Next Steering Committee Meeting:
Tuesday, June 11, 2024 (Wake County)
2023-2024 Justice and Pubic Safety Legislative Goals
Seek legislation to increase the amount paid to county jails by the state to the full cost reimbursement for housing sentenced inmates.
Support legislation that promotes recruitment and retention of both first responders and detention officers in jails, including but not limited to workforce development, pay scale adjustments and/ or studies, and appropriate levels of training and certification standards for these increasingly hard to staff positions.
Support legislation to streamline and expedite the state response to emergency recovery.
Support legislation treating all misdemeanor charges uniformly by removing statutorily imposed compliance defenses to local ordinance violations.
Support efforts to provide greater flexibility to local governments in expenditures of 911 surcharge funds and ensure adequate funding for next-gen technology.
NCACC Justice & Public Safety Guiding Principles
The statewide judicial system and public safety services, including effective ancillary services and programs, should be adequately funded, and staffed in order to provide an efficient environment for judicial and public safety processes, to instill public confidence and to protect our communities.
Adjudication should be swift, in order to minimize overcrowding in county jails.
Bonds should be reasonable, and effective pre-trial screening and population management efforts should be encouraged.
Offenders should be held accountable to society and required to pay a proportionate share of the debt resulting from their offenses, including debt to counties, either through fees based on ability to pay and/or through community service.
Effective prevention programs, alternatives to incarcerations and other related services should be supported in an effort to help reduce recidivism rates and lower county jail costs.
Steering Committee Membership List
The following committee appointments were confirmed the week of October 23. Appointments for the 2023-2024 committees will end July 31, 2024. Committee membership is limited to county commissioners, but county staff and affiliates are welcome to join meetings as non-member attendees. All steering committees will meet virtually in November. Check the NCACC Calendar for more details.
- 2023-2024 Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee
Justice and Public Safety
Commissioners Randy Thompson (Brunswick; Steering Committee Chair), Sean Alston (Vance), Jonathan Barfield Jr. (New Hanover), Michael Benfield (Rutherford), Ed Booth (Beaufort), Wayne Branch (Duplin), Tony Braswell (Johnston), Pauline Campbell (Robeson), Larry Chapman (Transylvania), Burt Connolly (Iredell), Kevin Gordon (Cleveland), Patrick Harris (Johnston), Wendy Jacobs (Durham), Brandon King (Stanly), Don Mial (Wake), Martin Moore (Buncombe), Ross Munro (Camden), Ronald Roberson (Bertie), Walter Scott (Onslow), James Shores (Davidson), Derrick Sims (Person), Lewis Weatherspoon (Harnett)