S 405 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0405 General Bill, By Thomas
A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 24, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM, BY ADDING SECTION 24-3-23, SO AS TO
REQUIRE ABLE-BODIED INMATES INCARCERATED IN THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM AND IN
COUNTY JAILS TO WORK FOR AT LEAST FORTY HOURS EACH WEEK AND TO PROHIBIT
TELEVISION VIEWING BY PRISONERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS;
AND TO AMEND TITLE 24, RELATING TO CORRECTIONS, JAILS, AND THE LIKE, SO AS TO
ENACT THE "INMATE INCARCERATION REIMBURSEMENT ACT" WHICH REQUIRES INMATES IN
THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM TO PAY PART OF THE COST OF THEIR INCARCERATION.
02/20/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-6
02/20/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Corrections and Penology SJ-6
A BILL
TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 24, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE STATE PRISON
SYSTEM, BY ADDING SECTION 24-3-23, SO AS TO REQUIRE
ABLE-BODIED INMATES INCARCERATED IN THE STATE
PRISON SYSTEM AND IN COUNTY JAILS TO WORK FOR AT
LEAST FORTY HOURS EACH WEEK AND TO PROHIBIT
TELEVISION VIEWING BY PRISONERS, WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS; AND TO
AMEND TITLE 24, RELATING TO CORRECTIONS, JAILS, AND
THE LIKE, SO AS TO ENACT THE "INMATE
INCARCERATION REIMBURSEMENT ACT" WHICH
REQUIRES INMATES IN THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM TO
PAY PART OF THE COST OF THEIR INCARCERATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the Prisoners' Work and
Overcrowding Act of 1997.
SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 3, Title 24 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 24-3-23. (A) The director and all persons charged with
the operation of county jails shall establish the following
requirements by rule:
(1) all convicted prisoners in any institution of the department
or in a county jail who are able to do so must engage in work for at
least forty hours each week;
(2) no television viewing will be provided to prisoners in any
institution of the department or in a county jail, except that prisoners
may view educational programs; and
(3) prisoners who are convicted of nonviolent offenses, or who
are eligible for custody in minimum security institutions, may be
assigned to work on chain gangs.
SECTION 3. Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 4
Inmate Incarceration Reimbursement Act
Section 24-4-10. As used in this chapter:
(A)(1) `Assets' means property, tangible or intangible, real or
personal, belonging to or due an offender or a former offender,
including income or payments to such offender from social security,
workers' compensation, veterans' compensation, pension benefits,
previously earned salary or wages, bonuses, annuities, retirement
benefits, or from any other source whatsoever, including any of the
following:
(a) money or other tangible assets received by the offender as
a result of a settlement of a claim against the State, any agency
thereof, or any claim against an employee or independent contractor
arising from and in the scope of said employee's or contractor's
official duties on behalf of the State or any agency thereof;
(b) a money judgment received by the offender from the
State as a result of a civil action in which the State, an agency
thereof or any state employee or independent contractor where such
judgment arose from a claim arising from the conduct of official
duties on behalf of the State by said employee or subcontractor or for
any agency of the State;
(c) a current stream of income from any source whatsoever,
including a salary, wages, disability, retirement, pension, insurance
or annuity benefits or similar payments;
(2) `Assets' shall not include:
(a) the homestead of the offender up to fifty thousand dollars
in value;
(b) money saved by the offender from wages and bonuses up
to two thousand five hundred dollars paid the offender while he or
she was confined to a state correctional center.
(B) `Cost of care' means the cost to the Department of Corrections
for providing transportation, room, board, clothing, security, medical,
and other normal living expenses of offenders under the jurisdiction
of the department, as determined by the director of the department;
(C) `Department' means the Department of Corrections.
(D) `Director' means the Director of the Department of
Corrections.
(E) `Offender' means any person who is under the jurisdiction
of the department and is confined in any state correctional center or
is under the continuing jurisdiction of the department.
(F) `State correctional center' means a facility or institution which
houses an offender population under the jurisdiction of the
department. State correctional center includes a correctional camp,
community correction center, or state prison.
Section 24-4-20. (A) The department shall develop a form which
shall be used by the department to obtain information from all
offenders regarding their assets.
