State lawmakers showed little interest today in avoiding another big prison construction bill this session.

In fact, they laughed when Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat, asked whether they would look at legislation that spends more on prevention and less on incarceration, reports Dan Kane.

"Is there anyone that thinks we're going to change our mode of operation?" Sutton asked, after lawmakers listened to a report of options to deal with a rapidly growing prison population.

Today, the state prison system is again out of space. Prisons Director Boyd Bennett said he has sent notice to county jails that they will have to hold convicted and sentenced inmates until a new 1,500 bed prison opens up in Columbus County at the end of summer.

The prison, though, is only a temporary fix. Projections show that the system could be 1,800 inmates over capacity by 2012.

Read more after the jump.

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Hillary Clinton released a list of state politicians who have endorsed her.

The list of 60 names includes former U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan, state Sens. Dan Clodfelter and Julia Boseman, state Reps. Susan Fisher and Ronnie Sutton and Mecklenburg County Commissioners Parks Helms and Jennifer Roberts.

"Hillary is the most qualified person for the job — she is a doer and a fighter,” said Julia Boseman in a statement. "I am impressed by her plans to bring health care to all Americans, lower gas prices, and create renewable energy solutions."

It also includes former state Reps. Steve Dolley, Jim Morgan, Max Melton, and Tom Rabon; and former state Sens. Allen Wellons, Frank Block, Tom Taft, Aaron Plyler and Russell Walker.

County commissioners on the list: Gary Barber of Ashe County; Wade Nelms of Carteret County; Gene Gregory of Currituck County; Kay Cashion of Guilford County; Mike Nelson of Orange County; Charles Ward of Perquimans County; Eugene James and Beth Ward of Pitt County; Tommy Melton of Polk County; Roger Oxendine of Robeson County; John Bell, Atlas Price and Roland "Bud" Gray of Wayne County; Tommy Garner of Yadkin County; and Lindy Brown and Betty Lou Ward of Wake County.

Also on the list: Elon Mayor Jerry Tolley, Roanoke Rapids Mayor D.N. Beale, Princeton Mayor Donald Rains, Ayden Mayor Stephen Tripp, Grimesland Mayor Gerald Whitley, Mount Olive Mayor Ray McDonald Sr. and Yadkinville Mayor Hubert Gregory.

The guest list at the Hillary Clinton event at Wake Tech includes a few notables.

State Sen. Vern Malone, Reps. Tricia Cotham and Ronnie Sutton, former Ambassador Jeanette Hyde, Raleigh City Councilwoman Mary Ann Baldwin and Wake County Commissioner Lindy Brown.

Also on the list: Raleigh attorneys Bruce Thompson and Michael Petty, Raleigh public relations executive Joyce Fitzpatrick and former N.C. Industrial Commission chairman Buck Lattimore.

The most interesting name: Muriel Offerman.

Offerman is a still offically undecided superdelegate to the Democratic Convention. As we reported last week, Clinton personally called Offerman's work phone.

Maybe she's not so undecided after all...

Update: Dome also spotted Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams among the honored guests.

A bill would allow judges to sentence convicted drunk drivers to wear alcohol monitors.

The monitors, which sense alcohol through the skin, are worn as ankle bracelets. They could be worn as a condition of probation, an alternative to jail or as a way for convicts to get their licenses restored sooner.

Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat, said he was concerned that the bill would create inequalities, since not every offender can afford to pay for the monitors.

"You're going to create two classes of citizens: Those that can afford $12 a day and those that can't," he said. (Later, he restated his objection humorously: "I was passed a note that said that Paris Hilton is in favor of this bill.")

Rep. Martha Alexander, a Charlotte Democrat, said she thinks many local governments will pay for the bracelets as an alternative to jailing drunk drivers.

The bill passed the House 107-9. It now heads back to the Senate.

The House rejected a bill that would have banned spanking in public schools.

Though a majority of states have banned corporal punishment in schools, House members sided with concerns that getting rid of that option would lead to less discipline in schools and more wayward youths.

Some spoke from personal experience.

"I had one teacher, I told him later that I thought he whipped me like a rented mule," said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat. "But I truly believe that I would have served time in prison had I not had the discipline that I had in school."

About one in three school districts across the state, including Wake, Durham and Orange, have policies prohibiting corporal punishment. The rest allow it, including Chatham, Johnston, Franklin and Harnett counties.

Advocates cited dozens of national organizations that oppose corporal punishment in schools, including the American Medical Association, the NAACP and the National Association of State Boards of Education. But opponents noted that the N.C. Board of Education and N.C. School Boards Association had not stepped up in favor of the bill.

The House tentatively approved a bill that would let sheriffs know when a pistol permit application had been turned down in another county.

The legislation stems from a Guilford County case in which a man who was denied for mental problems went across the county line, bought a gun and killed himself.

Sheriffs would still set their own guidelines for pistol permits. A denial in one county would not necessarily mean a second denial in another.

But Rep. Joe Kiser, a Lincoln County Republican and former sheriff, said it would give sheriffs more information. (N&O)

"This would be a red flag to the other sheriffs in the state," said Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Robeson Democrat who sponsored the bill. (AP)

Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat, is a co-sponsor.

A bill that would track denials for handgun permits was pulled from the House floor today.

Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Pembroke Democrat, said some freshmen are feeling heat from gun rights advocates who oppose the bill, and they want to know more, Dan Kane reports.

"Sometimes they get a little nervous when they are voting on a gun bill," he said.

A suicide prompted the bill. The Guilford County sheriff denied a man a pistol permit because of mental health concerns raised by his family. The man then bought a handgun in Lenoir County and killed himself.

Sutton's bill would create a state data base that sheriffs can use to keep track of pistol permit denials.

The House passed similar legislation by an overwhelming vote last year, but it stalled in the Senate. The bill has been rescheduled for a vote Monday.