South Carolina § 24-13-660 - Public service work performed by inmates.

§ 24-13-660. Public service work performed by inmates.

(A) A criminal offender committed to incarceration anywhere in this State may be required by prison or jail officials to perform public service work or related activities while under the supervision of appropriate employees of a federal, state, county, or municipal agency, or of a regional governmental entity or special purpose district. Prison or jail officials shall make available each inmate who is assigned to the program for transportation to his place of work on all days when work is scheduled and shall receive each inmate back into confinement at the respective facility after work is concluded. This public service work is considered to be a contribution by the inmate toward the cost of his incarceration and does not entitle him to additional compensation.

(B) No offender may be allowed to participate in these public service work activities unless he first is properly classified and approved to be outside the prison or jail without armed escort.

(C) The public service work requirement in subsection (A) operates only when adequate supervision and accountability can be provided by the agency, entity, district, or organization which is responsible for the work or related activity. The types of public service work permitted to be performed include, but are not limited to, litter control, road and infrastructure repair, and emergency relief activities.

(D) The South Carolina Department of Corrections may enter into a contractual agreement with any federal, state, county, or municipal agency, or with any regional governmental entity or public service district, to provide public service work or related activities through the use of inmate labor under authorized circumstances and conditions. A county municipal, or multijurisdictional jail, detention facility, or prison camp also may provide public service work or related activities through the use of inmate labor in accordance with the Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities in South Carolina and with applicable statutes and ordinances.

(E) It is the policy of this State and its subdivisions to utilize criminal offenders for public service work or related activities whenever it is practical and is consistent with public safety. All eligible agencies, entities, districts, and organizations are encouraged to participate by using a labor force that can be adequately supervised and for which public service work or related activities are available.

(F) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit or otherwise to limit the use of inmate labor by the South Carolina Department of Corrections within its own facilities or on its own property, or by any local governing body within its own facilities or on its own property. Further, nothing in this section prevents the South Carolina Department of Corrections or a local detention facility from escorting and supervising any inmate for a public purpose when the department or the local detention facility provides its own security.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 88, SECTION 1; 2010 Act No. 237, SECTION 84, eff June 11, 2010.

Effect of Amendment

The 2010 amendment in subsection (D), inserted "county municipal, or multi-jurisdictional", "detention facility", and "prison" in the second sentence; and in the first sentence of subsection (F), substituted "local governing body" for "jail or camp", and inserted "or a local detention facility" and "or the local detention facility" in the second sentence.