Eligible inmates for an award of earned sentence credit under this paragraph (3) may be selected to receive the credit at either Director's or his or her designee's sole discretion. Eligibility for the additional earned sentence credit under this paragraph (3) may be based on, but is not limited to, participation in programming offered by the Department as appropriate for the prisoner based on the results of any available risk/needs assessment or other relevant assessments or evaluations administered by the Department using a validated instrument, the circumstances of the crime, demonstrated commitment to rehabilitation by a prisoner with a history of conviction for a forcible felony enumerated in Section 2-8 of the Criminal Code of 2012, the inmate's behavior and improvements in disciplinary history while incarcerated, and the inmate's commitment to rehabilitation, including participation in programming offered by the Department.
The Director of Corrections or the Director of Juvenile Justice shall not award sentence credit under this paragraph (3) to an inmate unless the inmate has served a minimum of 60 days of the sentence, including time served in a county jail; except nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to permit either Director to extend an inmate's sentence beyond that which was imposed by the court. Prior to awarding credit under this paragraph (3), each Director shall make a written determination that the inmate:
The Director of Corrections or the Director of Juvenile Justice shall determine the form and content of the written determination required in this subsection.
Educational, vocational, substance abuse, behavior modification programs, life skills courses, re-entry planning, and correctional industry programs under which sentence credit may be earned under this paragraph (4) and paragraph (4.1) of this subsection (a) shall be evaluated by the Department on the basis of documented standards. The Department shall report the results of these evaluations to the Governor and the General Assembly by September 30th of each year. The reports shall include data relating to the recidivism rate among program participants.
Availability of these programs shall be subject to the limits of fiscal resources appropriated by the General Assembly for these purposes. Eligible inmates who are denied immediate admission shall be placed on a waiting list under criteria established by the Department. The rules and regulations shall provide that a prisoner who has been placed on a waiting list but is transferred for non-disciplinary reasons before beginning a program shall receive priority placement on the waitlist for appropriate programs at the new facility. The inability of any inmate to become engaged in any such programs by reason of insufficient program resources or for any other reason established under the rules and regulations of the Department shall not be deemed a cause of action under which the Department or any employee or agent of the Department shall be liable for damages to the inmate. The rules and regulations shall provide that a prisoner who begins an educational, vocational, substance abuse, work-release programs or activities in accordance with Article 13 of Chapter III of this Code, behavior modification program, life skills course, re-entry planning, or correctional industry programs but is unable to complete the program due to illness, disability, transfer, lockdown, or another reason outside of the prisoner's control shall receive prorated sentence credits for the days in which the prisoner did participate.
Except as provided in paragraph (4.7) of this subsection (a), the rules and regulations shall provide that an additional 180 days of sentence credit shall be awarded to any prisoner who obtains a bachelor's degree while the prisoner is committed to the Department of Corrections. The sentence credit awarded under this paragraph (4.1) shall be in addition to, and shall not affect, the award of sentence credit under any other paragraph of this Section, but shall also be under the guidelines and restrictions set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection (a). The sentence credit provided for in this paragraph shall be available only to those prisoners who have not earned a bachelor's degree prior to the current commitment to the Department of Corrections. If, after an award of the bachelor's degree sentence credit has been made, the Department determines that the prisoner was not eligible, then the award shall be revoked. The Department may also award 180 days of sentence credit to any committed person who earned a bachelor's degree while he or she was held in pre-trial detention prior to the current commitment to the Department of Corrections.
Except as provided in paragraph (4.7) of this subsection (a), the rules and regulations shall provide that an additional 180 days of sentence credit shall be awarded to any prisoner who obtains a master's or professional degree while the prisoner is committed to the Department of Corrections. The sentence credit awarded under this paragraph (4.1) shall be in addition to, and shall not affect, the award of sentence credit under any other paragraph of this Section, but shall also be under the guidelines and restrictions set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection (a). The sentence credit provided for in this paragraph shall be available only to those prisoners who have not previously earned a master's or professional degree prior to the current commitment to the Department of Corrections. If, after an award of the master's or professional degree sentence credit has been made, the Department determines that the prisoner was not eligible, then the award shall be revoked. The Department may also award 180 days of sentence credit to any committed person who earned a master's or professional degree while he or she was held in pre-trial detention prior to the current commitment to the Department of Corrections.
Nothing contained in this Section shall prohibit the Prisoner Review Board from ordering, pursuant to Section 3-3-9(a)(3)(i)(B), that a prisoner serve up to one year of the sentence imposed by the court that was not served due to the accumulation of sentence credit.
For purposes of this subsection (d):
730 ILCS 5/3-6-3