A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to revise and recodify the law authorizing the division of correction enterprises within the department of correction and to appropriate funds for a study of the job training programs available for incarcerated inmates.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 148 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 14.
"Correction Enterprises.
"§ 148‑123.  Authorization for Correction Enterprises.
The Division of Correction Enterprises is established as a division of the Department of Correction. The Division of Correction Enterprises may develop and operate industrial, agricultural, and service enterprises that employ incarcerated offenders in an effort to provide them with meaningful work experiences and rehabilitative opportunities that will increase their employability upon release from prison.
"§  148‑124.  Purposes of Correction Enterprises.
Correction Enterprises shall serve the following purposes:
(1)	To provide incarcerated offenders a work and training environment that emulates private industry;
(2)	To provide incarcerated offenders with training opportunities that allow them to increase work skills and employability upon release from prison;
(3)	To provide quality goods and services to tax‑supported entities; 
(4)	To aid victims by contributing a portion of its proceeds to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund; and
(5)	To generate sufficient funds from the sale of goods and services to be a self‑supporting operation.
"§ 148‑125.  Correction Enterprises Fund.
(a)	All revenues from the sale of articles and commodities manufactured or produced by Correction Enterprises shall be deposited with the State Treasurer to be kept and maintained as a special revolving working‑capital fund designated "Correction Enterprises Fund."
(b)	Revenue in the Correction Enterprises Fund shall be applied first to capital and operating expenditures, including salaries and wages of personnel necessary to develop and operate Correction Enterprises and incentive wages for inmates employed by Correction Enterprises or participating in work assignments established by the Division of Prisons. Of the remaining revenue in the Fund, five percent (5%) of the net profits, before expansion costs, shall be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund established in G.S. 15B‑23 as soon as practicable after profits have been determined for the previous  year. At the direction of the Governor, the remainder shall be used for other purposes within the State prison system or shall be transferred to the General Fund. 
(c)	The Correction Enterprises Fund shall be the source of all incentive wages and allowances paid to inmates employed by Correction Enterprises and inmates participating in work assignments established by the Division of Prisons.
"§ 148‑126.  Powers and responsibilities.
In order to fulfill the purposes set forth in G.S. 148‑124, the Division of Correction Enterprises is authorized and empowered to take all actions necessary in the operation of its enterprises, including the following actions:
(1)	To develop and operate industrial, agricultural, and service enterprises either within prison facilities or outside the prison facilities;
(2)	To plan and establish new industrial, agricultural, and service enterprises so long as any new enterprise is specifically approved by the Governor as required by G.S. 66‑58(f);
(3)	To employ inmates and any other personnel that may be necessary in the operation of Correction Enterprises;
(4)	To expand, diminish, or discontinue any enterprise operating under its authority;
(5)	To purchase any machinery, equipment, materials, and supplies required in the operation of its enterprises;
(6)	To market and sell the goods and services produced by Correction Enterprises; 
(7)	To determine the prices at which products and services produced by inmate labor shall be sold;
(8)	To execute and enter into contracts;
(9)	To execute and enter into leases;
(10)	To establish and operate an enterprise that complies with all applicable federal laws and guidelines required by the federal Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (Justice Assistance Act of 1984:  Public Law 98‑473, Section 819);
(11)	To establish policies and procedures regarding the operation of Correction Enterprises; and
(12)	To take any action necessary and appropriate for the effective operation of its enterprises, so long as that action complies with applicable State and federal laws.
"§ 148‑127.  Distribution of products and services.
Correction Enterprises is empowered and authorized to market and sell products and services produced by Correction Enterprises to any of the following entities:
(1)	Any public agency or institution owned, managed, or controlled by the State;
(2)	Any county, city, or town in this State; 
(3)	Any federal, state, or local public agency or institution in any other state of the union;
(4)	An entity or organization that has tax‑exempt status pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and also receives local, state, or federal grant funding; or
(5)	Any employee of the State of North Carolina.
"§ 148‑128.  Inmate wages and conditions of employment.
(a)	The Secretary shall adopt rules for the administration and management of personnel policies for inmates who work for Correction Enterprises, including wages, working hours, training requirements, and conditions of employment. The Secretary shall adopt rules to ensure that inmates participating in the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program comply with all applicable federal rules and regulations.
(b)	No inmate working for Correction Enterprises shall be paid more than three dollars ($3.00) per day unless applicable State or federal laws require a higher salary. Inmates who are employed as part of the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program shall be paid in accordance with applicable federal rules and regulations.
"§ 148‑129.  Preference for Department of Correction products.
All departments, institutions, and agencies of this State that are supported in whole or in part by the State shall give preference to Correction Enterprises products in purchasing articles, products, and commodities that these departments, institutions, and agencies require and that are manufactured or produced within the State prison system and offered for sale to them by the Correction Enterprises. No article or commodity available from the Correction Enterprises shall be purchased by any such State department, institution, or agency from any other source unless the prison product does not meet the standard specifications and the reasonable requirements of the department, institution, or agency as determined by the Secretary of Administration or the requisition cannot be complied with because of an insufficient supply of the articles or commodities required. The provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes respecting contracting for the purchase of all supplies, materials, and equipment required by the State government or any of its departments, institutions, or agencies under competitive bidding shall not apply to articles or commodities available from Correction Enterprises. Correction Enterprises shall be required to keep the price of such articles or commodities substantially in accord with that paid by governmental agencies for similar articles and commodities of equivalent quality."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 148‑2(b) is repealed.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 148‑18(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Prisoners employed by Correction Enterprises shall be compensated as set forth in Article 14 of this Chapter. Prisoners  participating in work assignment established by the Division of Prisons shall be compensated at rates fixed by the Department of Correction's rules and regulations; provided, that no prisoner so paid shall receive more than one dollar ($1.00) per  day, unless the Secretary determines that the work assignment requires special skills or training. Upon approval of the Secretary, inmates working in job assignments requiring special skills or training may be paid up to three dollars ($3.00) per day.  The Correction Enterprises Fund shall be the source of wages and allowances provided to inmates who are employed by the Department of Correction in work assignments established by the Division of Prisons."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 148‑70 reads as rewritten:
"§ 148‑70.  Management and care of  inmates.
The State Department of Correction in all contracts for labor shall provide for feeding and clothing the inmates and shall maintain, control and guard the quarters in which the inmates live during the time of the contracts; and the Department shall provide for the guarding and working of such inmates under its sole supervision and control. The Department may make such contracts for the hire of the inmates confined in the State prison as may in its discretion be proper. 			"SECTION 5.(a)  The Department of Correction shall study the job training programs available for incarcerated inmates through Correction Enterprises or through work assignments related to the operation of the prison system and report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Justice and Public Safety by May 1, 2008.  In creating the report, the Department shall consult with the Department of Labor, the Department of Commerce, the Employment Security Commission and other agencies, organizations, or stakeholders that focus on job training and employment.  The report shall include:
(1)	A description of the specific programs that provide incarcerated offenders the opportunity to enhance job skills and employability upon release from prison;
(2)	The number of offenders who participate in those programs;
(3)	Any data supporting the effectiveness of such training programs; 
(4)	Recommendations for increasing inmate participation in job training programs and enhancing employability of inmates upon release; and
(5)	Employment resources available to offenders upon release from prison.
SECTION 5.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Correction the sum of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 2007‑2008 fiscal year to conduct the study required by subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 6.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.