South Carolina Correction Facilities

South Carolina Correction Facilities

Corrections are a necessary tool to protect society from those who do harm to others or to others property. Depending on the type of crime that was committed, and if the crime is considered a state or federal charge, also depends on where the person sentenced will do his time. There are four main sentencing options available; prison, probation, probation and confinement, and prison and community split. When a person is sentenced to do their time in prison most likely they will go to a state or federal prison. If a person is ordered probation, it prevents them from going to jail but they have stipulations on their probation. This is called intermediate sanctions, which are the various new correctional options used as adjuncts to and part of probation. Some intermediate sanctions include restitution, fines, day fines, community service, intensive supervised probation, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and shock incarceration.

If a person is sentenced to do time, that person could be sentenced to a county jail up

to a maximum security prison. In South Carolina, most county jails or Detention Centers house an average population of approximately 100 county inmates depending on the size of the county and the jail itself. Inmates serving sentences in county jails are ordered by the Magistrate or General Sessions courts for non-violent offenses. The inmates usually serve terms less than one year. The inmates prepare meals in the center kitchen for inmates at the facility and for persons awaiting trial in the county jail. The inmates can also work at county buildings doing janitorial work, doing yard maintenance in various parts of the county, or picking up litter along the roads and highways.

If a person is sentenced to a state prison, depending on the crime, that person could be sent to one of S.C. Department of Corrections' twenty-nine prisons which are categorized into four distinct security levels: community-based pre-release/work centers (level 1A), minimum security (level 1B), medium security (level 2) and high security (level 3). The architectural design of the institution, type of housing, operational procedures, and the level of security staffing determine an institution's security level. Inmates are assigned to institutions to meet their specific security, programming, medical, educational, and work requirements.

Level 1-A facilities are community-based pre-release/work centers that house minimum-security non-violent inmates who are within 36 months of release. These units are work and program oriented, providing intensive specialized programs that prepare the inmates for release to the community with unfenced perimeters. Level 1-B institutions are minimum-security facilities that house inmates with relatively short sentences or time to serve. Housing is mainly double bunk cubicles with unfenced perimeters. Operational procedures at Level 1-B facilities impart a higher level of security compared to level 1-A facilities. Level 2 facilities are medium-security institutions. Housing is primarily double bunk, cell type with some institutions having double-bunk cubicles, with single fenced perimeters and electronic surveillance. Level 2 institutions provide a higher level of security than level 1 facilities. Level 3 facilities are high-security institutions designed