South Carolina General Assembly
112th Session, 1997-1998

Bill 634


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                    634
Ratification Number:            139
Type of Legislation:            General Bill GB
Introducing Body:               Senate
Introduced Date:                19970410
Primary Sponsor:                Thomas
All Sponsors:                   Thomas and Holland 
Drafted Document Number:        dka\4316ac.97
Companion Bill Number:          3862
Date Bill Passed both Bodies:   19970522
Date of Last Amendment:         19970506
Governor's Action:              V
Date of Governor's Action:      19970610
Action on Governor's Veto:      S
Subject:                        Youth Industries Program, Juvenile
                                Justice Department, Minors, Parole
                                Board, Juveniles

History

Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________

Senate  19970617  Veto sustained
------  19970610  Vetoed by Governor
------  19970604  Ratified R139
House   19970522  Read third time, enrolled for
                  ratification
House   19970521  Read second time
House   19970520  Debate adjourned until
                  Wednesday, 19970521
House   19970514  Recalled from Committee                  25 HJ
House   19970508  Introduced, read first time,             25 HJ
                  referred to Committee
Senate  19970507  Read third time, sent to House
Senate  19970506  Read second time, ordered to
                  third reading with notice of
                  general amendments
Senate  19970506  Committee amendment adopted
Senate  19970429  Polled out of Committee:                 03 SCP
                  favorable with amendment
Senate  19970410  Introduced, read first time,             03 SCP
                  referred to Committee


View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

NOTE: THIS COPY IS A TEMPORARY VERSION. THIS IS NOT THE FINAL VERSION.

(Rxxx, S634)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTIONS 20-7-6890, 20-7-6895, 20-7-6900, 20-7-6905, AND 20-7-6910, SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE YOUTH INDUSTRIES PROGRAM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AUTHORIZING THE DEPARTMENT TO CONTRACT WITH PRIVATE INDUSTRIES TO PROVIDE SERVICES RELATIVE TO PACKAGING, MANUFACTURING, AND PROCESSING GOODS, TO ESTABLISH THE MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSING OF GOODS FOR STATE ENTITIES, TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL IN THIS STATE TO SELL GOODS MADE BY JUVENILE OFFENDERS AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS AND TO ESTABLISH A FUND WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE FOR THE COMPENSATION OF CRIME VICTIMS FROM WAGES EARNED BY JUVENILES WORKING IN THE YOUTH INDUSTRIES PROGRAM AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISBURSEMENT OF THESE FUNDS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-7815, RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION AGAINST COMMITTING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE A PERSON WHO IS SERIOUSLY HANDICAPPED BY MENTAL ILLNESS OR MENTAL RETARDATION, SO AS TO CHANGE THE REFERENCE FROM "PERSON" TO "JUVENILE" AND TO REQUIRE THE CONSENT OF THE JUVENILE PAROLE BOARD WHEN AN AGENCY TO WHICH A JUVENILE HAS BEEN COMMITTED SEEKS TO RELEASE THE CHILD; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-8305, RELATING TO THE BOARD OF JUVENILE PAROLE, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT A JUVENILE HAS THE RIGHT TO APPEAR PERSONALLY BEFORE THE BOARD EVERY THREE MONTHS AND INSTEAD AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO CONDUCT PAROLE HEARINGS BY TWO-WAY CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Youth Industries Program authorized

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 20-7-6890. (A) The Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice may establish a Youth Industries Program, consistent with all applicable state and federal child labor laws, employing juveniles committed to the department. This program may include:

(1) providing services to private industries including, but not limited to:

(a) packing, assembling, handling, reconditioning or restoring products, goods, wares, or merchandise;

(b) contracting with private industry for the manufacturing and processing of goods, wares, or merchandise;

(c) contracting with other profit or nonprofit businesses or commercial enterprises to provide the services enumerated in subitems (a) and (b) within the department's Sheltered Workshop Program;

(2) manufacturing or processing industry or service which utilizes juveniles in the manufacture or production of goods, wares, merchandise, articles, or products or in providing services which may be needed for the construction, operation, maintenance, or use of any office, department, institution, or agency supported in whole or in part by this State or a political subdivision of this State; or

(3) otherwise engaging juveniles in paid work opportunities within the department, consistent with the general welfare of the department's mission of rehabilitation and treatment.

