GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

S	1 

SENATE BILL 945

Short Title:  State Corr. Ed. Dep. Study/Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Carter.
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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May 14, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO CREATE THE STATE CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION STUDY COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. (a) The State Correctional Education Study Commission is created to study the issue of establishing a new State Department of Correctional Education, created from a unified school district/special local educational agency, composed of all academic and vocational educational programs that have juveniles adjudicated delinquent and committed to training school and adult inmates of the Department of Correction, in order to provide appropriate educational and vocational training to all committed juvenile and adult inmates, who have less than a high school diploma or its equivalent.
	(b) The Commission shall consist of 16 members:  four Senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, four Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, four appointed by the Governor, and four ex officio members.  The ex officio members shall be the Superintendent of Public Instruction or his designee, the President of the State Board of Education or his designee, the Secretary of the Department of Correction or his designee, and the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources or his designee.
(c) All members are voting members. Vacancies in the appointed membership shall be filled by the same appointing officer who made the initial appointment.
Sec. 2.  The Commission shall meet initially no later than October 1, 1991, at the call of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.  At its first meeting, it shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman.
Sec. 3.  The Commission shall study the issue of establishing the State Department of Correctional Education, which shall be composed of all academic and vocational educational programs that have juveniles adjudicated delinquent and committed to training school and adult inmates of the Department of Correction, in order to provide appropriate educational and vocational training to all committed juvenile and adult inmates, who have less than a high school diploma or its equivalent.  This study shall include:
(1)	An examination of the need to educate and provide vocational education to adjudicated juveniles committed to training schools and to adult inmates, who have less than a high school diploma or its equivalent in a better, more unified manner than is now the case;
(2)	An examination of the manner in which a unified school district should be established, of the components of the education provided and the standards imposed, and of the relation between the several components of the unified district and the State Department of Correctional Education;
(3)	An examination, in detail, of the recommended governance of the State Department of Correctional Education, including:
a.	An examination of other states' initiatives in this area;
b.	An examination of the fiscal impact in the short term and the long term of the establishment and the operation of the Department, including fiscal impact on existing facilities and on the need for new facilities;
c.	An examination of existing law and rule, to determine what statutes need amendment and what policies need substantial reconsideration; and
d.	An examination of methods to track the relative success of the new Department's correctional education on an on-going basis and to provide full accountability to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the people of North Carolina; and
(4)	An examination of any other related issues the Commission considers necessary to fulfill its mandate.
Sec. 4.  The Commission shall submit a final report of its findings and recommendations, including all legislative proposals, to the General Assembly and to the Governor on or before the first day of the 1992 Regular Session of the 1991 General Assembly by filing the report with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Upon filing its final report, the Commission shall terminate.
Sec. 5.  The Commission, while in the discharge of official duties, may exercise all the powers provided for under the provisions of G.S. 120-19, and G.S. 120-19.1 through G.S. 120-19.4.  The Commission may meet at any time upon the call of the chairmen.  With the approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building.
Sec. 6. Members of the Commission shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120-3.1.
Sec. 7. The Commission may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120-32.02.  The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Administrative Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist in the work of the Commission. The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Supervisors of Clerks shall assign clerical staff to the Commission or committee, upon the direction of the Legislative Services Commission.  The expenses relating to clerical employees shall be borne by the Commission.
Sec. 8. All State departments and agencies and local governments and their subdivisions shall furnish the Commission with any information in their possession or available to them.
Sec. 9. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly  the sum of $25,000 for the 1991-92 fiscal year and the sum of $25,000 for the 1992-93 fiscal year for the expenses of the Commission.
Sec. 10.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1991.