Columbia, SC (WTLX) - The deaths of seven inmates at Lee Correctional have put the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) in the national spotlight.
A USA Today article explained that a decrease in funding, caused by a 2010 prison reform bill, possibly created a dangerous environment for inmates.
In 2010 the South Carolina General Assembly passed a law called the the "Omnibus Crime Reduction and Sentencing Reform Act." The law was designed to reduce the amount of people serving prison time for lower-level offenses.
As a result the state was able to cut $500 million in funding for the state department of corrections. In doing so, SCDC saw a 14 percent drop in prisoners by 2016. Seven prisons have also closed.
According to the SCDC, they spend nearly $20,925 per inmate. South Carolina ranks ninth in the cheapest cost per inmate. Alabama was the lowest with less than $15,000 spent and New York was the highest, with nearly $70,000 spent per inmate.
This has saved taxpayer money, but raises the question of if this has also created a dangerous environment for prisoners, because of a drop in funding.
Senator Gerald Malloy says no.
"It only improves our system," says Sen. Malloy, D-Darlington. "I think we have an issue of management and I think that what happens is that we're not going far enough in keeping up with what society requires."
Sen. Malloy is the chair of the South Carolina Sentencing Reform Oversight Committee and helped write the 2010 bill.
"There is a need for continued reform," he says. "South Carolina was the 11th most populated prison population in the country. Now we are number 19 at the same time when crime rates have gone down. We have to decide, like always if we are going to be a rehabilitative society or a lock 'em up society."
He believes there should be more focus on changing the rule requiring inmates to serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole.
He is also interested in changing the way certain violent offenders are classified.
Currently, those incarcerated for trafficking drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine are considered violent offenders, and are then housed with other violent offenders.
South Carolina ACLU director Shaundra Scott says that needs to change.
"I think that non violent offenders should not be mixed in with violent offenders," says Scott. "I think that makes them easy prey and probably one of the reasons why we have the riots."
Scott also says more money should be allocated to guards, as well as improving mental health facilities and rehabilitation. She also says there should be upgrades to the prisons.
"I'm not saying that they should be at a 5-star hotel, but I think basic human rights like water, safe and sanitary living conditions, people not being crammed in a small space would go a long way," says Scott.
The department of corrections has said that they are putting more money into rehabilitation programs for the maximum security facilities.