GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 570

Short Title:        Facilitate Successful Reentry.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives C. Graham, Pierce, Baskerville, and Glazier (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Judiciary I, if favorable, Judiciary II.

April 6, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to direct the division of adult correction to take action to facilitate successful reentry and improve judicial efficiency through the use of the electronic repository commonly known as ncaware to resolve outstanding warrants on inmates while they are still in custody.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Article 1 of Chapter 148 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

"§ 148‑10.5.  Facilitation of reentry.

In order to facilitate successful reentry and improve judicial efficiency, the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety shall do the following:

(1) Establish a policy requiring that, both at intake and before release, the Electronic Repository established under G.S. 15A‑301.1 shall be checked for each inmate to identify all outstanding warrants on the inmate.

(2) Develop and implement a plan, in consultation with district attorneys' offices, for resolving inmates' outstanding warrants while in custody, whenever feasible. In the course of resolving an outstanding warrant while in custody, an inmate shall be notified of his or her right to counsel if such a right exists."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 15A‑301.1(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       The Administrative Office of the Courts shall create and maintain, in cooperation with State and local law enforcement agencies, an automated electronic repository for criminal process (hereinafter referred to as the Electronic Repository), which shall comprise a secure system of electronic data entry, storage, and retrieval that provides for creating, signing, issuing, entering, filing, and retaining criminal process in electronic form, and that provides for the following with regard to criminal process in electronic form:

(1)        Tracking criminal process.

(2)        Accessing criminal process through remote electronic means by all authorized judicial officials and employees and all authorized law enforcement officers and agencies that have compatible electronic access capacity.capacity, including officials of the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety to the extent necessary for the Division to comply with the requirements of G.S. 148‑10.5.

(3)        Printing any criminal process in paper form by any authorized judicial official or employee or any authorized law enforcement officer or agency.

The Administrative Office of the Courts shall assure that all electronic signatures effected through use of the system meet the requirements of G.S. 15A‑101.1(5)."

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2015.