South Carolina inmate kept in prison for extra 2 years

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina prison officials blame an error by a clerk entering data from paper into a computer for an inmate serving nearly two years in prison beyond his sentence.

The Department of Corrections has also let out at least 10 inmates early since 2016 because of similar problems.

Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told the House Legislative Oversight Committee studying his agency an automated system being installed should cut down on errors.

But Stirling says the best solution would be an $11 million computer system that would connect the sentencing documents generated by the court system directly to the inmate management system in state prisons.

The State newspaper reports the inmate kept for an extra 22 months was released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because that agency had a hold.