(B) Upon being developed , the form shall be submitted to each
person who is an offender as of the date the form is developed and to
every person thereafter who is sentenced to imprisonment under the
jurisdiction of the department. The department may periodically
resubmit the form to an offender for the purpose of obtaining current
information regarding assets of the offender.
(C) Every offender shall either complete the form or provide for its
completion and shall swear or affirm under oath that, to the best of
his or her knowledge, the information provided is complete and
accurate. Any person who shall knowingly provide false information
on the form to state officials or employees shall be guilty of the crime
of false swearing, as set forth in Section 16-9-30.
(D)(1) An offender's failure to fully, adequately and correctly
complete the form may be considered by the Department of
Probation, Parole and Pardon Services:
(a) for purposes of a parole determination; or
(b) in determining an offender's parole release date or
eligibility.
(2) An offender's failure to fully, adequately and correctly
complete the form shall constitute sufficient grounds for denial of
parole.
(E) Prior to the release of an offender from imprisonment and
again prior to the release of an offender from the jurisdiction of the
department, the department shall request from the offender an
assignment of ten percent of any wages, salary, benefits or payments
from any source. Any such assignment shall be valid for the longer
period of five years from the date of its execution, or five years from
the date that the offender is released from the jurisdiction of the
department or any of its divisions or agencies. The assignment shall
ensure payment of the total cost of care of the offender executing the
assignment.
Section 24-4-30. (A) The director shall forward a report to the
Attorney General on each offender containing the following items:
(1) a copy of the form completed pursuant to the provisions of
Section 24-4-20;
(2) all other information available on the assets of the offender;
and
(3) an estimate of the total cost of care for that offender.
(B) The Attorney General may investigate or cause to be
investigated all reports furnished pursuant to the provisions of
subsection (A) of this section. In the course of the investigation, the
Attorney General may seek information from any source that may
have relevant information concerning an offender's assets. In
completing his duties under this chapter, the Attorney General may
request from the director all information possessed by the department
and its divisions and agencies.
(C)(1) Upon completion of the investigation required by this
section, the Attorney General may seek reimbursement of the state's
expense for the cost of care of an offender or former offender if he
has good cause to believe that an offender or former offender has
sufficient assets to provide reimbursement of the cost of care as
provided in item (2) of this subsection.
(2) The Attorney General has good cause to believe that the
offender has sufficient assets to provide reimbursement of the cost of
care if:
(a) the offender's assets permit the recovery of not less than
ten percent of the estimated cost of care of the offender or not less
than ten percent of the estimated cost of care of the offender for two
years, whichever is less; or
(b) the offender has a stream of income sufficient to pay the
amounts specified in subitem (a) within a five-year period.
(D) Neither the Attorney General nor a solicitor acting on behalf
of the Attorney General may bring an action pursuant to this section
against an offender or former offender after the expiration of five
years after his release from the jurisdiction of the department.
Section 24-4-40. (A) Not more than ninety percent of the value
of the assets of the offender may be used for purposes of securing
costs and reimbursement pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(B) The amount of reimbursement sought from an offender shall
not exceed the per capita cost of care for maintaining an offender in
the state correctional center in which the offender is housed for the
period or periods during which the offender is housed in a state
correctional center.
Section 24-4-50. (A)(1) The Attorney General may file a
complaint in the court of common pleas for the county from which a
prisoner was sentenced or in the court of common pleas in the county
of the office of the director against any person under the jurisdiction
of the department.
(2) The complaint filed must:
(a) state that the defendant is or has been an offender in a
state correctional center;
(b) state that there is good cause to believe that the defendant
has assets; and
(c) include a prayer that the assets be used to reimburse the
State for the expenses incurred or to be incurred, or both, by the
State for the cost of care of the defendant as an offender.
(B) The courts of common pleas shall have exclusive jurisdiction
over all proceedings in which reimbursement is sought from
offenders pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(C) Upon the filing of the complaint, the court shall issue an order
to show cause why the prayer of the complainant should not be
granted. At least thirty days before the date of hearing on the
complaint and order, the complaint and order shall be served upon the
defendant by one of the following means:
(1) personal service; or
(2) if the defendant is confined in a state correctional center, by
registered mail addressed to the defendant, in care of the chief
administrator of the state correctional center where the person is
housed.
