Justice Reinvestment Act Resource Page

The Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA) of 2011 made major changes to the law of sentencing and corrections in North Carolina—the biggest changes since the enactment of Structured Sentencing in 1994. This page collects JRA resources prepared by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Background.  Justice Reinvestment is a national-level project of the nonprofit Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center. The goal of the project is to reduce state spending on corrections and to reinvest the savings in community programs that decrease crime and strengthen neighborhoods. The group, which is active in about 15 states, came to North Carolina in 2009. CSG analysts studied the North Carolina criminal justice system and made several key findings including:

  • Probation revocations account for more than half of new prison admissions.
  • Too many inmates leave the prison system with no community supervision following their period of incarceration.
  • Community supervision resources are not allocated in an evidence-based way.
  • North Carolina is unsual in the number of misdemeanants housed in its prison system.

A complete review of the CSG findings is available in the group's Analysis and Policy Framework to Reduce Spending on Corrections and Reinvest in Strategies to Increase Public Safety.


Legislation. In response to those findings and others, the General Assembly passed the Justice Reinvestment Act of 2011. Links to the JRA and several related bills are available below.

Justice Reinvestment Act, S.L. 2011-192 (HB 642)
Technical Corrections Act , S.L. 2011-412 (HB 335)
Changes to Post-Release Supervision for Sex Offenders, S.L. 2011-307 (SB 684)
Other changes to probation (including repeal of tolling), S.L. 2011-62 (HB 270)


Summary chart. The chart available here summarizes the key provisions of the JRA.


Webinar. A free two-hour webinar provides an overview of the new law, including practical exercises. The webinar was prepared for and presented in collaboration with Community Corrections (probation) personnel from the N.C. Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction. At present the webinar is not being offered for CLE/CJE credit.


Sentencing grids. The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission prepares sentencing grids based on the tables of permissible punishments set out in Structured Sentencing. The latest version of the grid (and prior versions, which are necessary for offenses committed before December 1, 2011) are available here.


North Carolina Criminal Law Blog posts related to Justice Reinvestment. The following aspects of the JRA and related legislative changes have been explored in posts on the North Carolina Criminal Law Blog:


Overview of the law:

Justice Reinvestment Act: An Overview (June 30, 2011)


Changes to front-end sentencing, including the addition of post-release supervision for all felons and the creation of a new early-release program called Advanced Supervised Release:

Changes to Post-Release Supervision on the Way (July 19, 2011)
Changes to Post-Release Supervision for Sex Offenders (July 21, 2011)
Consolidation Across Effective Dates (February 2, 2012)
Advanced Supervised Release (September 22, 2011)
New Table of Maximum Permissible Punishments (July 7, 2011)


Changes related to probation:

Probation Tolling Repealed (May 31, 2011)
Quick Dips (November 3, 2011)
Delegated Authority in Probation Cases (July 14, 2011)
Community Punishment and Intermediate Punishment (October 12, 2011)
Confinement in Response to Violations (CRV) and Limits on Probation Revocation Authority (October 25, 2011)
FAQs About CRV (February 8, 2012)
Electing to Serve a Sentence after Justice Reinvestment (January 18, 2012)


Changes related to how a sentence is served:

Where to Serve a Sentence (October 5, 2011)
Jail Fees (January 4, 2012)
 

Changes to habitual offender statutes, including the creation of a new habitual breaking and entering status offense:

Changes to the Habitual Felon Law (November 10, 2011)
Habitual Breaking and Entering (November 22, 2011)
 

The expansion of drug possession diversions under G.S. 90-96:

The New G.S. 90-96 (November 29, 2011)

 

Contact. School of Government faculty members Jamie Markham and John Rubin can field questions related to Justice Reinvestment.