§ 31-237 — Dedicated discharge accounts

A. Each wage earning prisoner who is committed to the department shall deposit into a dedicated discharge account of the prisoner a percentage of wages earned by the prisoner pursuant to section 31-254. The department shall continue to deposit the percentage of wages earned by the prisoner in the dedicated discharge account until the account registers a $250 balance or, if the prisoner is serving a sentence of natural life, a $50 balance.

B. The monies that are accumulated in the dedicated discharge account shall be distributed to the prisoner on the prisoner's discharge from the department or transfer to a community release status or to home arrest, except that the prisoner may use monies in the account before the prisoner is discharged or transferred for items and services that the prisoner will require immediately after being released or transferred.

C. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section, before a prisoner's discharge the state department of corrections may withdraw from the prisoner's dedicated discharge account any applicable fees prescribed by title 28 or the department of transportation's rules for the issuance of either a driver license or a nonoperating identification license to the prisoner, if eligible.