Prison official apologizes for 'confusion' over early release lawsuit settlement

Lawmakers were told only nonviolent offenders would get early release when, in fact, violent offenders will too.

Prison officials said they meant to say no violent offenders will get out early through one early release program. They will through two others, and together those programs will likely involve more inmates, Prisons Commissioner Todd Ishee told lawmakers Tuesday during this second, hour-and-a-half-long questioning on the settlement.

“I wish to issue an apology," Ishee told committee members. "I think, when we left last week, there was some confusion."

The settlement has guard rails on release, though. Everyone involved will already have a release date in 2021, meaning they would have gotten out this year regardless. The 3,500 early releases will be spaced out over as much as six months. Those releases will be on top of the 1,500 to 1,700 regular releases the system does each month as inmates, both violent and nonviolent, finish their sentences.

The average sentence in the state prison system, Ishee said, is about 25 months, and roughly 70 percent of the prison population has a history of violence.

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It cannot, said Orlando Rodriguez, a lawyer with the Attorney General's Office who worked on this case. The settlement terms will close out the case, and its terms are locked in, he said. Ishee said settlement talks lasted months, going back to late last summer.

As for the confusion over violent prisoner releases, the system will use three methods to release prisoners under the settlement. One, called Extended Limits of Confinement, won't involve violent offenders.

Others will will get discretionary credits – time snipped off their sentences for various reasons. That's a long-standing program, accelerated by the settlement, and it will include some violent offenders.

The third pathway for early release runs through the state's parole system and will also include people now behind bars for a violent crime.

All early releases will have some form of supervision after release, officials have said. Ishee said everyone released early will undergo "extensive review" on risk and readiness. He said he didn't have a predicted breakdown Tuesday on violent versus nonviolent early releases.

Rodriguez said this language doesn't demand a "particular outcome," so after the process, the system might still be above the 10 percent threshold.

The process kicks in around October, and then only if North Carolina remains in a state of emergency, Ishee said. If the federal government or governor rescind the current state of emergency or if 12 months pass, this part of the settlement is moot, according to agreement.

“I’m very hopeful that we don’t even get to that point," Ishee said Tuesday.