South Carolina General Assembly
104th Session, 1981-1982

Bill 2427

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               2427
Ratification Number:       93
Act Number                 56
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Prison goods from other states
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A56, R93, H2427)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 24-3-330, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY CONVICT LABOR, SO AS TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO PURCHASE PRISON GOODS FROM OTHER STATES FOR RESALE TO OTHER AGENCIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF THE STATE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 24-3-410, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE SALE OF PRISON MADE PRODUCTS ON THE OPEN MARKET, SO AS TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO PROVIDE FOR ADULT WORK ACTIVITY CENTERS THROUGH CONTRACT WITH PRIVATE SECTOR BUSINESS TO PROVIDE WORK FOR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, MENTALLY RETARDED OR AGED INMATES.

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

Prison goods from other states

SECTION 1. Section 24-3-330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 24-3-330. All offices, departments, institutions and agencies of this State which are supported in whole or in part by this State shall purchase, and all political subdivisions of this State may purchase, from the State Board of Corrections, articles or products made or produced, by convict labor in this State or any other state, as provided for by this article, and no such article or product shall be purchased by any such office, department, institution or agency from any other source, unless excepted from the provisions of this section, as hereinafter provided. All purchases shall be made from the Department of Corrections, upon requisition by the proper authority of the office, department, institution, agency or political subdivision of this State requiring such articles or products."

Sale of prison-made products

SECTION 2. Section 24-3-410 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 418 of 1980, is further amended to read:

"Section 24-3-410. It shall be unlawful to sell or offer for sale on the open market of this State any articles or products manufactured or produced wholly or in part by convicts or prisoners in this or any other state, except convicts or prisoners on parole or probation, and except the following agricultural products: Cattle, cotton, tobacco (Turkish), soybeans and wheat; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to products sold by the Department of Corrections which are made by inmates in the 'hobbycraft program'; provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any prisoner-made articles or products sold to nonprofit corporations incorporated under the provisions of 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 1954; provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to prisoner-made road and street designation signs sold to private developers; and provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any prisoner-made articles or products made in an adult work activity center established by the Department of Corrections through contract with private sector business which centers provide work and vocational training opportunities for the physically handicapped, mentally retarded, or aged inmates where the compensation is paid by the private sector business to the prisoner on a piece completed basis.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in jail not less than three months nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each such sale or offer for sale shall constitute a separate offense under this section. Proceeds of the sale of these raw agricultural products, when produced by an instrumentality under control of the State Board of Corrections, shall be applied as provided in Section 24-3-400."

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.