the hearing officer unless the hearing officer
finds a compelling reason to furnish this information to another
party."
SECTION 2. Section 24-3-40 of the 1976 Code, as last amended
by Act 7 of 1995, is further amended to read:
"Section 24-3-40. (A) Unless otherwise provided by
law, the employer of a prisoner authorized to work at paid
employment in the community under Sections 24-3-20 through
24-3-50 or in a prison industry program provided under Article 3 of
this chapter shall pay the prisoner's wages directly to the Department
of Corrections. The director of the Department of Corrections shall
withhold five percent of the gross wages and promptly place these
funds on deposit with the State Treasurer for credit to a special
account to support victim assistance programs established pursuant
to the 'Victims of Crime Act of 1984, Public Law 98-473, Title II,
Chapter XIV, Section 1404'. The director may withhold from the
wages costs incident to the prisoner's confinement as the Department
of Corrections considers appropriate and reasonable. These
withholdings must be deposited to the maintenance account of the
Department of Corrections. The balance of the wages, in the
discretion of the director and in proportions determined by the
director, may be disbursed to the prisoner, the prisoner's dependents,
and the victim of the crime or deposited to the credit of the prisoner.
(B) An employer of a prisoner authorized to work at paid
employment in a private prison industry program provided under
Article 3 of this chapter shall pay the prisoner's wages to the
Department of Corrections.
(C) The wages must be disbursed as follows:
(1) fifty percent must be applied toward restitution payments;
(2) five percent must be deposited with the State Treasurer for
credit to a special account to support victim assistance programs
established pursuant to the 'Victims of Crime Act of 1984, Public
Law 98-473, Title II, Chapter XIV, Section 1404';
(3) once restitution is paid fully, the Department of Corrections
may apply up to thirty-five percent of a prisoner's wages toward
court ordered child support payments;
(4) twenty-five percent must be used by the Department of
Corrections to defray the cost of the prisoner's room and board;
(5) ten percent may be used by the inmate during his
incarceration to purchase incidentals;
(6) ten percent must be held in escrow account; and
(7) if restitution or child support, or both, do not apply to the
prisoner, the balance of his wages must be placed in an escrow
account.
(D) The Department of Corrections shall return a prisoner's wages
held in escrow as follows:
(1) a prisoner released without community supervision must be
given escrowed wages upon his release;
(2) a prisoner serving life in prison shall have his escrowed
wages dispersed to his decedents upon his death;
(3) a prisoner released to community supervision shall receive
one hundred dollars or the escrow balance, whichever is less, upon
his release. Any balance must be dispensed to the Department of
Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services. The prisoner's supervising
agent shall apply this balance toward payment of the prisoner's
housing and basic needs and return any balance to the prisoner at the
end of the supervision period."
SECTION 3. Section 24-13-1910 of the 1976 Code, as added by
Section 45, Part II, Act 7 of 1995, is amended to read:
"Section 23-13-1910. There is established one or more centers for
alcohol and drug rehabilitation under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections to treat and rehabilitate alcohol and drug
offenders. The Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
Services has primary responsibility for the addictions treatment of the
offenders, and the Department of Corrections has primary
responsibility for the maintenance and security of the offenders.
The Department of Corrections may construct one or more centers
upon the necessary appropriation of funds by the General
Assembly. The Department of Corrections shall
centers established establish or constructed
construct as authorized by this section shall provide
at least seven hundred fifty beds forty-two beds for every
three thousand inmates supervised by the Department of
Corrections. The centers established under this section must be
fully operational by January 1, 1997 1999."
SECTION 4. Chapter 3, Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 4
Research and Planning
Section 24-3-450. (A) The Department of Corrections, the
Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, the
Department of Mental Health, the Department of Disabilities and
Special Needs, and the Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Services and service providers in the private sector shall form an
interagency study group to examine:
(1) a comprehensive plan to assess and provide rehabilitative
services to offenders;
(2) the costs of the State providing these rehabilitative services
to offenders versus utilization of private sector providers;
(3) methods for improving the information flow and
coordination of services; and
(4) how technology can be utilized to decrease costs of these
activities.
(B) The study group shall forward their plan and recommendations
to the Governor and General Assembly by July 1, 1999.
(C) The Department of Corrections and the Department of Mental
Health jointly shall initiate and complete a 'Master Plan for Providing
Mental Health Services to Institutional Supervision Offenders' by
July 1, 1999.
Section 24-3-455. The Department of Corrections and the
Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services shall develop
a uniform statewide definition and tracking method of recidivism for
offenders supervised by both departments.
Section 24-3-460. The Department of Corrections shall develop a
plan outlining a preparation for release program, to include the
following:
(1) tax incentives to businesses that hire newly released
community supervision honorably discharged offenders who have
successfully completed the pre-release program described in item (3)
of this section;
(2) criteria for an 'honorable discharge' from prison for offenders
who have performed well during their incarceration and have
participated and successfully completed the Preparation for Release
Program mentioned in item 3 of this section. These honorably
discharged offenders are eligible for employment opportunities with
businesses participating in the tax incentive program mentioned in
item (1) of this section; and
(3) a voluntary Preparation for Release Program for all inmates in
the custody of the Department of Corrections who have been
sentenced to terms of one year or more and who are within at least six
months of their release to community supervision. The preparation
for release program shall include classes on citizenship and the law,
criminal thinking treatment, moral development, basic life and family
skills. In addition, access must be provided to vocational and
substance abuse counseling."
SECTION 5. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 24-21-310. The Department of Probation, Parole, and
Pardon Services shall evaluate the effectiveness of 'Criminal
Thinking' counseling. If the results are positive, the program must
be implemented in facilities operated by the Department of Probation,
Parole, and Pardon Services and made available to the Department of
Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice."
SECTION 6. This act takes effect one year after approval by the
Governor.
-----XX----- |