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BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE GOVERNOR

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR 20301 MAIL SERVICE CENTER • RALEIGH, NC 27699-0301

April 21, 2010 Contact: Chrissy Pearson Office: (919) 733-5612

Gov. Perdue and State Leaders Announce Justice Reinvestment Approach to Increase Public Safety and Reduce Recidivism and Corrections Costs RALEIGH—Gov. Bev Perdue, Chief Justice Sarah Parker and state House and Senate leaders announced today a bipartisan effort across state government to develop a data-driven approach to public safety that will reduce spending on corrections and reinvest the savings in ways that prevent recidivism and hold offenders accountable for their actions. State leaders announced their partnership with the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, the Pew Center on the States, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), to analyze North Carolina’s criminal justice system using a “justice reinvestment” approach. State leaders worked together to secure this public-private assistance and financial support. “By using a data-driven approach, we will get the information we need to ensure that every taxpayer dollar spent on corrections and other public safety measures has the greatest impact on crime,” said Gov. Perdue. “It will also allow us to reinvest savings to reduce recidivism, in turn, reducing the additional prisons that may be needed over the next ten years.” Between 2000 and 2008, the state’s prison population increased by 25 percent from 31,581 to 39,326 inmates. During that same eight years, the Department of Correction budget increased from $918 million to more than $1.31 billion. The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission projects that if existing policies remain unchanged, the prison population will increase by another 25 percent between 2009 and 2019 and the state will need an additional 8,500 prison beds. "Our courts across the state are impacted by recidivism every day as individuals return to court charged with new crimes,” said Chief Justice Sarah Parker. “Regrettably, many of these repeat


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