Justice and Public Safety Budget Items
The Basics
The Justice and Public Safety appropriations committee (JPS) is the state budget committee that oversees spending for the Courts, Corrections, Indigent Defense Services, Crime Control and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Here's some basic information about the JPS committee:
* Funds appropriated through this committee comprise 11% of the state's budget or $2.2 billion dollars.
* The Justice and Public Safety committee will spend 1.5% LESS in 2010-11 than in 2009-10.
* Nearly 60% of the Justice and Public Safety budget goes to fund the Department of Corrections.
* Even though the overall amount appropriated through JPS will be less than 2009-2010, and significantly less than budget writers originally thought was needed, there will still be some expansion items in this budget.
*Co-chairs of the Justice and Public Safety committee are Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, Sen. John Snow, Rep. Jimmy Love and Rep. Alice Bordsen.
GOVERNOR'S CUTS
COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS
Reduce Eckerd Wilderness Camps by one/ Eliminate Woodson Wilderness Camp - 8.6 million - 155 youth will be placed back into the Youth Detention Centers or other alternatives to detention when the Eckerd camps are reduced by 1 facility. The Woodson Wilderness camp is a voluntary pre-release program.
Macon County Multi-purpose home - $600.000 - This home will be closed because it has low uitilization.
Adults
Eliminate Important "Pass Through" Programs - $.6 million
Women at Risk, Harriot's House, Our Children's Place and Summit House have all been eliminated in the Governor's budget. These are excellent community-based programs that all took major cuts in 09-10. It woud be a travesty if they were eliminated.
Eliminate Discretionary Criminal Justice Partnership Funding - $1.1 million - These are important dollars that will no longer be available to help counties address infrastructure needs in Criminal Justice Partnership Programs. These funds have been taken away before during tight budget times.
Fee Increases - Community Service and Probation/Parole - $8.5 million - The community service fee will be increased from $225 - $300 and the probation/parole fee will be increased from $30 - $40. There have been many fee increases for defendants and probationers and this is one more. It's likely that fee increases will increase the number of revocations for those who can't pay.
Reduce Drug Testing and Consolidate Drug Labs - $1.1 million - The Division of Community Corrections will consolidate the drug labs from 5 to 4 locations and will reduced the frequency of testing.
PRISONS
Chaplains - The Governor reduces the number of chaplains by three and sets standards for determining the number of prison chaplains needed.
Reduce Inmate Medical - $20.5 million
LEGAL SERVICES
Prisoners' Legal Services - $142,000 - This represents a 5% cut for the program providing legal services to prisoners.
Eliminate LEAF - $375,000 - LEAF is a good program that assists young lawyers entering public service with their law school debts.
COURTS
Technology Reductions in the Courts - $2.6 million - The courts will decrease their technology budgets with an expectation of no service reductions.
CUTS AFFECTING MULTIPLE AGENCIES
Eliminate Vacant Positions and Reduce Operating Budgets - Most, if not all, agencies will be achieving savings by eliminating any vacant positions and making targeted cuts in their non-personnel operating items. These cuts make sense in this economic environment.
Flexibility Reserve - Many agencies will also be using a flexibility reserve to reduce expenditures. Again, this makes sense in the current environment. It builds a cut into the department, but lets management decide where cuts will be made as the year progresses. Most agencies have grown very familiar with these kinds of cuts during the past year. Since there are always some lapsed salary dollars due to employee transitions, these cuts can often be made through lapsed salaries or other unanticipated changes as the year progresses.
GOVERNOR'S INCREASES
CONTINUATION REVIEWS
Restorations in the programs with continuation reviews should not be seen as increases in the budget since they are longstanding programs that the Governor is recommending to be continued. We agree that funding for each of these programs should be restored.
BRIDGE Program - $912,000 - This program is for youthful offenders working to fight forest fires in the Western counties. It is fully restored by the Governor.
Community College Prisoner Education Program - The Governor partially restores this important program for Re-entry education. $19.8 million of this $33 million dollar program is restored in the Governor's budget. Educational opportunities will be limited to basic skills and continuing education courses that insure literacry and job skills. No courses will be offered in federal or local faciliites - it's unclear whether this applies to local programs working with probationers. It's also unclear whether the federal government is likely to pick up educational programs in the federal insitutions.
Sentencing Services - $2.235 million - Sentencing Services had a continuation review for 2010-2011 and the Governor's budget restores this excellent and much-needed program that provides community-based options at sentencing. At a time when the state faces a prison bed shortage of 8,000 beds, it is critical to have this program providing carefully planned options at sentencing that can preserve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.
PROBATION/PAROLE
Parole/Probation Officer Pay Grade - Parole and Probation officers will move to a new pay grade under the Governor's budget. The Governor expects this to help with officer retention, which has been a problem. It may do so, but one of the problems in filling positions has been the policy to slowly transfer prison employees into probation positions. In this economy, many of the empty positions could have been readily filled with excellent young graduates of local universities.
DATA SYSTEMS and DNA
CJLEADS - $9.5 million - After many years of talking about how to best develop an integrated criminal justice data system, it appears that the state is finally on track with the help of SAS Institute. The early reports of this system are excellent and should be helpful to every agency working in the criminal justice system.
Felony Arrestee - DNA - $700,000 - The Governor wants felony arrestees to have DNA testing. There's way too many important budget needs this year to move ahead on this one.
Medicaid Fraud Team - $756,000 and 34 positions - There have been incidents of medicaid fraud and if these funds are appropriated, we hope they will generate significant savings.
JUVENILES
Samarkand Youth Detention Center - $3.5 million and 62 positions - After an original expectation of closing Samarkand, the Governor's budget keeps it open.
PRISONS
New DOC Positions - The DOC will add 749 new positions to a total of 21,210 positions. Most of these will most likely go to new prisons that will be opening.
Central Prison Hospital and Women's Mental Health Facility - $11.2 mil - A new much-needed women's mental health and Central Prison hospital and mental health facility are coming on line.
VICTIMS
NC Victim's Assistance Network - $27,000 - Like many important community-based organizations, NC VAN took cuts in 2009-2011. This restores those cuts.
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