The municipal authority of any city or town which utilizes inmate labor shall feed and provide suitable and sufficient employee supervision for the safekeeping of all persons who have received a sentence to public work detail. It shall likewise provide all necessary equipment and machinery for performing the work required of the inmates, all costs and expenses of which must be paid out of the municipal general fund in the same manner as other charges against these funds are paid.

A municipality may operate its own jail for the purpose of detaining those persons charged with a criminal offense pending release on bond or trial and for the purpose of detaining those individuals who have been tried and convicted of a criminal offense in the municipal court. The governing body of the municipality must provide suitable and sufficient employee supervision and equipment to safely keep all persons charged or detained and must pay all costs and expenses. Where the municipality elects not to operate its own jail, then the municipality may enter into an agreement with other municipalities, preferably in the county of jurisdiction, to operate a joint facility to hold these individuals.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 24-7-120

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

The municipality also may elect, in the alternative, to enter into an agreement with the county governing body in which the municipality is located. The agreement may require the municipality to pay a fee to offset the costs of detaining the offenders to include, but not be limited to, medical care and treatment of the offenders, all lodging and meal expenses, all transportation and security for court appearances, medical appointments, other transportation as may be necessary, and other miscellaneous expenses as may be mutually agreed upon. Those persons so detained must be in the custody of the county official who has custody of the jail or of the prison camp, as appropriate.

Municipal inmates sentenced to the county jail or prison camp, pursuant to an agreement, must remain in the custody of the county jail or prison camp and must perform labor as assigned by the facility manager.

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