(B) To implement the Youth Industries Program the director may enter into contracts in the manner provided by law to implement its Youth Industries Program. A contract may include rental or lease agreements for state land or buildings or portions of state buildings on the grounds of an institution or a facility of the Department of Juvenile Justice and if the contract contains such rental or lease agreements, it must provide the business entity with reasonable access to and egress from these grounds, buildings, and facilities.

(C) In conducting the Youth Industries Program, the department may purchase equipment, raw materials, and supplies in the manner provided by law and may engage necessary supervisory personnel.

(D) The prices of articles or products manufactured or produced or services rendered under the Youth Industries Program must be uniform and nondiscriminating and must be as near to the usual market price for these articles, products, or services as is practicable.

(E) All monies collected by the department from the sale or disposition of articles and products manufactured or produced or from services rendered by juveniles in the Youth Industries Program must be deposited into a special account designated 'Youth Industries Account'. The monies collected and deposited into this account must be used solely for the purchasing of manufacturing supplies, equipment, machinery, and buildings for the Youth Industries Program to pay the wages of the juveniles employed in the program and the salaries of the necessary personnel in the program, and to defray the necessary expenses of the program. The director must deduct from wages paid to a juvenile:

(1) state, federal, and local taxes;

(2) allocations for support of children pursuant to law, court order, or agreement by the committed juvenile; and

(3) contributions to any fund established by law to compensate the victims of crime of not more than twenty percent and not less than five percent of gross wages.

These deductions may not exceed eighty percent of gross wages.

Section 20-7-6895. (A) A juvenile may participate in the Youth Industries Program established pursuant to Section 20-7-6890 only on a voluntary basis and only after the juvenile has been informed of the conditions of the employment.

(B) A juvenile participating in the Youth Industries Program:

(1) providing services to private industry must be compensated commensurate with the prevailing wage for work of a similar nature in the private sector;

(2) is not considered an employee of the State and is not eligible for unemployment compensation upon termination from the program; however, a juvenile is entitled to all other work benefits, including worker's compensation or its equivalent.

(C) The wages of a juvenile authorized to work in the Youth Industries Program, if paid other than by the department, must be paid directly to the Department of Juvenile Justice and credited to the juvenile's account. If the wages are paid by an entity other than the department, these wages must be paid directly to the department, and the department shall credit the wages to the juvenile's account. The director must deduct from wages paid to a juvenile:

(1) state, federal, and local taxes;

(2) allocations for support of children pursuant to law, court order, or agreement by the committed juvenile; and

(3) contributions to any fund established by law to compensate the victims of crime of not more than twenty percent and not less than five percent of gross wages.

These deductions may not exceed eighty percent of gross wages.

(D ) Juvenile participation in the Youth Industries Program must not result in the displacement of employed workers in the State and must not impair existing contracts.

Section 20-7-6900. (A) The Department of Juvenile Justice in consultation with this state's regulatory agencies may promulgate regulations which are necessary to implement Sections 20-7-6890 and 20-7-6895.

Section 20-7-6905. (A) It is unlawful to sell or offer for sale on the open market of this State goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured or produced wholly or in part by juvenile offenders in this or another state. However, this subsection does not apply to:

(1) articles produced by juveniles on parole or probation or in community supervision;

(2) products sold by the Department of Juvenile Justice made by juveniles in its arts and crafts programs;

(3) articles or products sold to nonprofit corporations incorporated under Article 1, Chapter 31, Title 33 or to organizations operating in this State which have been granted an exemption under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

(4) articles or products made in the Youth Industries Program pursuant to Section 20-7-6890, through contracts with private sector businesses which provide work and vocational training opportunities for juvenile offenders with physical or mental disabilities or who are mentally retarded if the compensation is paid by the private sector business to the juvenile offender on a piece rate basis;

(5) products sold intrastate or interstate produced by juveniles employed in the Youth Industries Program;

(6) services provided by juveniles in the Youth Industries Program including, but not limited to, restoration and reconditioning activities, the packaging and handling of goods, wares, or merchandise, or the dismantling and reassembling of products.

