About one in five name change requests in Alexander County come from inmates.

Longtime Superior Court Clerk Seth Chapman told Dome that he gets between 10 and 20 requests from inmates of the Alexander Correctional Institute out of about 50 a year.

The reasons given vary: Some say they never used their birth name, others cite religious reasons.

Chapman said that he already turns down a substantial number of the requests based on the state law that requires petitioners be "of good character." Often, other inmates are given as character references.

"The simple fact that you're in prison speaks to me about your character," he said.

He said he considers felony convictions for murder, rape and robbery more serious when considering name changes than driving while intoxicated.

Chapman supports a bill from Rep. Ray Warren that would shift the burden of proof to the prisoner away from the clerk.

A bill would make it harder for prisoners to change their names.

Rep. Ray Warren, an Alexander County Democrat, said he filed the bill after hearing from several Superior Court clerks about problems with inmates changing their names.

"It creates a problem with tracking, with paperwork and with record-keeping," he said. "This bill is meant to curtail that somewhat."

The bill would not ban name changes outright, but it would "reverse the burden of proof" from the clerk to the prisoner, Warren said. Prisoners who wanted to change their name for religious reasons, for example, could still do so if they showed a good reason.

He said the problem is particularly pronounced in counties with large prisons. 

Three of Warren's co-sponsors, Reps. Pat Hurley, Shirley Randleman and Timothy Spear, are former Superior Court clerks. 

Under state law, sex offenders are already barred from changing their names. 

State prisoners eat a lot of canned vegetables.

They also get a lot of apple sauce, spaghetti, beans and fruit cocktail.

A new database of state contracts includes a category for food purchased by the state Department of Correction.

It shows a menu familiar to anyone who ever attended middle school.

In general, the contracts show an attempt to be healthy, if not necessarily Atkins-friendly. The canned vegetables are undermined by contracts for chocolate pudding, all kinds of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and gelatin.

Inmates apparently get individual packs of ketchup, mustard and French dressing as well. 

The N.C. House adopted a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to give or sell a cell phone to an inmate.

The bill is in response to reports that cell phones have been found in prisons, including twice on death row. An earlier version of the bill made passing cell phones to inmates a felony.

Lawmakers reduced the penalty because they didn't want to make it even tougher for prison guards who would already be fired to find another job, said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat.

Also sending a former guard to prison puts the guard in danger and makes it tougher for the state to deal with a dire shortage of prison beds, Sutton said.

The bill passed the House 117 to 0. It next goes to the Senate.

* House Speaker Joe Hackney refers anti-gay marriage bill to four committees, double the usual amount and likely a tactic to keep it from coming to the floor.

* House Republican Leader Paul Stam proposes allowing local governments to publish notices about public hearings electronically — instead of in the newspaper.

* Rep. Cary Allred, an Alamance County Republican, says smoking ban creates "a Gestapo atmosphere," but the bill sails through a House Health committee.

* About 1 out of every 110 adults in North Carolina is in prison, according to new report. That's good compared to the South, but not the world.

A few more interesting Senate bills filed:

S.B. 158: Modify Felony Death by Vehicle Penalty, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 160: Students Under 16 May Attend Comm. College, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 161: Execution / Physician Assistance Authorized, Sen. Phil Berger

S.B. 164: Unauthorized Practice of Medicine / Felony, Sen. James Forrester

S.B. 167: No Smoking / Cell Phones on Prison Grounds, Sen. Charlie Albertson

Overcrowding at state prisons could lead to lighter sentences for some crimes.

The latest projections show that in the fiscal year that begins July 1, the state will not have space for nearly 2,300 inmates — the equivalent of two new prisons.

But state legislators do not have the time or money to build more cells. They already face a $2 billion budget deficit, and it takes more than a year to build a prison.

The state has 79 prisons with 40,00 inmates. Lawmakers have approved new projects that would add space for roughly 2,250 more inmates by 2012.

Problems with the state's probation system could also cause problems, if it means that probationers end up spending more time in prison. (N&O)

State agencies are starting to come up with concrete proposals to cut spending.

Gov. Beverly Perdue asked budget officials to put together itemized lists of cuts they would make to help meet a $2 billion shortfall.

Suggestions so far range from closing prisons to delaying car purchases to canceling trips.

The N.C. Department of Transportation said it would slash $54 million, or 8 percent, of the money used to fix and clean roads. At least seven prisons would close; inmate drug testing and chaplains would be reduced.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources would cut $100,000 in aid to keep mud from construction sites out of creeks. More costs would shift to cities and counties.

Grants to rape crisis centers would disappear and mental hospitals would have fewer beds. (N&O)

Cell phones will be a hot topic in the legislature this session.

Already, three bills have been filed that would regulate when and where you can use the phones, and a legislative committee has recommended a fourth.

DRIVETIME CHAT: A bill sponsored by Sen. Charlie Dannelly would make it a traffic infraction to drive while using a cell phone, unless it was on hands-free mode or it was an emergency. A similar bill failed in the 2007 session.

TEXTING'S NEXT: Rep. Garland Pierce has filed a bill that would ban texting while driving. He said he expects it will be less controversial than Dannelly's bill. "When you have to start hitting numbers, you have to look down," he said.

PRISON CELL: Rep. Pierce has also introduced a bill that would prohibit cell phones in prison. In December, the N.C. Department of Correction said that at least two Death Row inmates have been found with cell phones.

RINGTONE MONEY: A joint revenue committee recommended earlier this week that the state begin taxing ringtones and other music delivered electronically at the same rate that it taxes music bought in stores.

Rep. Paul Luebke
Durham Democrat
Tenth Term

What two things would you cut in the state budget? "It's important to stress alternatives to incarceration," reducing the need to build prisons.

Are there any taxes you would be in favor of increasing? Raise the cigarette tax: "It combines public health benefits and some revenue."

— Mark Johnson