Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all before the enacting words and inserting:
/ Whereas, researchers have shown that a significant number of members of the United States Armed Forces who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer, as a result of their military service, mental health injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and acute stress, and injuries that affect brain function, such as traumatic brain injury; and
Whereas, while the vast majority of returning members of the United States Armed Forces do not have contact with the criminal justice system, and most veterans and members of the United States Armed Forces are well-adjusted, contributing members of society, psychiatrists and law enforcement officials agree that combat-related injuries have led to instances of criminality; and
Whereas, as a grateful State, we must continue to honor the military service of our men and women by providing them with an alternative to incarceration when feasible, permitting them instead to obtain proper treatment for mental health and substance abuse problems that have resulted from military service. Now, therefore, /
Amend the bill further, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Title 14 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 14-29-10. This Chapter may be cited as the 'Veterans Treatment Court Program Act'.
Section 14-29-20. The General Assembly recognizes the success of various other states' veterans court initiatives in rehabilitating certain nonviolent offenders who are veterans of a military conflict in which the United States military is or has been involved. The purpose of this chapter is to divert qualifying nonviolent military veteran offenders away from the criminal justice system and into appropriate treatment programs, thereby reserving prison space for violent criminals and others for whom incarceration is the only reasonable alternative. This chapter intends to set standards and procedures to facilitate the creation and continuation of these programs across the State, while leaving local jurisdictions the flexibility to tailor individual programs to local needs.
Section 14-29-30. Each circuit solicitor may establish a veterans treatment court program subject to the availability of funds. Each circuit solicitor that receives state funding for the implementation of a veterans treatment court program must establish and administer at least one veterans treatment court program for the circuit within one hundred eighty days of receipt of funding. The circuit solicitor must administer the program and ensure that all eligible persons are permitted to apply for admission to the program.
Section 14-29-40. (A)
The Chief Justice shall appoint judges of
the veterans treatment court upon the recommendation of the
circuit solicitor for that judicial circuit.
(B) A veterans
treatment court judge must:
(1)
be a member in good standing with the South Carolina Bar
or a member, active or retired, of the Unified Judicial
System;
(2)
serve at the pleasure of the Chief Justice for a term of
two years and may be reappointed;
(3)
receive no salary for his service as a veterans treatment
court judge and must serve as a veterans treatment court judge
on a voluntary basis;
(4)
receive an allowance for mileage, subsistence, and per
diem when engaged in the exercise of his duties as a veterans
treatment court judge;
(5)
be exempt during his term from Rule 608, South Carolina
Appellate Court Rules, relating to the appointment of lawyers
for indigents;
(6)
enjoy in a veterans treatment court proceeding or action
the same privileges, immunities, and protections from civil
liability as a circuit court judge;
(7)
receive training provided for this service; and
(8)
reside in the judicial circuit where he serves.
(C) A veterans
treatment court judge shall preside subject to the Code of
Judicial Conduct with the goal of instilling discipline,
promoting rehabilitation, and encouraging participants'
successful completion of the veterans treatment court program.
A veterans treatment court judge has the authority of a circuit
court judge acting in probation matters, including, among other
things, the authority to:
(1)
maintain order and decorum in all proceedings, including
use of the contempt power;
(2)
issue an order of acceptance of a participant in the
program and an order of dismissal from the program;
(3)
impose by written order a sanction dismissing a
participant from the veterans treatment court program or
incarcerating him for failing to meet a condition, requirement,
or goal ordered by the veterans treatment court;
(4)
issue to a participant a certificate indicating his
successful completion of the veterans treatment court
program;
(5)
order conditions or requirements of a rehabilitation plan
for a participant, developed after consultation with the circuit
solicitor, a drug or alcohol counselor, a veterans affairs
counselor, or other professionals the veterans treatment court
judge considers beneficial, with the conditions and requirements
to include school, education, vocational training, work, drug or
alcohol testing, counseling, reporting, treatment, curfew,
monitoring, restitution, community service, anger management, or
other measures the judge considers appropriate; and
(6)
take action he considers necessary to carry out the
veterans treatment court's functions provided in this chapter.
