Current StatusView additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.Bill Number: 1196 Ratification Number: 535 Act Number 480 Introducing Body: Senate Subject: Agency name changed
(A480, R535, S1196)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 24-21-10, 24-21-13, 24-21-60, 24-21-70, 24-21-80, 24-21-90, 24-21-250, 24-21-260, 24-21-280, 24-21-290, 24-21-475, 24-21-480, 24-21-485, 24-21-650, AND 24-21-930, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PAROLE AND COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS BOARD, DEPARTMENT, AND OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES, SO AS TO CHANGE THE NAME AND REFERENCES TO THE PROBATION, PAROLE, AND PARDON SERVICES BOARD, DEPARTMENT, AND OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES AND TO DELETE ANTIQUATED AND OBSOLETE LANGUAGE, TO PROVIDE THAT A DELINQUENCY IN PAYMENT OF THE FEE PAID BY A PERSON ON PROBATION MAY RESULT IN REVOCATION OF PROBATION OR PAROLE AT THE DETERMINATION OF THE BOARD OR COURT, RATHER THAN MANDATORY REVOCATION AS FORMERLY, AND TO PROVIDE THAT A PARDON ORDER RESTORES THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE PERSON APPLYING FOR THE PARDON.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Agency name changed
SECTION 1. Section 24-21-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-10. The Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, hereafter referred to as the 'department', is governed by the Board of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, hereafter referred to as the 'board', which is composed of seven members. The terms of office of the members are for six years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Six of the seven members must be appointed from each of the congressional districts and one member must be appointed at large. Vacancies must be filled by gubernatorial appointment with the advice and consent of the
Senate for the unexpired term. If a vacancy occurs during a recess of the Senate, the Governor may fill the vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term pending the consent of the Senate.
A chairman must be elected annually by a majority of the membership of the board. The chairman may serve consecutive terms."
Reference changed
SECTION 2. Section 24-21-13(d) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(d) the operation of public work sentence programs for offenders on probation, parole, supervised furlough, and persons released pursuant to the Prison Overcrowding Powers Act. This program also may be utilized as an alternative to technical revocations. The board shall establish priority programs for litter control along state and county highways. This must be included in the 'public service work' program."
Title changed
SECTION 3. Section 24-21-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-60. Every city, county, or state official or department shall assist and cooperate to further the objectives of this chapter. The board, the executive director of the department, and the probation officers may seek the cooperation of officials and departments and especially of the sheriffs, jailers, magistrates, police officials, and institutional officers. The executive director may conduct surveys of the State Penitentiary, county jails, and camps and obtain information to enable the board to pass intelligently upon all applications for parole. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and the wardens, jailers, sheriffs, supervisors, or other officers in whose control a prisoner may be committed shall aid and assist the executive director and the probation officers in the surveys."
Title changed
SECTION 4. Section 24-21-70 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-70. The Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, when a prisoner is confined in the State Penitentiary, the sheriff of the county, when a person is confined in the county jail, and the county supervisor or chairman of the governing body of the county if there is no county supervisor, when a prisoner is confined upon a work detail of a county, shall keep a record of the industry, habits, and deportment of the prisoner, as well as other information requested of the officer by the board or the executive director and furnish it to them upon request."
Probation fee
SECTION 5. Section 24-21-80 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-80. Every person granted parole by the board and every adult placed on probation by a court of competent jurisdiction shall pay two hundred forty dollars a year toward offsetting the cost of his supervision for so long as he remains under supervision. This fee is due and payable on the date of sentencing or date of parole and each subsequent anniversary for the duration of the supervision period. This fee must be remitted for credit to the State General Fund. The payment of the fee must be a condition of parole or probation and a delinquency of two months or more in making payments may operate as a revocation of parole or probation rendering the violator liable to serving out any remaining part of his sentence, at the determination of the board or the court.
If the probationer is placed under intensive supervision by a court of competent jurisdiction, or if the board places a parolee under intensive supervision, or if the department places an inmate under intensive supervision who is participating in the Supervised Furlough Program under supervision as a result of a prison overcrowding emergency, the probationer, parolee, or inmate is required to pay ten dollars each week for the duration of intensive supervision in lieu of the two hundred forty dollars a year fee. Fees derived from persons under intensive supervision must be retained in aggregate by the board to support these supervisory efforts and fees collected in prior years from this source must be retained and carried forward to continue the supervisory effort. Offenders sentenced for the offense of murder, kidnapping, voluntary manslaughter, assault and battery with intent to kill, criminal sexual conduct in any degree, armed robbery, arson, or trafficking in drugs pursuant to Section 44-53-370(e) are ineligible for participation in the intensive supervision program. The board, in the cases of parolees, or a court of competent jurisdiction, in the case of probationers, or the department, in the case of an inmate, may exempt the probationer, parolee, or inmate from payment of a part or all of the yearly or weekly fee during any part or all of the term where the board, the court, or the department determines that these payments work a severe hardship on the parolee, probationer, or inmate. Delinquencies of two months or more in payment of a reduced fee operates in the same manner as delinquencies for the full amount."
Accurate account of money collected
SECTION 6. Section 24-21-90 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-90. Each supervising agent shall keep an accurate account of the money he collects pursuant to Sections 24-21-80, 24-23-210(B), and 24-23-220 and shall give a receipt to the probationer and individual under supervision for each payment. Money collected must be forwarded to the board and deposited in the state treasury."
