State Reps. Paul Stam and Nelson Dollar want to know why the state is in such a hurry to release 20 inmates who have served 30 or so years of a "life" sentence.

Stam, an Apex Republican and House minority leader, and Dollar, a Cary Republican, sent a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper and N.C. Correction Secretary Al Keller urging the officials to slow down on releasing the inmates.

One of the inmates, Bobby Bowden, successfully argued to the N.C. Court of Appeals that he has served his time. When he was convicted of a double murder in Fayetteville, the state defined a life sentence as 80 years and the court found that Bowden had earned enough credit to be released.

The Correction department has calculated that Bowden is one of 20 inmates that must be released this month. Stam and Dollar said that no court is ordering the release.

We are concerned with the haste with which the potential release of these felons is being considered. Only inmate Bowden has filed a motion. His case has been remanded for a hearing to determine sentence reduction credits that he is eligible to receive and how those credits are to be applied. It is premature to consider releasing other prisoners.

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* Mobile phones can make their way into state prisons in hollowed-out books and hidden inside tennis balls tossed over fences.

Often, they're smuggled in to inmates by prison employees looking to make quick cash.

Now guards caught smuggling mobile phones or cigarettes to inmates could find themselves locked up. A new law signed Friday by Gov. Beverly Perdue makes it a crime to sell or give state inmates wireless communications devices or tobacco products, punishable by up to 120 days in jail.

Correction Secretary Alvin W. Keller Jr. was among several leaders across the country who recently signed a petition to the Federal Communications Commission, seeking permission to scramble mobile phone signals in prisons. (N&O)

* A two-day hearing for a Cary man who claims he's innocent of killing a Raleigh prostitute nearly 18 years ago will be open to the public.

Nash County Superior Court Judge Quentin Sumner, the chairman of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, decided to grant a request to open a hearing concerning the 1993 murder conviction of Greg F. Taylor.

Taylor, convicted of charges in the death of a prostitute, maintains his innocence. The hearing is the third case to come before the state's innocence commmission. (N&O)

* Perdue says the state has not ruled out Las Vegas-style card games at Harrah's Cherokee Casino.

The state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians have no ongoing negotiations, said Perdue, who was in Jackson County on Monday for the grand opening of Sequoyah National Golf Club.

The Eastern Band has long sought state approval for live gambling. The casino is limited to video gambling machines and digital blackjack with a live dealer. A bitter exchange between then-Gov. Mike Easley and Hicks in 2006 followed an abrupt end to negotiations between the tribe and state.

The tribe estimates an expansion would bring $35 million in state taxes and an annual payroll of $100 million a year. (AC-T)

Robert "Bob" Lewis has been named the state's new prisons director, the Correction Department announced this morning.

Lewis, 58, has been deputy director for prison support services for the past eight years.

As prisons director, Lewis will be in charge of 79 prisons that confine 40,000 inmates. The division has more than 17,000 employees, and an annual budget of $1.1 billion.

Correction Secretary Al Keller appointed Lewis to the post effective March 1, when he will succeed the retiring Boyd Bennett.

Lewis started his career as a correctional officer in 1973 at Triangle Correctional Center in Raleigh and rose through the ranks in custody, programs, security and management. He lives in Raleigh and is a graduate of St. Augustine's College.

Newly appointed Correction Secretary Al Keller said today that an escape attempt at a maximum-security prison in Laurinburg exposed sloppy security practices that he is determined to fix.

"During the investigation that has followed, it has become apparent that internal procedures for routine inmate counts were not being properly followed," Keller said in a statement. "The first job of this department is public safety and this kind of lapse in protocol is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

The escape attempt happened last week at the Scotland Correctional Institution. Correction officers caught the inmate without incident before he could leave the compound, Correction spokesman Keith Acree said.

Keller said the prison's administrator has been reassigned while the department investigates the security issues. Acree said other employees would likely be disciplined, but it's unclear at this point where the breakdown originated. Prisons are supposed to perform multiple inmate counts each day to prevent escapes.

The announcement is a break from Keller's predecessor, Theodis Beck, who did not broadly publicize problems within the department. Acree said Keller's statement reflects newly-elected Gov. Beverly Perdue's policy of "early disclosure and accountability to the public."

Perdue, who is on vacation, quickly followed Keller's announcement with a statement.