Section 14-29-50. (A)
A person seeking admission to the veterans
treatment court program:
(1)
must execute a veterans treatment court agreement
specified in this chapter;
(2)
must receive approval of the circuit solicitor;
(3)
may not have been previously admitted to a veterans
treatment court program;
(4)
may have no prior conviction or pending charges for:
(a)
a violent crime as defined in Section 16-1-60;
(b)
an offense for which the offender was placed on the sex
offender registry pursuant to Section 23-3-430;
(c)
the offense of lynching in the first degree pursuant to
Section 16-3-210 or lynching in the second degree pursuant to
Section 16-3-220;
(d)
the common law offense of assault and battery of a high
and aggravated nature;
(e)
the offense of carjacking pursuant to Section
16-3-1075;
(f)
the offense of harassment or stalking pursuant to Article
17, Chapter 3, Title 16; or
(g)
the offense of causing great bodily injury or death by
operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or
alcohol pursuant to Section 56-5-2945; and
(5)
must have an active sentence of thirty days or more for a
nonviolent crime not exempted pursuant to item (4).
(B) A veterans
treatment court agreement required in subsection (A) may serve
as the offender's application for admission to a veterans
treatment court program and jurisdiction, and shall include:
(1)
sufficient proof that the offender is a veteran or current
member of the United States Armed Forces, including the Reserves
or National Guard;
(2)
sufficient proof that the offender suffers from a brain
injury, mental illness, or mental disorder, including
post-traumatic stress disorder;
(3)
an acknowledgement by the offender that his application is
voluntary and freely entered into;
(4)
an agreement that, if accepted, he will comply with all
conditions, rules and requirements imposed upon him in the
veterans treatment court program, including a rehabilitation
plan;
(5)
an acknowledgement that, if accepted, he may be dismissed
from the program at the discretion of the veterans treatment
court judge and consequently transferred to the circuit court
for commencement of his entire original sentence, without
reduction;
(6)
an acknowledgement and agreement that he has no right to
appeal or enjoin a decision of the veterans treatment court
judge;
(7)
an acknowledgement and agreement that the post-conviction
relief procedures do not apply to the veterans treatment court
program, and a relinquishment of all rights to post-conviction
relief;
(8)
an agreement to cooperate fully with those involved in his
rehabilitation plan and to comply with the requirements and
conditions of the plan, including the submission to analysis,
testing, treatment, counseling, evaluation, and providing
complete personal, health, and family information, and executing
releases to accomplish the provision of this information;
(9)
an agreement to bear, subject to his ability to pay, the
costs of analysis, testing, treatment, counseling, or evaluation
in a rehabilitation plan prescribed in the program, and an
agreement that funds paid by the participant or on his behalf
during the course of the veterans treatment court program may
not be refundable in any event, including his dismissal from the
program;
(10)
a general explanation of the purpose and concept of the
veterans treatment court program;
(11)
a statement of the offender's knowing, willing, and full
consent and submission to the authority of the veterans
treatment court and its process;
(12)
the signature of the offender and, if any, his counsel;
and
(13)
other statements, acknowledgements, or agreements the
circuit solicitor may consider appropriate.
(C) In determining
whether to accept an offender for admission to the veterans
treatment court program, the circuit solicitor shall consider,
among other things:
(1)
the veterans treatment court agreement presented by the
offender;
(2)
the nature of the offense for which the offender was
convicted in circuit court;
(3)
the offender's prior criminal history;
(4)
the offender's prior substance abuse history;
(5)
the likelihood that the offender successfully will
complete the program;
(6)
the risk and danger posed to the community by the
offender's remaining at large;
(7)
the benefits likely resulting to the community and this
State from the offender's acceptance into the program, including
cost savings, public service or private employment, enhancement
of the offender's ability to pay restitution, support or comfort
of his family, and the decreased likelihood of future criminal
activity;
(8)
the benefits likely resulting to the offender upon his
being accepted into the program, including drug or alcohol
rehabilitation, education, training, family support, discipline,
employment, physical and mental health, and the opportunity for
a productive life;
(9)
a positive recommendation or statement from the victim,
the victim's family, law enforcement, or the community, the
recommendation after screening by a qualified person selected by
the solicitor or provided by a state, county, or municipal
agency to determine the mental health or drug or alcohol
dependence of the applicant and his likelihood of successful
completion of a rehabilitation plan prescribed in this program;
(10)
the risk and danger posed to the victim or victim's family
by the offender remaining at large; and
(11)
other circumstances or matters the veterans treatment
court judge may consider appropriate.
