Gov. Bev Perdue defended her decision to hire a convicted murderer to work in her office as lieutenant governor as part of a work release program.

"I have been a long believer and supporter of work release programs," Perdue told reporters Tuesday morning, Rob Christensen reports. "I believe prisoners can work to pay back restitution. I believe they must be supervised. I believe they must go back to their units. They must report in and report out. There is a whole set of rules by which they must operate."

She also said she supports parole if the offender receives community supervision. But Perdue said her support of work release and parole are different from her opposition to the proposed unsupervised release of 27 lifers convicted of rape, murder and other violent offenses.

"One has nothing to do with the other," Perdue said.

WRAL first reported Monday that Sally Holloman worked in Perdue's office when she was lieutenant governor. Holloman was convicted in 1981 of murdering her husband and a Selma businessman.

Perdue said it appropriate to release inmates who have gone through the parole process and are closely supervised. But she said that was not the case with the 27 people who were proposed to be released as a result of a court ruling that determined life sentences issued in the mid-1970s were defined as 80 years and could be further cut in half with good behavior credits.