Could a local jail prisoner convicted of failing to register as a sex offender earn good time credit?

Plain-English summary

In 2007, the South Carolina Attorney General concluded that a person sentenced to a local correctional facility for a first failure to register as a sex offender could receive statutory good-behavior credits. The offense carried a mandatory ninety-day term that could not be suspended, and probation could not be granted. The AG read those restrictions as limits on the sentencing judge, not as a bar to credits earned under the separate local-facility statute.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2007. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did the mandatory ninety-day sentence bar good-time credit? A: The AG said no. He distinguished a judge's inability to suspend the sentence or grant probation from credits provided by statute for conduct during confinement.

Q: Which prisoners did the opinion address?
A: It concerned a person convicted of failing to register, apparently a first-time offender, who was sentenced to a local correctional facility.

Q: Where did the good-time right come from?
A: The AG identified a statute providing deductions for eligible prisoners in local correctional facilities who complied with institutional rules and were not punished for misbehavior.

Background and statutory framework

Section 23-3-470 set the penalty for a first failure to register. Section 24-13-210(C) addressed good-behavior deductions for eligible people sentenced to local facilities. The AG read those provisions together and concluded the mandatory sentencing language did not negate the statutory credit.

Citations and references

State statutes: S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-470; S.C. Code Ann. § 24-13-210(C).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/march-7-2007-1/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cook-l-3-7-07-os-8351-convicted-failure-to-register.pdf

Original opinion text

March 7, 2007

Via U.S. Mail and Facsimile: (843) 841-3229
Mr. Larry Cook
Dillon County Sheriff’s Office
P. O. Box 627
Dillon, South Carolina 29536
Dear Mr. Cook:
In a letter to this office you questioned whether an individual convicted of failing to register as a sex offender pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-470 may be provided “good time” credits during his imprisonment. I presume you are referencing a first time offender since you are questioning these individual’s incarceration at the local correctional facility. Pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 24-3-30 “[i]f imprisonment for three months or less is ordered by the court as the punishment, all persons so convicted must be placed in the custody, supervision, and control of the appropriate officials of the county in which the sentence was pronounced, if the county has facilities suitable for confinement.” Section 23-3-470 states that (A)...[i]f an offender fails to register...as required by this article, he must be punished as provided in subsection (B). (B)(1) A person convicted for a first offense is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be imprisoned for a mandatory period of ninety days, no part of which may be suspended nor probation granted. S.C. Code Ann. § 24-13-210(C) states that
[a] prisoner convicted of an offense against this State and sentenced to a local correctional facility...whose record of conduct shows that he has faithfully observed all the rules of the institution where he is confined, and has not been subjected to punishment for misbehavior, is entitled to a deduction from the term of his sentence beginning with the day on which the service of his sentence commences to run, computed at the rate of one day for every two days served....

Mr. Cook
Page 2
March 7, 2007

A prior opinion of this office dated June 23, 2005 stated that “the matter of allowing good behavior credits is purely statutory.” Another opinion dated February 21, 2001 similarly stated that “[a]ny right to good time credits arises out of and is controlled by state statute.” The 2005 opinion recognized that defendants sentenced to a local correctional facility pursuant to Section 24-13210(C) are entitled to “good time” credits at the rate of one day for every two days served. Consistent with the above and the plain language of Section 24-13-210, in the opinion of this office, an individual convicted of failing to register as a sex offender and sentenced to a local correctional facility would be entitled to “good time” credits as provided in that statute. It appears that the language stating that “no part...(of the sentence)...may be suspended nor probation granted” is a limitation on the sentencing judge but not on the matter of providing “good time” credits. If there are any questions, please advise. Sincerely, Henry McMaster Attorney General

By:

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

______
Robert D. Cook
Assistant Deputy Attorney General

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General