Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2002
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Author: John Hinton
Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its daily 
home delivery circulation area.

CUTS IN COURT PROGRAMS MEAN BIGGER LOAD, OFFICIALS SAY

$11 Million In Reductions Would Increase Number Of Inmates, State Warned

The proposed $11 million in state budget cuts to court programs will likely 
increase the caseload for prosecutors and the number of offenders who are 
sent to North Carolina prisons, officials said yesterday.

Gov. Mike Easley and court officials have proposed to eliminate state money 
to the sentencing-services program, drug-treatment courts and 
dispute-settlement centers - services that, supporters say, save money by 
reducing the numbers of people sentenced to prison.

State officials are trying to deal with a projected deficit of $1.6 billion 
in the state budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year.

The N.C. Senate, which is expected to consider the state budget this week, 
has proposed cutting $10.5 million in a spending plan that restores some 
money to the sentencing-services program. The plan, however, would 
eliminate 32 jobs in district attorney's offices in North Carolina, 
including seven assistant district attorney positions.

Senate leaders must balance core services of the judicial system with 
programs such as sentencing services when they decide which services will 
be reduced or eliminated, said Stevens Clarke, a retired member of the 
Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Sometimes you can be penny-wise and pound-foolish," Clarke said. "These 
are times when I would hate to be a legislator."

If the General Assembly approves the cuts, then essential court services 
will be affected, said Greg Stahl, a spokesman for the N.C. Administrative 
Office of the Courts.

"There could be some effect on how fast cases move through the system," 
Stahl said. "It could increase the backlog, which might mean having to sit 
in court an hour longer for a traffic ticket."

Legislators are considering allocating money to provide 3,000 prison beds 
if more offenders are sentenced to prison in the wake of additional cuts, 
Stahl said.

Others see more dire circumstances if the programs are reduced or eliminated.

"With an increase in crime, now is the time to bolster - not cut - 
prosecutors' resources and services for safeguarding the public and 
assisting crime victims," said Ken Honeycutt, the president of the N.C. 
Conference of District Attorneys. "These cuts are unthinkable."

Easley and court officials have proposed to cut $1.6 million in financing 
to 27 community dispute-settlement centers in North Carolina, including the 
Mediation Services of Forsyth County.

If the program is cut, prosecutors in most counties will handle more 
misdemeanor cases, increasing the court-system's backlog, said Emery Rann, 
the local program's director.

"You could see a gridlock," Rann said. "Young people will be cut out of the 
program. It will be crippled."

The program provides volunteer mediators who help people resolve their 
disputes out of court. It also handles cases such as disputes between 
landlords and tenants, consumers and merchants, and small claims over money 
and personal property. If the program loses its state money, Rann said he 
would seek money from private foundations and federal grants.

Local supporters, including William Reingold, the chief district-court 
judge in Forsyth County, have sent letters to Easley and state legislators 
in an effort to save the program.

Sally Poteat, the executive director of Repay Inc., said that if state 
money for the sentencing-services program is eliminated, then more 
offenders will be sentenced to prison. Repay Inc. is a nonprofit 
organization that operates the program in Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and 
Yadkin counties.

Easley and court officials have proposed cutting the program's $5.84 
million allocation. The program provides judges with sentencing 
alternatives for criminal defendants. Judges often decide to send offenders 
to these community-based programs instead of prison.

"Legislators don't want to gut these programs," Poteat said. "But it is a 
tough budget year."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens