YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- Inmates in South Carolina could soon be sentenced to a form of punishment other than prison.
Lawmakers from Upstate plan to introduce a new bill where judges could sentence nonviolent criminals to maintenance work instead of prison.
The bill backers supporting this law say it will help save taxpayers money and end overcrowding in prison.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said if the bill is passed, it would revamp the prison system and says it will be nothing like the chain gang.
“It is absolutely not the chain gang," said Sheriff Wright. “That's brutal and inhumane and we won't be a part of that."
The bill would allow judges to sentence psychically able men and women to serve between three and five years of working eight hours a day, five days a week doing maintenance for the state.
That work would include improvements to state and county roads, repairing potholes and picking up litter.
NBC Charlotte’s Billie Jean Shaw asked York County Solicitor Kevin Brackett if he would consider asking a judge to refer nonviolent criminals to this program if the bill passes.
“The concept of getting public works done by inmates is not new,” Solicitor Brackett said. “If somebody has a new way of implementing it in South Carolina, I would be very interested in taking a look at it.”
Inmates who successfully complete the program will receive a certificate of earned eligibility and will be granted parole. Solicitor Brackett said he will like to see a full draft of the bill before backing it but says overall, it sounds like a good idea since not everyone who breaks the law is a bad person.
“Being in a prosecution like I have been over the past 25 years, there’s a difference between a bad person and good person having a bad day," Solicitor Brackett said. “Our objective is to get people turned into productive tax paying citizens.”
Lawmakers say if the bill is passed, the working inmates will be supervised by armed correctional officers. S.C. Department of Corrections has made it known there is a huge need for more correctional officers.
We reached out to them to see if they had the manpower to handle the request of the lawmakers. So far we’ve received no response.