SC Supreme Court clarifies amount of time an offender may be punished for violating terms of release

Manton Grier, Jr.

In State v. Picklemeiser, Op. No. 26831 (July 6, 2010), the Supreme Court of South Carolina clarified the amount of time an offender may be incarcerated or required to participate in a community-supervision program after violating the terms of parole or release. Although the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services had refused to impose an additional sentence for a probation violation beyond the unsuspended portion of the original sentence, the Supreme Court held that the maximum amount of time that may be imposed for parole violations includes both the unsuspended and suspended sentence. In other words, when an offender violates probation or another condition, a trial court may impose a longer term of incarceration or extend community service or probation, so long as the aggregate period of service does not extend beyond the period of the total sentence, which includes both the unsuspended and suspended portions.