SOP 201.04: Charges to Inmate_Probationer Accounts for Healthcare, Willful Acts, Management of Inmate_Prob. Accounts, Court Costs
Full Text
|GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Standard Operating Procedures|Col2|Col3|
|---|---|---|
|`Functional Area: `
`Facilities Operations`|`Reference Number: `
`IIA01-0009`
`(201.04)`|`Revises`
`Previous`
`Effective Date:`
`08/01/09`|
|`Subject:`
`CHARGES TO INMATE/`
`PROBATIONER ACCOUNTS FOR`
`HEALTH CARE, WILLFUL ACTS,`
`MANAGEMENT OF INMATE/`
`PROBATIONER ACCOUNTS AND`
`COURT COSTS`|||
|`Authority:`
`Bryson / Jacobs`|`Effective Date:`
`04/21/15`|`Page``1 ``of`
`10`|
I. POLICY:
A. It is the policy of the Georgia Department of Corrections
to maintain facility/center offender accounts in
accordance with all Georgia Department of Corrections
Standard Operating Procedures and State and Federal Laws.
It is the responsibility of all state facilities/centers
and county facilities housing state offenders to insure
that costs as outlined below are appropriately assessed.
B. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 42-5-54, 42-5-55, 42-12-1 thru 9;
and the 1996 Federal Prison litigation Reform Act the
Georgia Department of Corrections is authorized to
recover certain costs from state offenders to insure
housed in its custody. These include:
1. A reasonable amount of the costs of the following
acts, as determined by the Commissioner of
Corrections or his designee, may be deducted from
the inmate’s/probationer’s account:
a. Public property or private property, in the
case of an inmate housed in a private
correctional facility, willfully damaged or
destroyed or converted by the offender during
his/her incarceration.
b. Medical treatment for injuries intentionally
inflicted by the offender upon himself/herself
or others.
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`(201.04)`|
c. Searching for and apprehending the offender
when he/she escapes or attempts to escape; such
costs to be limited to those extraordinary
costs incurred as a consequence of the escape.
d. Quelling any riot or other disturbance in which
the offender is unlawfully involved.
2. Under O.C.G.A. 42-5-55, the authority to defray the
costs paid by the state is granted for the following
areas:
a. Medical treatment for an offender when the
request for medical treatment is self initiated. An offender will be charged a fee of
$5.00, for medical treatment requested by the
offender, with the exception of emergency
services deemed necessary by the
facility/center health care providers or other
responsible staff.
b. Medication prescribed for the treatment of a
medical condition unrelated to a pregnancy or a
chronic illness will be charged a fee of $5.00.
c. All facilities/centers are authorized to charge
a $ 1.00 per month fee for the establishment
and management of all offender accounts.
3. The 1996 Federal Prison Litigation Reform Act
mandates that offenders pay filing fees in lawsuits
filed under 42 U.S.C. 1983, also referred to as
prisoner civil rights suits and that payments be
assessed from offender accounts, as instructed by
the Court.
4. The Georgia Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996
(O.C.G.A. 42-12-1 thru 9) mandates that offenders be
required to pay court costs and fees as determined
by the County Clerk of Court upon the filing of an
action. Upon notification by the Court, the facility
is mandated to freeze the offender account and pay
all funds in the account, or those subsequently
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`(201.04)`|
received, to the court until all court fees have
been satisfied.
5. For each inmate, a $4.00 charge for each
disciplinary report in which he/she is found guilty
of and not overturned on appeal.
C. Nothing in this Standard Operating Procedure will be
construed to relieve the governing authority,
governmental unit, subdivision, or agency having physical
custody of the offender from its responsibility to
provide and pay for any needed medical and hospital care
rendered to such offender.
D. Not withstanding any other provision of this SOP, the
deductions from money credited to the account of an
offender as authorized will not be made whenever the
balance in his/her account is $10.00 or less.
