N.C. Department of Correction

Beatty gives provocative answer on future

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:19:20 -0500

Bryan Beatty gave an provocative answer about his future.

Asked by Dome through a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Crime Control whether he hoped to continue working under the new administration, Beatty did not say.

"He said he appreciates your interest, but that is between him and Gov.-elect (Beverly) Perdue," said Capt. Everett Clendenin of the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Beatty, who has been secretary of crime control since 2001, has long been rumored to be interested in staying. Of late, the speculation has been that he might take over the N.C. Department of Correction from retiring Secretary Theodis Beck.

He is the first current Cabinet member to explicitly refuse to answer the question since Dome began calling around this week.

Time off for good behavior?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:52:55 -0500

Correction Secretary Theodis Beck will not be joining Governor-elect Beverly Perdue's administration.

Beck is retiring effective Feb. 1, after nearly 10 years as the top official over the state's prison and probation system, Dan Kane reports.

The department is one of the state's largest with roughly 20,000 employees who oversee 37,000 inmates and 125,000 probationers or parolees. The department's budget is roughly $1 billion.

He began his career as a probation and parole officer in 1975. He has served as director of the Division of Adult Probation and Parole and as a deputy secretary in charge of the divisions for prisons and community corrections.

Beck has overseen tremendous growth in the prison system during his tenure, with several new prisons built during that period.

He currently is working to fix a probation system under fire after the high profile killings of two Triangle-area college students raised questions about how well probation officials are keeping track of offenders.

Supreme Court dives into execution case

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:54 -0500

The N.C. Supreme Court dove into the two-year stalemate in executions today by asking attorneys representing the state Department of Correction and the N.C. Medical Board to define what the state legislature meant in requiring that a doctor be present.

The debate over that word has created a de facto moratorium on executions in North Carolina. The correction department executes inmates on death row and is seeking to have a doctor take part in order to make sure the lethal injection is properly administered, Dan Kane reports.

That, the department contends, ensures that there has been no violation of Constitutional law against cruel and unusual punishment.

But the medical board contends that lawmakers only required doctors to attend to certify that an inmate was executed. Taking part in that execution, by monitoring an inmate's vital signs as correction officials want, would violate a doctor's basic mission to preserve life, the board has determined.

Several justices on the court peppered the attorneys with questions during the hour-long hearing.

More after the jump.

N.C. court to rule on executions

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:51:18 -0500

The N.C. Supreme Court will hear legal arguments today about capital punishment.

The case could break a two-year stalemate on executions in North Carolina or extend a de facto moratorium caused when docotrs refused to participate.

Under state law, a doctor must be on hand during an execution by lethal injection, but the N.C. Medical Board has prohibited doctors from taking part.

In March of 2007, the state Department of Correction filed a lawsuit, and state Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens sided with correction officials. The medical board has appealed.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper, which is representing corrections officials, said the state Supreme Court could settle the matter. She said there is no federal question for U.S. courts to pursue.

The last execution took place on Aug. 18, 2006. (N&O)

Who serves in the governor's cabinet?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:13:23 -0500

Answer:

Ten appointees who run state departments.

The governor of North Carolina appoints people to run the state departments of Administration, Commerce, Correction, Crime Control and Public Safety, Cultural Resources, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Human Services, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Revenue and Transportation.

Seven of Gov. Mike Easley's appointments were nicknamed the "Iron Cabinet" because many of them served from 2000 through 2008.

Brief:

Ten appointees who run state departments.

Easley signs infirm inmates bill

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:13:23 -0400

Some of the state prison system's most expensive inmates — those who are terminally ill or totally disabled — could soon be released to spend the rest of their days at home or in health care facilities.

Gov. Mike Easley on Tuesday signed into law legislation that creates a path for these dying and disabled patients to be released before their sentences are completed, so long as they have an appropriate care plan. The law took effect with his signature.

The move could free up as many as 160 beds a year in a state prison system that is at maximum capacity. Several hundred newly convicted felons are being held in county jails until prison beds open up.

Inmates would have to ask Correction Department officials for the early release. Those convicted of serious crimes such as murder or rape would not be eligible. If an infirm inmate became able-bodied after release, he or she would have to return to prison.

