24-15A-50. Award of earned discharge credits.

Each parolee shall be awarded earned discharge credits as follows:

(1)    For each full calendar month of compliance with the terms of supervision, an earned discharge credit of the number of days in that month shall be deducted from the parolee's sentence discharge date established in §§ 24-15A-6 and 24-5-1. No earned discharge credit may be awarded for partial months or for the first full calendar month of parole supervision in the community;

(2)    A parolee is deemed to be compliant with the terms of supervision and shall be awarded earned discharge credits for the month if there was no violation of conditions of supervision during the month at the level warranting formal response per standardized department directive. A parolee may not receive earned discharge credits for the month if the parolee had a violation of conditions resulting in a formal response;

(3)    No earned discharge credit may accrue for a calendar month in which a violation report has been submitted, the parolee has absconded from supervision, the parolee is under sanction of jailing or detainment, or for the months between the submission of the violation report and the final action on the violation report by the board. If the board does not find that the provisions of § 24-15A-27 or 24-15-20 have been violated, the board may include an award of earned discharge credits for the months the violation report was pending in the board's order to restore the parolee to the original or modified terms and conditions of parole;

(4)    A parolee serving a sentence for a conviction of a sex offense as defined in § 22-24B-1 or a violation of sex offender registry requirements or a violation of community safety zone requirements is not eligible for earned discharge credits on any sex offense, sex offender registry violation, or community safety zone violation sentence;

(5)    Earned discharge credits shall be applied to the sentence discharge date within thirty days of the end of the month in which the credits were earned. At least every six months, a parolee who is serving a sentence eligible for earned discharge credits shall be notified of the current sentence discharge date; and

(6)    A parolee serving an eligible South Dakota prison sentence in any community in another state under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision is eligible for earned discharge credits pursuant to this chapter.

Source: SL 2013, ch 101, § 36.

24-15A-50.1. Additional earned discharge credits.

The department may grant an inmate up to ninety days of earned discharge credits for each program completion; up to ninety days of earned discharge credits upon completion of three hundred sixty hours of satisfactory work not to exceed one hundred eighty days of earned discharge credit for work in a twelve-month period; and up to three hundred sixty-five days of earned discharge credits for heroic acts in life threatening situations, through significant efforts in disaster response or by providing exceptional assistance in maintaining the safety and security of a prison. Each program shall fit the definition of evidence based practices as defined in § 16-22-1, or consist of an academic or vocational program. Earned discharge credits under this section may be granted if in the judgement of the warden and the secretary of corrections, the inmate has met the criteria set forth in this section. Nothing in this section may be the basis for establishing a constitutionally protected liberty, property, or due process interest in any inmate. Any earned discharge credit under this section shall be applied to the sentence prior to the calculation of the initial parole date.

Source: SL 2018, ch 153, § 1.