Improper Equipment Fee Is Punitive, Must Go to Schools

The Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program took a hit this week in the court of appeals. In Richmond County Board of Education v. Cowell, about half of the money that comes into the program fund—the $50 fee for anyone found responsible for an improper equipment violation—was deemed to be punitive. Under the North Carolina Constitution, the money must therefore go to the public schools. First, a little bit of background on the Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program (SMCP). The SMCP was created in 2011 as part of the Justice Reinvestment Act. Noting that North Carolina was unusual in the number of misdemeanants housed in its prisons, the drafters of that legislation decided to transfer most  misdemeanants from prison to the local jails. To avoid making the transfer an unfunded mandate on the counties, the drafters hatched a plan through which counties with available jail beds could volunteer to house misdemeanants and receive compensation for doing so. That plan was the SMCP. I described the original structure of the SMCP here and here. The Program was expanded in 2014 as described here. Under the current framework, all misdemeanor active sentences in excess of 90 days and all active DWI sentences regardless of length must be served in the SMCP. The sentencing judge must commit an eligible defendant to the Program; the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association then finds space for the defendant in one of the 56 counties that have volunteered bed space to the Program. N.C. Sheriffs' Assoc., Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program Monthly Status Report (July [...]