Infirm inmates cost the state far more than other inmates because of their health care requirements. Correction officials said a sampling of 20 such inmates showed an average cost of $87,000 per year.

The law is one of two bills sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, to help reduce a prison population that is expected to climb past 40,000 next year. A second bill allowing illegal immigrants serving time for some nonviolent crimes to be released for deportation could be taken up by the full Senate next week.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstated when the full Senate could take up the bill.

House says no motels for offenders

bniolet — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:55:31 -0400

House budget writers don't want newly-released pedophiles, rapists and other sex offenders staying temporarily in hotels at public expense.

Last night, the House Appropriations Committee changed a provision in the House budget bill that allows the Correction Department to pay for temporary housing for felons released from prison who are on parole, probation or some other form of post-release supervision, Dan Kane reports. The department can use its budget to place felons in a homeless shelter, halfway house, or other housing provider that is under contract with the federal government to provide housing for offenders.

The provision specifically bars the department from sending felons to "a hotel, motel, nursing home, adult care facility, group home containing the physically or developmentally disabled, or residential facility where minors are housed."

Lawmakers also said that the temporary housing can last no more than 30 days, and ordered a study into the feasibility of setting up temporary housing for released felons who can't find a place to stay.

The Correction Department sought the provision after finding it difficult to place sex offenders. New laws that prevent them from being within 1,000 feet of a school or child care center and local ordinances that have banned them from parks have given sex offenders limited. In some cases, they have opted to stay in prison to serve out their maximum sentences, which correction officials say is much more costly than paying for temporary housing until a permanent residence is found.

The original provision would have allowed the department to place felons in hotels, which correction officials said they would do if other options such as homeless shelters were unavailable.

Easley: Offenders in hotels protects kids

bniolet — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:58:40 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley said that a Department of Correction plan to house sex offenders in motels is the "best of a lot of poor options."

The state House's draft budget includes a provision that would allow Correction officials to put sex offenders up in motels if they cannot find another place to live when they leave prison. Tough laws restricting where sex offenders can stay have left some homeless and others with no options better than prison.

"What we're finding is a lot of these sex offenders who are paroled end up homeless and they're staying in our state parks or city parks where kids play," Easley said.

"With all of the options, this seems to be the one that protects the public the most and that is what the state is supposed to do is protect kids from sex offenders and this is the best way we know how to do it at this point," Easley said.

Infirm inmate bill passes legislature

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:42:57 -0400

Legislation that could free up 160 beds in an overburdened prison system has cleared the state legislature and awaits Gov. Mike Easley's signature.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand's bill allows for the early release of terminally ill, geriatric or seriously disabled inmates who have been determined to not be a threat to society. These are some of the most expensive inmates in the state's prisons because of their health care costs, Dan Kane reports.

The legislation cleared the Senate today by a 44 to 1 vote. The House had approved the legislation earlier this week.

The bill would allow inmates and their families could petition correction officials to be considered for release.

Those convicted of serious crimes, such as murder or rape, would not be eligible. Those inmates whose health improved such that they became able bodied would be returned to prison.

The Correction department and the state parole commission would have to approve the releases.

The state's prison population is above capacity, forcing county jails to hold onto sentenced inmates until space can be found. Lawmakers are trying to find ways to free up beds. Another bill filed by Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, would release some nonviolent illegal immigrants to federal immigration officials for deportation, a move that could free up another 100 to 150 beds.

State responds on execution protocol

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:21:03 -0400

The Council of State won't budge on its approval of the state's revised execution protocol.

Attorneys for the council responded Monday to a group of five condemned inmates who appealed the council's approval of the protocol. Attorneys with the N.C. Department of Justice filed the response in Wake Superior Court, Titan Barksdale reports.

The inmates have said the council's approval in February 2007 was improper because it didn't hear from their attorneys first.

The council contends that the inmates don't have the right to challenge the protocol in court because the state Department of Correction offers inmates a way to challenge it. The council, a group of the state's top elected officials, added that the prisoners have failed to show they are harmed by the execution protocol.

"Injury only occurs if the execution protocol is improperly implemented," the council's response said.

More after the jump.