SC inmate mistakenly kept in prison nearly 2 extra years after error
An inmate was kept in a South Carolina prison for nearly two years past the end of his sentence due to a Department of Corrections error, according to a letter from the department’s head to state legislators. Another was mistakenly released weeks early.
Members of the S.C. House’s Legislative Oversight Committee grilled Corrections officials about the sentencing errors Wednesday.
“Do you believe that is cruel?” Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, said. “We’re talking about keeping someone in prison for almost two additional years. … If that’s cruel and unusual, I’d like someone to tell me how that comports with our Constitution.”
The committee first heard about the early releases after Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling submitted a letter detailing the errors Tuesday.
According to the letter, one inmate was mistakenly scheduled to be released one year and 10 months after the end of his sentence due to a data entry error. The inmate was serving time for a conviction of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The error was recently found during an audit of inmates scheduled to be released in October 2019.
After realizing their error, Department of Corrections officials turned the inmate over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because that agency submitted a hold for him.
The second inmate was scheduled to serve five months in prison, but was mistakenly released 20 days early after another data entry error. An audit was conducted the day after the early release, and department officials realized their error, according to the agency’s deputy director Joel Anderson, who testified at the State House.
The inmate was apprehended by the department’s Police Service’s unit, Anderson said.
“This isn’t an individual error,” Caskey said. “This is a systematic error.”
This isn’t the first time that the Department of Corrections failed to hold inmates for the correct sentence length. From 2016 to 2018, ten violent inmates were released from state prisons early due to a paperwork error.
“The committee was given assurances that this system was addressed,” Caskey said. “And we’re here nonetheless. One of the fundamental premises of a penitentiary system is that you can keep people there for as long as you’re supposed to keep them there.”
After learning inmates were released in error, state legislators called for the department to fix their current system or request money to create a new one, stating they would work with the Department of Corrections and other state departments on the issue.
“If one person stays in jail one day longer than he or she should, that is an outrage,” Rep. Gary Clary, R-Pickens, said Wednesday.
Clary said during his time as a judge, he saw several similar cases.
“It is not an isolated incident,” Clary said.
New automated system in place
Department officials said a new automated system that was recently installed should help cut down on errors. They also proposed requesting a new computer system that would work with local courts to help calculate sentences.
Currently, South Carolina courts send paper documents to the Department of Corrections with information about an inmate’s sentencing. The documents are often missing information or leave Corrections records analysts with questions.
“This is just a fundamental thing that we have to do, and we have to get this right,” Stirling told the committee.
Both Caskey and Clary offered to work with the State House’s monetary committees to get money to create a new, digital system. Stirling said the department has already been in talk with S.C. Court Administration officials, and the estimated price of the system would be $11 million.
“What we have seen thus far in these hearings is there are a number of things that need to be done to make it right for (inmates),” Rep. Edward Tallon, R-Spartanburg, said. “I have not seen any evidence that anything is being done with malice, but I am seeing things being done by error.”
Stirling said the department would not be taking actions to compensate the inmate who was kept for two extra years. But, he added, he was sure there would be a lawsuit about the matter.
“We’re in the process of fixing this,” Stirling said. “This process is not an overnight fix.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 12:10 PM.