II. APPLICABILITY:
All State Facilities, Privately Operated Prisons, Probation
Detention Centers, transitional Centers, Boot Camps, Diversion
Centers and County Correctional Institutions housing state
offenders.
III. RELATED DIRECTIVES:
A. O.C.G.A.42-12-1 thru 9, 42-4-70, 42-4-71, 42-5-54 and 42 5-55.
B. 1996 Federal Prison Litigation Reform Act.
C. GDC Board Rules: 125-2-4-.22, 125-4-4-.01.
D. GDC SOPs: IIB02-0001, IIB04-0001, IVI01-0007, VH03-0003
and VH07-0001.
IV. DEFINITIONS:
A. Reasonable Deduction: A reasonable deduction to recover
costs will be any amount up to, but not exceeding, the
documented costs associated with a willful act on the
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`(201.04)`|
part of a state offender. The specific types of costs are
enumerated in Section I. A of this SOP.
B. Emergency: A condition that, in the judgement of the
health care provider or other responsible staff, requires
medical attention that cannot wait until the next
regularly scheduled sick call.
C. Medical treatment: Each visit initiated by the offender
to a facility physician, physician’s extender, including
a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner, registered
nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical assistant,
dentist, dental hygienist, optometrist, or psychiatrist
for examination or treatment.
D. Offender: A person who is detained in a state
facility/center, probation detention center, transitional
center, boot camp, diversion center, in a county
correctional institution, or privately operated prison
housing state offenders by reason of having been
convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor.
V. ATTACHMENTS:
NONE.
VI. PROCEDURE:
Facilities/ Centers may use the following procedures to
recover specified costs as outlined in I.A through D form
state offenders:
A. Repayment of Costs for Willful Acts:
1. A reasonable deduction (as defined in section IV-A)
from an inmate’s/probationer’s account may be made
to repay the costs of the following in accordance
with O.C.G.A. 42-5-55 (b) 1 (A-D):
a. Public property or private property, in the
case of an inmate housed in a private
correctional facility, willfully damaged or
destroyed by the offender during his/her
incarceration.
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`(201.04)`|
b. Medical treatment for injuries intentionally
inflicted by the offender upon himself/herself
or others, including costs associated with
required medical evaluations resulting from
prohibited acts by offenders.
c. Searching for and apprehending the offender
when he/she escapes or attempts to escape; such
costs to be limited to those extraordinary
costs incurred as a consequence of escape.
d. Quelling any riot or other disturbance in which
the offender is unlawfully involved.
2. When an offender is suspected of committing any of
the above willful acts, a disciplinary report must
be completed charging the offender with the
applicable offense and must be processed in
accordance with GDC SOP IIB02-0001. Pending the
outcome of the disciplinary proceedings, the
inmate’s/probationer’s account will be temporarily
frozen for withdrawals or transfers.
3. An itemized list of expenses and/or items damaged
and costs to repair or replace will be prepared by
the facility/center Business Manager and will be
presented as evidence at the disciplinary hearing.
Cost estimates will reflect actual costs of supplies
and materials. If outside contractors are used to
perform work, no labor or service charges will be
included. With medical expenses, reasonable fees for
services provided, to include all outside charges,
will be included in the itemized statement.
4. If found guilty of the offense, repayment of
reasonable costs will be ordered. The
inmate’s/probationer’s account will be permanently
frozen at this time for the actual amount of
repayment ordered. If there are no other pending
expenses, the offender may continue using available
funds over the amount of the repayment ordered.
5. When an inmate’s/probationer’s account is frozen
under this procedure, the disciplinary report will
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`(201.04)`|
be automatically processed through all levels of
appeal if the amount of repayment is $200.00 or
more. If the repayment is less than $200.00, it will
be appealed only if the offender initiates an
appeal.
a. In the case of an automatic appeal, all
documents relevant to the case will also be
forwarded in a single packet (disciplinary
packet to include the investigator’s report,
all witness statements, and all other
supporting documentation; incident report; cost
estimates; and statement of account). It is the
responsibility of each Warden/Superintendent to
insure that this material is forwarded for
review. Failure to submit the appeal package
within thirty (30) days after the date of the
hearing will result in the disciplinary report
being expunged and the inmate’s/probationer’s
account unfrozen. Each case will be closely
reviewed through the appeal process to insure
that all procedures were followed, all
documentation is in order and all charges are
reasonable.