(D)(1) At the time of the hearing on the complaint and order, if it
appears that the defendant has any assets which ought to be subjected
to the claim of the State pursuant to the provisions of this chapter,
the court shall issue an order requiring any person, corporation, or
other legal entity possessed or having custody of such assets, to
appropriate and apply such assets or a portion thereof to satisfy such
claim.
(2) If the person, corporation, or other legal entity shall neglect
or refuse to comply with an order issued pursuant to item (1) of this
subsection, the court shall order the person, corporation, or other
legal entity to appear before the court at such time as the court may
direct and to show cause why the person, corporation, or other legal
entity should not be considered in contempt of court.
(E) At the hearing on the complaint and the order to show cause,
and before entering any order on behalf of the State against the
defendant, the court shall take into consideration any legal obligation
of the defendant to support a spouse, minor children, or other
dependents and any moral obligation to support dependents to whom
the defendant is providing or has in fact provided support.
(G) If, in the opinion of the court, the assets of the prisoner are
sufficient to pay the costs of the proceedings undertaken pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter, the assets shall be liable for those costs
upon order of the court.
Section 24-4-60. (A) Except as provided in subsection (C) of this
section, the Attorney General may use any remedy, interim order, or
enforcement procedure allowed by law or court rule, including, but
not limited to, an ex parte restraining order to restrain the offender or
any other person or legal entity in possession or having custody of
the estate of the offender from disposing of certain property in
avoidance of an order issued pursuant to the provisions of Section
24-4-50.
(B) To protect and maintain assets pending resolution of
proceedings initiated pursuant to the provisions of Section 24-4-50,
the court, upon request, may appoint a receiver.
(C) Neither the Attorney General nor a solicitor shall enforce any
judgment obtained pursuant to the provisions of Section 24-4-50 by
means of execution against the homestead of the prisoner.
(D) The state's right to recover the cost of care pursuant to an order
issued pursuant to the provisions of Section 24-4-50 shall have
priority over all other liens, debts, or other encumbrances against real
property or any other assets which are part of an offender's estate.
Section 24-4-70. (A) The Attorney General shall enforce the
provisions of this chapter, except that the Attorney General may
request the solicitor for the county in which the offender was
sentenced or the solicitor for the county in which any asset of an
offender is located to make an investigation or assist in legal
proceedings undertaken pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(B) The sentencing judge, the sheriff, the county or city, the chief
administrator of the state correctional center, and the state treasurer
shall furnish to the Attorney General or solicitor all information and
assistance possible to enable the Attorney General or solicitor to
secure reimbursement for the State pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter.
(C) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law protecting the
confidentiality of any information possessed by the State, its officials
and agencies, the Secretary of State, the Director of the Department
of Revenue, the Director of the Department of Social Services, the
director of the Department of Corrections, the Director of the
Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the Director of the
Department of Public Safety, and the State Budget and Control
Board, and each division or agency within or assigned to such
departments, shall provide the Attorney General or solicitor with all
information requested pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(D) Any county or municipal official having custody of records of
the estate or real property of any offender or former offender shall
surrender said records or certified copies thereof without fee to the
Attorney General or solicitor who requests such records pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter.
Section 24-4-80. (A) There is hereby established in the state
treasury the "Inmate Incarceration Reimbursement Act
Revolving Fund." All reimbursements collected pursuant to the
provisions of this chapter shall be paid to the fund. The costs of any
investigations shall be paid from the fund. The investigative costs
shall be presumed to be twenty percent of the reimbursements
recovered, unless the Attorney General shall demonstrate to the court
otherwise. Monies in the fund shall be appropriated to the Attorney
General in order to defray the costs of the Attorney General in
connection with his duties provided by this act. All remaining
balances shall be appropriated to the department for purposes of
construction and operation of state correctional facilities. Monies in
the fund shall not lapse, be transferred or appropriated to or placed to
the credit of the general revenue fund or any other fund of the State.
(B) The state treasurer may determine the amount due the State for
the cost of care of an offender and may render a sworn statements of
the amount, which shall be considered prima facie evidence of the
amount due."
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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