A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to create a Legislative study committee to study community‑based sentencing alternatives for people who have been convicted of nonviolent crimes and who are the primary caretakers of dependent children.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is established a Joint Legislative Study Committee on Alternative Sentencing (Committee). The Committee shall study community‑based sentencing alternatives for people who have been convicted of nonviolent crimes and who are the primary caretakers of dependent children.
SECTION 2.  The Committee shall consist of 12 members. Six members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker). Five of the Speaker appointees shall be members of the North Carolina General Assembly, two of whom shall be members of the minority political party, and one Speaker appointee shall be a member of the public that at one time served an active criminal sentence for a nonviolent offense while being the primary caretaker of a dependent child. Six members of the Committee shall be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (President Pro Tem). Five of the President Pro Tem appointees shall be members of the North Carolina General Assembly, two of whom shall be members of the minority political party, and one President Pro Tem appointee shall be a member of the public that at one time served an active criminal sentence for a nonviolent offense while being the primary caretaker of a dependent child. The Speaker and the President Pro Tem shall each appoint a cochair for the Committee. A quorum of the Committee is a majority of its members.
SECTION 3.  Members of the Committee shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances in accordance with G.S. 120‑3.1 or G.S. 138‑5, as appropriate.
SECTION 4.  Subject to the approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Committee may meet in the State Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building. The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist in the work of the Committee. The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants shall assign clerical staff to the Committee, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Committee. The Committee, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 and G.S. 120‑19.1 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them and the power to subpoena witnesses. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies.
SECTION 5.  The Committee may report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly in an interim report by April 1, 2020, and shall make a final report by December 1, 2020, and shall terminate upon the earlier of December 1, 2020, or the filing of its final report.
SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law.