| Viewing Single Post From: Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, July 3, 2009 | |
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| abb | Jul 3 2009, 04:09 AM |
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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/814038.html Probation officers may get more time to handle big cases By Kevin Kiley kkiley@newsobserver.com Posted: Friday, Jul. 03, 2009 RALEIGH Lawmakers are taking a small weight off the state's overburdened probation system. The House gave final approval Thursday to a bill that lightens probation officers' caseloads by allowing them to move probationers charged only with misdemeanors to unsupervised probation. “We're trying to clear the calendar so these officers can focus more on the cases that are more serious,” said Sen. John Snow, a Democrat from Murphy and the bill's sponsor. The law would apply to low-risk offenders on parole only to ensure that they make court-ordered payments. These probationers do not make up a large percentage of caseloads. Officers would make the decisions about who would be moved. Under unsupervised probation, offenders would still be required to regularly pay fines at the courthouse, but would not be checked in on unless they failed to pay. The law is one of several bills moving through the legislature this session that would alter the probation system. The changes come after the March 2008 death of UNC Student Body President Eve Carson exposed flaws in the state's system. A News & Observer series found that the system, because of too much work and too few employees, lost track of nearly 14,000 convicted criminals. The Department of Correction supported the measure. While a spokesman for the department said the staff isn't sure how big an impact the law will have on caseloads, he said it does offer some improvement. “We really see it as providing officers some relief to focus on more serious offenders,” said George Dudley, spokesman for the department. A 2004 study about how to improve the state's probation system originally proposed the idea, but it wasn't taken up by the legislature until this session. |
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| Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, July 3, 2009 · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers | |
6:20 AM Dec 2
