A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the Department of Correction to designate its Office of Research and Planning as the single state agency responsible for the coordination and implementation of reentry policy initiatives; and to encourage the department of correction to continue its efforts to assist offenders in successfully reentering society, as recommended by the joint select committee on ex‑offender reintegration into society.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Correction, Office of Research and Planning (ORP), shall be the single State agency responsible for the coordination and implementation of ex‑offender reentry policy initiatives, including the StreetSafe Task Force, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative of the Council of State Governments (CSG), and the recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Ex‑Offender Reintegration Into Society.
The ORP shall do the following:
(1)	Work in conjunction with local communities to form a minimum of 10 local reentry councils to supervise and coordinate innovative responses to reintegration at the local level and to use the existing services of programs, e.g., the Criminal Justice Partnership Program.
(2)	Form an advisory group that represents the population it proposes to serve. This representative body should include, but not be limited to, the formerly incarcerated, people with criminal records, and at‑risk youth, as well as agencies that serve all of the above.
SECTION 2.  The Department of Correction shall continue its efforts to assist offenders in successfully reentering society and to enable them to avoid further criminal behavior, including monitoring and maximizing the access to the partnerships with the Division of Motor Vehicles regarding identification cards and licenses and the community colleges regarding education and job readiness, and by maximizing work release slots for minimum custody inmates approaching release.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.