GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

EXTRA SESSION 1994

S	1 

SENATE BILL 147

Short Title:  Road Squads–Funds/Identification.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Odom; Blackmon, Lee, Smith, Folger, and Marshall.
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Referred to:  Corrections/Punishment.
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February 15, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR ADDITIONAL MINIMUM CUSTODY ROAD CREWS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF THOSE CREWS WORKING ON ROADS IN URBAN AREAS; TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION FOR ADDITIONAL MINIMUM CUSTODY WORK CREWS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF THOSE CREWS WORKING ON LAND AND IN BUILDINGS OWNED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS; AND TO REQUIRE THAT INMATES ON ROAD CREWS BE IDENTIFIABLE TO THE PUBLIC.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Department of Transportation the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to pay for additional work crews of minimum custody prisoners under the supervision of employees of the Department of Transportation or the Department of Correction to increase the use of these road crews on public roads in the urban areas.
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Correction the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to pay for additional work crews of minimum custody prisoners under the supervision of Department of Correction employees to increase the use of these work crews on land and in buildings owned by local governments.
Sec. 3.  G.S. 148-26(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	As many minimum custody prisoners as are available and fit for road work, who cannot appropriately be placed on work release, study release, or other full-time programs, and as many medium custody prisoners as are available, fit for road work and can be adequately guarded during such work without reducing security levels at prison units, shall be employed in the maintenance and construction of public roads of the State.  Prisoners engaged in work on the public roads and supervisors shall be identifiable to the general public through the use of signs, appropriate apparel, or by other means designed to identify them as prison road crews and to separately identify Department of Transportation or Department of Correction supervisors.  The number and location of prisoners to be kept available for work on the public roads shall be agreed upon by the governing authorities of the Department of Transportation and the State Department of Correction far enough in advance of each budget to permit proper provisions to be made in the request for appropriations submitted by the Department of Transportation. Any dispute between the Departments will be resolved by the Governor. Prisoners so employed shall be compensated, at rates fixed by the Department of Correction's rules and regulations for work performed; provided, that no prisoner working on the public roads under the provisions of this section shall be paid more than one dollar ($1.00) per day from funds provided by the Department of Transportation to the Department of Correction for this purpose. The Department of Correction and the Department of Transportation shall develop a program to be implemented no later than July 1, 1982, to the extent money is herein appropriated, which shall include:
(1)	The use of portable toilets for inmate road crews."
Sec. 4.  This act is effective upon ratification.