Salaries
SECTION 7. Section 24-21-250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-250. The probation officers must be paid salaries, to be fixed by the board, payable semi-monthly, and also be paid traveling and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties when the expense accounts have been authorized and approved by the executive director."
Assignment of officers
SECTION 8. Section 24-21-260 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-260. Probation officers appointed under Section 24-21-230 must be assigned to serve in courts or districts or other places the executive director may determine."
Officer to investigate
SECTION 9. Section 24-21-280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-280. A probation officer shall investigate all cases referred to him for investigation by the judges or executive director and report in writing. He shall furnish to each person released on probation under his supervision a written statement of the conditions of probation and shall instruct him regarding them. He shall keep informed concerning the conduct and condition of each person on probation or parole under his supervision by visiting, requiring reports, and in other ways and shall report in writing as often as the court or executive director may require. He shall use practicable and suitable methods to aid and encourage persons on probation or parole to bring about improvement in their conduct and condition. A probation officer shall keep detailed records of his work, make reports in writing, and perform other duties as the executive director may require. A probation officer shall have, in the execution of his duties, the powers of arrest and to the extent necessary the same right to execute process given by law to sheriffs. In the performance of his duties of probation and parole investigation and supervision he is regarded as the official representative of the court and the board."
Information privileged
SECTION 10. Section 24-21-290 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-290. All information and data obtained in the discharge of his official duty by a probation officer is privileged information, is not receivable as evidence in a court, and may not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone other than the judge or others entitled under this chapter to receive reports, unless ordered by the court or the executive director."
Judge may suspend sentence
SECTION 11. Section 24-21-475 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-475. In addition to any other terms or conditions of probation under Section 24-21-430, the judge may suspend a sentence for a defendant convicted of a nonviolent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-70, for which a term
of imprisonment of five years or greater may be imposed, or as a revocation to probation, and transfer custody to the South Carolina Department of Corrections for hard labor for ninety days as a condition of probation. No person who has attained the age of twenty-five years or more may be sentenced to this program.
The defendant must be housed separately from the general inmate population as far as is advisable and necessary. Successful program participation at the end of ninety days results in transfer to the department to complete the probation.
Failure to comply with program requirements may result in a request to the court to revoke the suspended sentence.
No participant in the shock probation program may earn credits under any statute or regulation, or any other benefits which may reduce the ninety-day period.
Before a court may place this condition upon the sentence, an initial investigation must be completed by the probation officer which indicates that the probationer is qualified for the treatment because the individual does not appear to be physically or mentally handicapped in a way that prevents him from strenuous physical activity, that the individual has no obvious contagious diseases, and that the department has recommended placement of the individual in this program.
No probationer may be admitted to the South Carolina Department of Corrections for participation in the shock probation program unless the Department of Corrections medically certifies that the probationer has no physical or mental handicaps or contagious diseases which prevent strenuous physical activity or interaction with other probationers.
The department, on the first day of each month, shall present to the court a report detailing the availability of bed space in the shock probation program.
No person is ineligible for this program by reason of gender."
Judge may suspend sentence
SECTION 12. The first and second paragraphs of Section 24-21-480 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:
"The judge may suspend a sentence for a defendant convicted of a nonviolent offense as defined in Section 16-1-70, for which imprisonment of more than ninety days may be imposed, or as a revocation of probation, and may place the offender in a restitution center as a condition of probation. The department, on the first day of each month, shall present to the general sessions court a report detailing the availability of bed space in the restitution center program.
The restitution center is a program under the jurisdiction of the department."
Reference changed
SECTION 13. Section 24-21-485 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-485. In order for the department to establish and maintain restitution centers, the board may:
(1) develop policies and procedures for the operation of restitution centers;
(2) fund other management options advantageous to the State including, but not limited to, contracting with public or nonpublic entities for management of restitution centers;
(3) lease buildings;
(4) develop standards for disciplinary rules to be imposed on residents of restitution centers;
(5) develop standards for the granting of emergency furloughs to participants."
Board to issue order
SECTION 14. Section 24-21-650 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-650. The board shall issue an order authorizing the parole which must be signed by at least a majority of its members, with terms and conditions, if any, but at least two-thirds of the members of the board must sign orders authorizing parole for persons convicted of a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60. The executive director, or one lawfully acting for him, then shall issue a parole order, which, if accepted by the prisoner, provides for his release from custody.
Upon a negative determination of parole, prisoners in confinement for a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60 must have their cases reviewed every two years for the purpose of a determination of parole."
Rights restored
SECTION 15. Section 24-21-930 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 24-21-930. An order of pardon must be signed by at least two-thirds of the members of the board. Upon the issue of the order by the board the executive director, or one lawfully acting for him, shall issue a pardon order which provides for the restoration of the pardon applicant's civil rights."
Terms
SECTION 16. The present members of the Board of Parole and Community Corrections constitute the board and shall serve until the expiration of their terms.
References changed
SECTION 17. All references in the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, to the "Parole and Community Corrections Board" must be changed to read "Board of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services". All references to the "Department of Parole and Community Corrections" must be changed to read "Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services". All references to the "Executive Director of the Department of Parole and Community Corrections" or to the "Supervisor of Parole" or to the "Supervisor of Probation" must be changed to read the "Executive Director of the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services". All references to the "Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Parole and Community Corrections" must be changed to read the "Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services".
Time effective
SECTION 18. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.