6. If the amount of repayment is $200.00 or more, no
deductions will be made from the frozen account
until the appeals process is completed through all
levels. If the repayment ordered is under $200.00,
the deduction will be made after the review and
approval of the Warden/Superintendent.
a. In the case of an appeal which results in the
removal of the sanction of repayment of funds
where the amount was under $200.00, the
Supervisor of Inmate Affairs will notify the
facility/center Business Manager who will
insure that the appropriate offender account is
credited for any debited funds.
7. When funds are available in the
inmate’s/probationer’s account to pay his/her debt
in full, the facility’s/center’s business office
will issue a check for the full amount of the
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`(201.04)`|
repayment, provided the appeals are completed. The
check will be forwarded to the Central Office
Accounting Section, along with a Revenue Document
and all other documents relating to the incident. If
the debt originated at another facility/center, the
Revenue Document will indicate that the payment
should be credited to the originating
facility/center and copies of the Revenue Document
and related information will be forwarded to the
originating facility/center. The Business Managers
of both facilities/centers will coordinate to insure
that the payment is credited to the appropriate
account.
8. Procedures outlined in SOP IVI01-0007 must be
utilized to assess and collect damages/expenses to
be repaid.
B. Deductions for Self-Initiated Medical Care:
1. Medical treatment that is requested by the offender
is subject to a $5.00 co-payment charge per request.
This includes sick call and non-emergent or routine
“walk-in” visits to Medical as authorized by
O.C.G.A. 42-5-55 (b) (2).
2. Certain medical services deemed necessary
3. Medical services initiated by the institution, or
required by the Department or by state law, will be
exempt from the fee. Such services will be provided
as required by GDC procedures and will be exempt
from the medical co-payment. These services are
outlined in SOP VH07-0001 (VI-E).
4. For Residents of Diversion and work release
residents of Transitional Centers, a $10.00 co payment will apply when seen by on-site health care
providers for non-emergency medical care. For all
other circumstances for non-work release residents,
the $5.00 co-payment will continue to apply.
Residents will continue to pay the full expense of
all medical services received from local health care
providers.
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`(201.04)`|
5. Procedures outlined in GDC SOP VH07-0001 and IVI01 0007 must be followed in assessing and collecting
co-payments for medical care.
6. Nothing in this SOP will be construed to authorize
anyone to refuse medical care to a state offender
merely because he or she has insufficient funds to
cover costs.
C. Monthly Fee for the Management of Offender Accounts:
1. All unfrozen offender accounts which have a minimum
balance of $11.00 at the end of each month will be
assessed a monthly account management fee of $1.00
per month in accordance with O.C.G.A. 42-5-55 (e).
2. This fee will be deducted and managed in accordance
with GDC SOP IVI01-0007.
D. Fees Assessed through the 1996 Federal Prison Litigation
Reform Act:
1. When an offender files a lawsuit in federal court
and has not paid the $120.00 filing fee in its
entirety, the balance is owed to the federal court.
2. Upon notification from the court, monthly payments
will be paid to the Federal Clerk of Court in the
appropriate federal judicial district in the amount
of 20% of the balance of the offender account on the
last working day of each month until the filing fee
is paid in full.
3. Procedures for payment as outlined in GDC SOP IVI01 0007 will be followed.
E. Court Fines and Fees assessed through the Georgia Prison
Litigation Reform Act of 1996 (O.C.G.A. 42-12-1 thru 9):
1. When an offender seventeen (17) years of age or
older files a civil legal action, the offender is
responsible for paying court costs and fees as
assessed by the Court.
