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Bill 205

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      205
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  19990112
Primary Sponsor:                  Thomas
All Sponsors:                     Thomas, Ryberg, Wilson
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\ggs\22072cm99.doc
Residing Body:                    Senate
Current Committee:                Corrections and Penology Committee 03 SCP
Subject:                          Prisoners' Work and Overcrowding Act of 
                                  1999, Inmate Incarceration Reimbursement, 
                                  Prisons, Corrections Department


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  19990112  Introduced, read first time,           03 SCP
                  referred to Committee
Senate  19981216  Prefiled, referred to Committee        03 SCP


                             Versions of This Bill

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 24-3-23 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PRISONERS' WORK AND OVERCROWDING ACT OF 1999" INCLUDING PROVISIONS TO REQUIRE CERTAIN PRISONERS INCARCERATED IN THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM AND IN COUNTY JAILS TO WORK FOR AT LEAST FORTY HOURS EACH WEEK, TO LIMIT THE TYPES OF TELEVISION SHOWS VIEWED BY PRISONERS, AND TO REQUIRE CERTAIN PRISONERS BE ASSIGNED TO CHAIN GANGS; AND TO AMEND TITLE 24, RELATING TO CORRECTIONS AND JAILS, BY ADDING CHAPTER 4 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A PROCEDURE THAT REQUIRES PRISONERS 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 1999".

SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 24-3-23. (A) The director and all persons charged with the operation of county jails must:

(1) require all convicted prisoners in an institution of the department or in a county jail who are able to work, to work at least forty hours each week;

(2) allow no television viewing by prisoners in an institution of the department or in a county jail, except for the viewing of educational programs; and

(3) require prisoners who are convicted of nonviolent offenses or who are eligible for custody in minimum security institutions to be assigned to work on chain gangs."

SECTION 3. Title 24 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

Section 24-4-10. As used in this chapter:

(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 the offender from social security, workers' compensation, veterans' compensation, pension benefits, previously earned salary or wages, bonuses, annuities, retirement benefits, or from any other source including the following:

(a) money or other tangible assets received by the offender as a result of a settlement of a claim against the State, or a claim against an employee or independent contractor arising from and in the scope of the employee's or contractor's official duties on behalf of the State;

(b) a money judgment received by the offender from the State as a result of a civil action in which the State, or a state employee or independent contractor was a party and the judgment arose from a claim involving the conduct or official duties of the employee or independent contractor on behalf of the State;

(c) a current stream of income from any source including a salary, wages, disability, retirement, pension, insurance, or annuity benefits or similar payments;

(d) 'assets' shall not include:

( i) the homestead of the offender up to fifty thousand dollars in value;

(ii) money saved by the offender from wages and bonuses, but not more than two thousand five hundred dollars, paid to the offender while he was confined in a state correctional center.

(2) '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;

(3) 'Department' means the Department of Corrections.

(4) 'Director' means the Director of the Department of Corrections.

(5) 'Offender' means a person who is under the jurisdiction of the department and is confined in a state correctional center or is under the continuing jurisdiction of the department.

(6) '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 must be used by the department to obtain information from an offender regarding his assets.

(B) The form must be submitted to each offender and to every person who is sentenced to imprisonment under the jurisdiction of the department. The department may resubmit periodically the form to an offender for the purpose of obtaining current information regarding his assets.

(C) An offender shall either complete the form or provide for its completion and shall swear or affirm under oath that, to the best of his knowledge, the information provided is complete and accurate. A person who knowingly provides false information on the form to state officials or employees is guilty of the crime of false swearing, as contained in Section 16-9-30.

(D)(1) An offender's failure fully, adequately, and correctly to 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 fully, adequately and correctly to complete the form is sufficient grounds for denial of parole.

(E) Before the release of an offender from imprisonment and before the release of an offender from the jurisdiction of the department, the department shall request from the offender an assignment of ten percent of his wages, salary, benefits or payments from any source. This assignment is valid for the greater 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. The assignment must 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 the offender.

(B) The Attorney General may investigate or cause to be investigated all reports furnished pursuant to the provisions of subsection (A). During 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 pursuant to 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 must 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 an offender has sufficient assets to provide reimbursement of the cost of care if:

(a) the offender's assets permit the recovery of the lesser of:

( i) ten percent of the estimated cost of care of the offender; or

(ii) ten percent of the estimated cost of care of the offender for two years; 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 more than 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 must 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 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 an offender was sentenced or in the court of common pleas in the county of the office of the director against a 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 court of common pleas has 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 complaint should not be granted. At least thirty days before the date of hearing on the complaint and order, the complaint and order must 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) During the hearing on the complaint and order, if the court finds that the defendant has assets which are subject to the claim of the State pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the court shall issue an order requiring a person, corporation, or other legal entity possessing or having custody of the assets, to appropriate and apply the assets or a portion of them to satisfy the claim.

(2) If the person, corporation, or other legal entity neglects or refuses 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 a 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 an order on behalf of the State against the defendant, the court shall consider 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 provided support.

(G) If the court finds that the assets of the prisoner are sufficient to pay the costs of the proceedings undertaken pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the assets are 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 order including, but not limited to, an ex parte restraining order to restrain the offender or a person or legal entity in possession or having custody of the estate of the offender from disposing of 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 a 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 has 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. However, the Attorney General may request the solicitor for the county in which the offender was sentenced or the solicitor for the county in which an asset of an offender is located to conduct 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 another law protecting the confidentiality of 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 these departments must provide the Attorney General or solicitor with all information requested pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(D) A county or municipal official having custody of records of the estate or real property of an offender or former offender must surrender these records or certified copies of them 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 Revolving Fund'. All reimbursements collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter must be paid to the fund. The costs of an investigation must be paid from the fund. The investigative costs are presumed to be twenty percent of the reimbursements recovered, unless the Attorney General demonstrates to the court otherwise. Monies in the fund must be appropriated to the Attorney General in order to defray the costs of the Attorney General in connection with his duties provided by this chapter. All remaining balances must be appropriated to the department for purposes of construction and operation of state correctional facilities. Monies in the fund must not lapse, be transferred or appropriated to, or placed to the credit of the general revenue fund or another 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 statement of the amount, which must be considered prima facie evidence of the amount due."

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

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