"I will not tolerate public safety being put at risk because procedures were not followed by some prison personnel," she said. "I have directed Secretary Keller to take swift action based on his investigation and to take action system wide to ensure strict adherence to policies that protect the public.”  

The state's probation system has a new leader, at least for now.

Tim Moose, a 25-year employee who started his correction career with the Wake probation office, will serve as the director of the Division of Community Corrections until a permanent replacement is found, according to an announcement made this morning by the N.C. Department of Correction, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Moose is filling the job left open when Robert Guy stepped aside when Gov. Beverly Perdue came into office this week. Moose was named director by Alvin Keller, the new N.C. Correction Secretary.

The probation office has been rocked by crisis this year, after the March death of UNC-Chapel Hill student Eve Carson exposed problems with the statewide system. The two men accused in her killing were on probation at that time, but received scant supervision.

Last month, the News & Observer reported that 580 probationers had killed since the start of 2000. The series also showed that the probation system had lost track of nearly 14,000 convicted criminals and that Guy and other leaders missed chances to help officers keep up with their charges.

More after the jump.

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Gov. Beverly Perdue's Cabinet includes only one first.

The state's first female governor has appointed the state's first female secretary of the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Linda Wheeler Hayes.

As noted previously, many of the remaining glass ceilings for women in North Carolina involve law enforcement positions such as Attorney General, Correction Secretary or Crime Control Secretary.

(In addition, there has never been a female secretary of Environment and Natural Resources or Transportation.)

Perdue's Cabinet includes one other woman — Cultural Resources Secretary Linda Carlisle — but that's not news. Six of the seven secretaries who have served since that department was created in 1971 have been women.

Meantime, the Cabinet includes three black men: Correction Secretary Al Keller, Revenue Secretary Kenneth Lay and Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young.

There have been previous black secretaries of all three departments, especially Crime Control and Correction, as well as the departments of Administration and Environment and Natural Resources.

In all, Perdue has essentially tied former Gov. Mike Easley's 2001 Cabinet, which also had only five white male appointees and was described as "perhaps the most diverse" in North Carolina history.

Here at Dome we've been working furiously to get to know Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue's 10 cabinet secretaries. And while we aren't experts yet, we've found a few facts that we find intriguing. Test your knowledge with our quiz.

The secretaries are: Lanier Cansler (HHS), Linda Carlisle (Cultural Resources), Britt Cobb (Administration), Gene Conti (DOT), Keith Crisco (Commerce), Dee Freeman (DENR), Linda Wheeler Hayes (Juvenile Justice) Al Keller (Correction), Kenneth Lay (Revenue) and Reuben Young (Crime Control).

— Which secretary holds a Ph.D. in anthropology?

— The new cabinet job is the first government post (local, state, federal) for this secretary.

— Only one of Perdue's new cabinet secretaries was a Tar Heel of the Week in The News & Observer. Which secretary was featured in the 2002 story?

— This secretary is the only member of the cabinet to have run for statewide office.

— The 4-H honored this secretary in 2000 for outstanding alumni work.

— This secretary was formerly an assistant attorney general for the state of Texas.

— Which secretary, known for fundraising prowess, helped the Girl Scouts' Tarheel Triad Council raise $7 million for a new campus?

— This cabinet secretary was a White House Fellow from 1970 to 1971.

— A manager of four North Carolina cities, this secretary is the Brevard City Manager Emeritus.

— In a former job, this secretary presided over 800 criminal trials.

Answers after the jump.

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Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue named her picks to lead her law enforcement and justice agencies today.

To head the state Department of Correction: Al Keller, a former Marine Corps colonel and judge and former assistant attorney general, reports Ben Niolet.

To lead the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety: Reuben Young, a former prosecutor who has been the chief legal counsel to outgoing Gov. Mike Easley. Before joining Easley's staff, Young was an assistant attorney general who represented the crime control department in legal matters. The department includes the State Highway Patrol, and the divisions for Alcohol Law Enforcement, Emergency Management and the National Guard.

To head Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Linda Wheeler Hayes, chairwoman of the Governor's Crime Commission.

Perdue said she made her choices, the first she has announced, based on experience and qualifications, but also a willingness to make changes.

"I wanted somebody with the courage to not just accept the status quo, to shake things up if needed," Perdue said.