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`(201.04)`|
2. The Clerk of Court will notify the Superintendent or
Warden at the facility/center where the offender is
housed that a civil action has been filed and the
amount of court costs and fees due and payable.
3. Upon notification of costs and fees, the
inmate’s/probationer’s account will be immediately
frozen if sufficient funds are not available to pay
all court costs and fees in full. If funds are
available, court costs and fees will be paid in
full.
4. If an account is frozen, all deposits received will
be forwarded to the Clerk of Court until all court
costs and fees are paid in full. Upon payment in
full, the freezing of the account will be terminated
if there are no other pending payments.
5. Procedures for payment as outlined in GDC SOP IVI01 0007 will be followed.
F. Priority Order of Payments from Offender Accounts:
1. As long as an offender has funds, all assessments
will be remitted in the order they are received.
2. When funds are not available in an
inmate’s/probationer’s account to cover all costs
incurred, the account will be immediately frozen.
Costs will be remitted to the appropriate recipient
(s) as funds are received utilizing the following
priority order:
a. Room and Board charges for Diversion and
Transitional Center residents.
b. Monthly assessments due under the Federal
Prison Litigation Reform Act.
c. Court costs due under Georgia’s Prison
Litigation reform Act of 1996.
d. Other legislated costs to include those
contained in O.C.G.A. 42-5-54 and 42-5-55.
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e. Other Court costs (i.e. fines, restitution,
etc.) as applicable.
f. All other costs mandated by Georgia Department
of Corrections Standard Operating Procedures.
g. Offender request (s) for disbursement of funds.
G. Management and Transfer of Offender and Offender Account
when the Account is Frozen:
1. When an offender is transferred to another state
facility/center while his/her account is frozen, the
receiving facility/center will be provided a
complete set of documents itemizing all outstanding
debts. The receiving facility/center will assume
full responsibility for the administration of the
account and the collection and processing of all
debts.
2. When an inmate’s/probationer’s account is frozen
based on outstanding debts, the offender should not
be recommended by the facility’s/center’s
Classification Committee for transfer to a County
Institution until such time as all debts are paid
and the account is unfrozen.
3. When an offender with a frozen account is
transferred to a County Correctional Institution
based on departmental need, the following procedures
will be utilized:
a. The business manager at the sending
facility/center will clearly document the
account status, identifying all outstanding
debts. All authorized deductions will be made
from the inmate’s/probationer’s account prior
to transfer as long as these deductions do not
take the balance of the account below $10.00.
b. The County Correctional Institutions will be
responsible for continuing to collect and pay
on all outstanding debts authorized by State or
Federal Prison Litigation Reform legislation.
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The sending institution will forward all
documentation received from the Courts. The
County Correctional Institutions will fully
document all collections and payments.
c. Outstanding debts for willful acts or medical
co-pay for self-initiated medical treatment
will be documented on the
inmate’s/probationer’s account ledgers. While
County Correctional Institutions will not be
required to collect on these debts, these debts
will remain in an inactive status. If the
offender is later transferred back to a state
facility/center during the same period of
incarceration, these debts will be activated
and collection would resume.
4. When an inmate’s/probationer’s account is frozen as
a result of debts owed related to SB 587 or Prison
Litigation Reform legislation, he/she will be
eligible to claim indigent status for purposes of
postage in accordance with GDC SOP IIB04-0001 until
all obligations are satisfied. In accordance with
SOP IIB04-0001, the costs for all indigent postage
received will be assessed to the
inmate’s/probationer’s account and when funds are
available, the costs will be reimbursed to the
Inmate benefit fund.
5. In no case will an inmate’s/probationer’s discharge
gratuities be affected by his/her account status. At
the time of release or discharge, if any funds
remain on the inmate’s/probationer’s account and
he/she still owes any outstanding debts based on SB
587 or Prison Litigation Reform legislation, all
remaining funds will be applied toward those debts.
If an offender is returned to custody after release,
an attempt will be made to collect monies still owed
from incidents or medical visits, which occurred
during previous incarcerations.