A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO direct the department of correction to study comprehensive reform of the State's approach to community corrections.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Correction, in consultation with the Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Conference of District Attorneys, Office of Indigent Defense Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other organizations and agencies it deems appropriate, shall study comprehensive reform of the State's approach to community corrections. The study shall consider the integration of evidence‑based practices into all aspects of community corrections and the development of cost‑effective ways to manage offenders without compromising public safety. The study shall review data from North Carolina and other states to identify best practices in community‑based supervision and treatment, proven through research‑based evidence to reduce crime, decrease offender recidivism rates, and improve offender reintegration into society. The study shall estimate the costs of the identified programs and their projected impact on offender populations in prison and under community supervision. The Department shall report its findings, including proposed legislation to enact a comprehensive Community Corrections Act, to the Legislative Corrections, Crime Control, and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee no later than April 1, 2010.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.