House budget proposal: Justice and Public Safety cuts

Proposed cuts to the six major areas of state government were released tonight. I'm posting my notes as I look through them.

Posted 3:50 a.m. Apr 13, 2011 — Updated 3:58 a.m. Apr 13, 2011

Laura Leslie

Proposed cuts to the six major areas of state government were released tonight. I'm posting my notes as I look through them. These are NOT an exhaustive list - just what caught my eye going through them the first time.

The Justice and Public Safety proposal represents a cut of about 5.7% from the continuation budget, but that's with the addition of $58 million from new court fees. Without those new fees, the cut would be about 8.3%.

The House proposal would merge the Departments of Corrections, Juvenile Justice, and Crime Control and Public Safety, as suggested by the governor, so it's a bit harder to calculate year-to-year cuts here than in other subcommittees. But here's the highlights:

Eliminates funding for Sentencing Services
Cuts 117 District Attorney support staff positions, 19 magistrate jobs, and 235 vacant positions in Corrections.
Shifts inmate costs to Medicaid wherever possible
Adds $58M in increased court fees (see PDF p. 19 for details)
Outsources electronic monitoring of offenders
Eliminates prison chaplains, to be replaced by volunteers
Shifts some emergency management positions to receipts
Studies in-home monitoring as alternative to juvenile detention
Closes at least one prison, and also allows the lease or sale of closed prisons to private or non-profit groups
Reorganizes state capitol police, cutting 40 positions and transferring its powers to the SBI
Cuts funding for domestic violence support services to women and children
Eliminates road crews and associated supervisory officers
Closes Swanannoa and Samarkand Youth Development Centers
Cuts 40 vacant positions in the Dept of Justice, eliminates 22 more, and shifts another 22 to receipt funding
Eliminates the NC Legal Education Assistance Foundation