In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly directed the Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission (Sentencing Commission) and the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (DACJJ) of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to jointly conduct ongoing evaluations regarding the implementation of the Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA). This report constitutes the sixth report in compliance with the directive.
The Sentencing Commission’s implementation evaluation reports have followed the process from the early stages of implementation of the JRA to the current, more settled phase of implementation. This report highlights recent legislative changes to the JRA, policies and practices that have been adjusted in 2016, new initiatives undertaken by agencies to further the goals of the JRA, and data examining the usage of JRA tools and preliminary outcomes under the JRA.
The information for the report comes from updates provided by agencies at meetings of the Justice Reinvestment Implementation Report Subcommittee (see infra), from agency and organizational reports submitted to the Legislature, and from data collected by agencies. Given that the correctional system was most affected by the changes under the JRA, the management information system used by DPS, the Offender Population Unified System (OPUS), is the primary source for data presented in this report. Much of the information was obtained from DACJJ’s Rehabilitative Programs and Services Section, as well as from their online Automated System Query (ASQ). Information about the Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program (SMCP) was obtained from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association (NCSA).
This first section of the report provides background on the JRA and subsequent, related legislation that made changes to it. Section II of the report includes information related to sentencing practices under the JRA (e.g., data on special probation and habitual felon status offenses). Section III provides information on community supervision including recent policy changes and data on the population of offenders under supervision in North Carolina. Section IV details the effect of the JRA on incarceration practices for both local confinement facilities and state prisons. Section V summarizes key findings from the report.