Webb v. Maynard, 79934
| Citation | 907 P.2d 1055,1995 OK 125 |
| Decision Date | 07 November 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 79934,79934 |
| Parties | Robert Eugene WEBB, # 76157, Appellant, v. Gary MAYNARD, Director, and Jack Cowley, Warden, and The Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Appellees. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Oklahoma |
Certiorari to the Court of Appeals, Division No. 2; Appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County; James L. Gullett, Trial Judge.
Robert Eugene Webb, Stringtown, Pro se.
Carolyn E. Kroger, Assistant General Counsel, Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Karin M. Kriz, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, for Appellees.
Robert Eugene Webb appeals the district court's denial of a writ of prohibition against the appellees, the Department of Corrections, Gary Maynard, the Department's Director, and Jack Cowley, the warden at the prison facility in which Webb is incarcerated. Webb requested the district court to issue an order prohibiting the Department from withholding ten percent (10%) of his prison "wages" 1 to apply towards court costs and victim compensation fees imposed upon him. The appellees will be collectively referred to as "the Department".
The Court of Appeals determined that the terms of Webb's original judgment and sentence on conviction provided a grace period of six months after Webb's release from prison before the court costs were due. Based on this fact and certain statutory provisions it found applicable, the Court of Appeals vacated the district court's denial of the writ of prohibition and remanded the matter to the district court with directions to issue an order prohibiting the Department from withholding Webb's earnings for court cost and victim compensation fees purposes.
Certiorari was granted to consider the first impression question of whether the Department may withhold a portion of a prisoner's prison earnings in order to apply that money toward the court costs and victim compensation fees imposed upon the prisoner as a result of conviction and incarceration.
We find the Department is authorized under 57 O.S.Supp.1993, § 549, infra, to withdraw a portion of Webb's earnings to apply towards the court costs and victim compensation fees. The opinion of the Court of Appeals is vacated, and the order of the district court is affirmed. The relevant facts follow.
Webb was convicted by jury of the crime of rape. Shortly thereafter, Webb was convicted by another jury of three felonies, to wit: oral sodomy, assault with intent to commit rape and robbery with a dangerous weapon. At the sentencing hearing for the rape conviction, the trial court ruled that the court costs and fees were to be paid "within six months after release." In addition, the trial court ordered Webb to "[p]ay the court costs in the sum of 70 dollars six months after release" for the other convictions. The Judgments and Sentences on Conviction issued by the trial court reflect these rulings.
Webb was incarcerated and while in prison began earning wages through prison industry employment. These wages were not distributed to Webb, but rather, were placed in a savings account established pursuant to statute. See 57 O.S.Supp.1993, § 549, infra. Webb's complaint arose when he discovered that the Department was deducting ten percent (10%) of his earnings and sending the money to the Oklahoma County Court Clerk to be applied towards the court costs and victim compensation fees he was ordered to pay by the district court.
Asserting such action by the Department amounted to a modification of the Judgment and Sentence on Conviction issued by the trial court in his criminal proceeding, Webb brought this original action to prohibit the Department from continuing to deduct court costs and victim compensation fees from his wages. His primary argument is that according to the Judgment and Sentence on Conviction, those costs and fees are not due until six months after he is released from prison and cannot be charged against him now.
The district court denied Webb's request finding that the sentencing court's intention was for all court costs and victim compensation fees to be "paid in full either before or within six (6) month's of [Webb's] release." (Emphasis added) As such, the Department was not amending or modifying the Judgment and Sentence.
Title 57 O.S.Supp.1993, § 549, enumerates the powers and duties of the State Board of Corrections, including the power to collect and apportion wages of prisoners, to pay court costs and victim compensation fees. The Department principally relies on § 549 in justifying its actions. It reads, in pertinent part, as follows:
"A. The State Board of Corrections shall have the following powers and duties with respect to the operation of prison industries and administration of inmate trust funds:
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4. The power to collect wages on behalf of the prisoner, to apportion inmate wages in accordance with the law; and the duty to preserve those wages reserved for the prisoner in an account for his benefit, and to establish procedures by which the prisoner can draw funds from this account under the conditions and limitations and for the purposes allowed by law;
5. The duty to establish the percentages of such wages which shall be available for apportionment to inmate savings; to the inmate for his personal use; to the lawful dependents of the inmate, if any; to the victim of the inmate's crime; for payment of creditors; for payment of costs and expenses for criminal actions against such inmate; and to the Department of Corrections for costs of incarceration. Provided, that not less than twenty percent (20%) of such wages shall be placed in an account, payable to the prisoner upon his discharge or upon assignment to a prerelease program. Funds from this account may be used by the inmate for fees or costs in filing a civil action as defined in Section 151 et seq. of Title 28 of the Oklahoma Statutes or for federal action as defined in Section 1911 et seq. of Title 28 of the United States Code, 28 U.S.C., Section 1911 et seq.; and
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B. The State Board of Corrections shall cause to be placed in an account income from the inmate's employment and any other income or benefits accruing to or payable to and for the benefit of said inmate, including any workers' compensation or Social Security benefits.
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2. The Department of Corrections shall pay into the Crime Victims Compensation Revolving Fund, Section 142.17 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the gross wages earned by inmates employed in a private prison industries program, said amount to be paid from the amount deducted for cost of incarceration...." (Emphasis added)
In Cumbey v. State, 699 P.2d 1094 (Okla.1985), we construed a portion of § 549. Therein, we addressed the question of whether prison inmates had the right, prior to their release from prison, to withdraw and use the 20% of wages earned from prison industry employment that is "payable to the prisoner upon his discharge" pursuant to § 549(A)(5). In concluding the prisoners were not entitled to withdraw the funds except as provided by § 549, i.e. upon discharge, we held:
"It is well established that a state may legitimately restrict an inmate's privilege to earn a wage while incarcerated. The benefits of employment during incarceration are granted by the state as a privilege and not as a right.... In a realistic economic sense, we find that the monetary credits awarded to Appellants' prison accounts are not "wages" as defined in an employer-employee relationship. Inmates employed by prison industries are not state employees. 57 O.S.Supp.1984 § 545(B). The state prison industries is not a proprietary corporation, but is rather concerned with providing for the proper government, discipline, treatment, care, rehabilitation, and reformation of state inmates. In furtherance of these objectives, the state legislature may grant a favor to convicted criminals, but it may also attach such conditions to the granting of the favor as it deems proper.... Accordingly, the Oklahoma State Legislature has granted the gratuitous payment of monetary credits to inmates' accounts in the best interests of penology and societal concerns. The inmate has no inherent legal right to the payment of this gratuity, nor to determine its form or amount. We therefore view the inmates' 20% prison accounts as conditional credits of potentially accessible funds, rather than vested property interests. The State Board of Corrections has been given full power and authority by the legislature, in the area of prison management, to engage healthy and capable inmates in productive occupations within the prison, and to potentially provide compensation in its best judgment. We find no constitutional abuse in withholding the statutory 20% of allotted credits in an account payable to the prisoner upon the event of his release. Prison officials may legitimately wish to prevent the free flow of currency within the prison system, and provide an inmate with sufficient funds upon his release to assist him in readjustment to society at large without further aid from the state treasury.... However, inasmuch as the credits are conditional and not vested property interests, present enjoyment is not constitutionally mandated.
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Finally, Appellants challenge that portion of 57 O.S.Supp.1984 § 542, supra, which provides for the payment by prison inmates of costs of incarceration, not to exceed 50%, from...
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