AN ACT to authorize electronic notification to the media whenever the post‑release supervision and parole commission is considering parole for a person serving a life sentence.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 15A‑1371(b)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	Whenever the Post‑Release Supervision and Parole Commission will be considering for parole a prisoner serving a sentence of life imprisonment the Commission must notify, at least 30 days in advance of considering the parole, by first class mail at the last known address:
a.	The prisoner;
b.	The district attorney of the district where the prisoner was convicted;
c.	The head of the law enforcement agency that arrested the prisoner and the sheriff of the county where the crime occurred;
d.	Any of the victim's immediate family members who have requested in writing to be notified; and
e.	Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 538, s. 22.
f.	As many newspapers of general circulation and other media in the county where the defendant was convicted and if different, in the county where the prisoner was charged, as reasonable. The Commission may elect to use electronic means rather than the mail to notify the media under this sub‑subdivision if such notification would be more timely and cost‑effective.
The Post‑Release Supervision and Parole Commission must consider any information provided by any such parties before consideration of parole. The Commission must also give the district attorney, the head of the law enforcement agency who has requested in writing to be notified, the victim, any member of the victim's immediate family who has requested to be notified, and as many newspapers of general circulation and other media in the county or counties designated in sub‑subdivision f. of this section as reasonable, written notice of its decision within 10 days of that decision. The Commission may elect to use electronic means rather than the mail to notify the media under this paragraph if such notification would be more timely and cost‑effective. The Parole Commission shall not, however, include the name of any victim in its notification to the newspapers and other media."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 9th day of July, 2010.

	_____________________________________
		 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	_____________________________________
		 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2010