Section 20-7-6910. There is created a fund within the Department of Juvenile Justice for the compensation of victims of crime. All contributions deducted from a juvenile's wages pursuant to Sections 20-7-6890(E)(3) or 20-7-6895(C)(3) must be deposited into this fund. Of the amount contributed to the fund by each juvenile, ninety-five percent must be paid by the department on behalf of the juvenile as restitution to the victim or victims of the juvenile's adjudicated crime as ordered by the family court or the Juvenile Parole Board, and five percent must be submitted to the South Carolina Victim's Compensation Fund. If the amount of restitution ordered has been paid in full or if there is no victim of the juvenile's adjudicated crime, the juvenile's contributions must be submitted to the South Carolina Victim's Compensation Fund."

Juvenile Parole Board to authorize release of committed juvenile

SECTION 2. Section 20-7-7815 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, is amended to read:

"Section 20-7-7815. (A) No juvenile may be committed to an institution under the control of the Department of Juvenile Justice who is seriously handicapped by mental illness or retardation. If, after a juvenile is referred to the Reception and Evaluation Center, it is determined that the juvenile is mentally ill, as defined in Section 44-23-10, or mentally retarded to an extent that the juvenile could not be properly cared for in its custody, the department through the voluntary admission process or by instituting necessary legal action may accomplish the transfer of the juvenile to another state institution which in its judgment is best qualified to care for the juvenile in accordance with the laws of this State. This legal action must be brought in the juvenile's resident county. The department shall establish standards with regard to the physical and mental health of juveniles whom it can accept for commitment.

(B) When the state agency to which a juvenile is transferred determines that it is appropriate to release from commitment that juvenile, the state agency must submit a request for release to the Juvenile Parole Board. If the Juvenile Parole Board does not grant the request to release the juvenile, the juvenile must be placed in a suitable correctional environment."

Closed circuit television parole hearings authorized

SECTION 3. Section 20-7-8305(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 383 of 1996, is amended to read:

"(A) The Board of Juvenile Parole shall meet monthly and at other times as may be necessary to review the records and progress of children committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice for the purpose of deciding the release or revocation of release of these children. The parole board shall make periodic inspections, at least quarterly, of the records of persons committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice and may issue temporary and final discharges or release these persons conditionally and prescribe conditions for release into aftercare. It is the right of a juvenile to appear before the parole board every three months for the purpose of parole consideration, but no appearance may begin until the parole board determines that an appropriate period of time has elapsed since the juvenile's commitment. In addition, and at the discretion of the parole board, the quarterly reviews of juveniles committed to the department for having committed a violent offense, as defined in Section 16-1-60, may be waived by the parole board until the juvenile reaches the minimum parole guidelines established for the juvenile by the parole board. In order to allow reviews and appearances by children, the chairman of the parole board may assign the members to meet in panels of not less than three members to receive progress reports and recommendations, review cases, meet with children, meet with counselors, and to hear matters and consider cases for release, parole, and parole revocation. Membership on these panels must be periodically rotated on a random basis by the chairman. At the meetings of the panels, a unanimous vote must be considered the final decision of the parole board. A panel vote that is not unanimous must not be considered as a final decision of the parole board and the matter must be referred to the full parole board, which shall determine the matter by a majority vote of its membership. The parole board or panel may conduct parole hearings by means of a two-way, closed circuit television system."

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

In the Senate House _________________________________________.

_____________________________________________

President of the Senate

_____________________________________________

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Approved the ____________ day of ________________________, 1997.

_____________________________________________

Governor

Printer's Date -- June 2, 1997 -- S.

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