South Carolina General Assembly
104th Session, 1981-1982

Bill 785

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               785
Ratification Number:       460
Act Number                 374
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Relating to the Board of Juvenile Parole,
                           so as to provide that no juvenile may appear
                           before the board until an appropriate period
                           of time has elasped since his commitment
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A374, R460, S785)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-3390, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE BOARD OF JUVENILE PAROLE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NO JUVENILE MAY APPEAR BEFORE THE BOARD UNTIL AN APPROPRIATE PERIOD OF TIME HAS ELASPED SINCE HIS COMMITMENT.

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

Meetings of Parole Board

Section 1. Section 20-7-3390 of the 1976 Code, added pursuant to Act 124 of 1981, is amended by striking the period at the end of the third sentence and inserting ", but no such appearance shall begin until the Parole Board determines that an appropriate period of time has elapsed since the juvenile's commitment." The section as amended shall read:

"Section 20-7-3390. The Parole Board 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 Board or Department of Youth Services for the purpose of deciding the release or revocation of release of such children. The Parole Board shall make periodic inspections, at least quarterly, of the records of persons committed to the custody of the Board of Youth Services and may, in its discretion, issue temporary and final discharges or release such persons conditionally and prescribe conditions for such release into aftercare. It shall be the right of any such juvenile to personally appear before the Parole Board every three months for the purpose of parole consideration, but no such appearance shall begin until the Parole Board determines that an appropriate period of time has elapsed since the juvenile's commitment. In order to allow such reviews and personal 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 such panels shall be periodically rotated on a random basis by the chairman. At the meetings of the panels, any unanimous vote shall be considered the final decision of the Parole Board. Any panel vote that is not unanimous shall not be considered as a final decision of the Parole Board and the matter shall be referred to the full Parole Board, which shall determine the matter by a majority vote of its membership.

In the determination of the type of discharges or conditional releases granted, The Parole Board shall consider the interests of the person involved and the interests of society and shall employ the services of and consult with the personnel of the Reception and Evaluation Center. The Parole Board may from time to time modify the conditions of discharges or conditional releases previously granted.

The Parole Board shall develop written guidelines for the consideration of juveniles' releases on parole. Such guidelines shall be given to juveniles upon commitment and periodically reviewed with each juvenile to assess the progress made toward achieving release on parole."

Time effective

Section 2. This act shall take effect upon the approval by the Governor.