(D) The veterans
treatment court's acceptance of the offender as a participant
must be presented to the circuit court. The circuit court, in
its discretion, may order the transfer of the offender to the
custody and jurisdiction of the veterans treatment court for
commencement of the veterans treatment court program. The
circuit court shall provide in its order that the participant
must be returned to the circuit court for final disposition, as
provided in this chapter, upon his successful completion of the
program or his dismissal from the program.
(E) Notice must be
provided to all victims pursuant to the Victims' Bill of Rights.
Section 14-29-60. (A)
When establishing a veterans treatment court
program, the circuit solicitor:
(1)
may address the particular requirements and circumstances
of the circuit. The procedure is subject to and consistent with
the uniform procedures provided in this chapter, including:
(a)
a veterans treatment court program must be at least twelve
months in duration but no more than eighteen months in duration
for a participant, although the program may be extended for a
maximum of six additional months by the veterans treatment
court;
(b)
a veterans treatment court session must be held in a
courtroom assigned by the appropriate court official or another
place the veterans treatment court judge considers appropriate
and where proper decorum, safety, and efficiency must be
maintained;
(c)
a veterans treatment court session must be held at a time
and place that will promote the maximum convenience and
attendance of associated parties, especially a participating
offender and his family, and, absent an agreement to the
contrary, should be held on a weekday and commencing no earlier
than 5:30 p.m.; and
(d)
a veterans treatment court program may require the
presence of a person necessary for the efficient operation of a
veterans treatment court session;
(2)
shall designate in his office a person to serve as his
veterans treatment court administrator to supervise and
coordinate the implementation of the program. These duties
shall include the scheduling of the hearings, notification of
the persons involved, maintenance and safeguarding of all
records and orders associated with the program, filing of all
orders and other appropriate documents with the appropriate
clerk of court, and the production of a report required by this
chapter; and
(3)
through his designated administrator, shall supervise and
coordinate the selection of counselors or other professionals to
analyze, test, treat, and evaluate an applicant or participant
contemplated in this chapter, and at least annually shall report
to the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination
information regarding funds expended by the circuit solicitor
for these purposes.
(B) The South Carolina
Commission on Prosecution Coordination shall assist the circuit
solicitor and veterans treatment court in establishing a uniform
system of procedures, statistics, and processes as set forth in
this chapter, collecting reports it prescribes from the circuit
administrator in order to measure the progress and operations of
the veterans treatment courts, and annually issuing a
comprehensive report of its findings and recommendations no
later than sixty days following the end of the fiscal year.
(C) The Supreme Court
may propose and adopt rules for the veterans treatment court
program in the same manner as it proposes and promulgates rules
for other courts in the Unified Judicial System.
Section 14-29-70. (A)
The transfer of an offender from the custody
and jurisdiction of the circuit court to custody and
jurisdiction of the veterans treatment court must be made by
issue of a written order from the circuit court in response to
the approval of the application by the veterans treatment court.
This order must provide for the suspension of the offender's
sentence pending the conclusion of the veterans treatment court
program. The veterans treatment court then shall control and be
responsible for the custody of the offender upon entry of the
circuit court's order.
(B) A veterans
treatment court judge must transfer to the circuit court custody
of a person who successfully completes the program, and the
circuit court must immediately release the successful
participant from his sentence. Where a person fails to
successfully complete the program and is consequently dismissed
from the program, the veterans treatment court must transfer
custody of the person to the circuit court for commencement of
the sentence interrupted by the veterans treatment court
program. A court may not reduce a sentence for time spent
participating in a veterans treatment court program and other
conditions of the sentence.
(C) The constitutional
notice requirements of the Victims' Bill of Rights apply to a
transfer, completion, or failure pursuant to this section.
Section 14-29-80.
Nothing contained in this chapter affects the operation or
establishment of juvenile drug courts in South Carolina.
Section 14-29-90. The General Assembly shall appropriate funds annually to an account to be maintained by the Supreme Court for the payment of mileage, subsistence, and per diem for veterans treatment court judges as provided by this chapter."
SECTION 2. The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the repealed or amended laws.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.