Contents

Employee Appreciation Week Slated for September

General Assembly Approves Correction Budget

Ed Banks Retires

Everette Retires

DOC Web Page Updated

News Briefs

Recognitions

Employee Appreciation Week Slated for September

Gov. Jim Hunt has proclaimed Sept. 9-13 as State Employees Appreciation Week. Across North Carolina, DOC and other state employees will be honored with luncheons, cookouts, picnics, and awards ceremonies.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank all DOC employees for their dedication and commitment to this department and their respective communities," Correction Secretary Franklin Freeman said. "We're fortunate to have some of the finest employees in state government working with us in DOC." Sixteen correction employees were nominated for the Employee of the Year award.

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General Assembly Approves Correction Budget

More prisons to be built, more probation officers on the street

The 1996 session of the General Assembly appropriated money to fund several new probation officers, planning money for new prison beds and additional inmate work crews. Correction Secretary Franklin Freeman said he was generally well pleased with the budget provisions for the Department of Correction.

"The additional resources approved by state legislators will go a long way towards helping correction employees meet the ever-increasing demands placed upon them," Freeman said. "This department is heading into a new era where results are paramount to excellence. Correction employees are up to the challenge."

The General Assembly adopted many of Gov. Jim Hunt's proposals to reduce the budget such as closing Polk Youth Center, Rockingham and Washington correctional centers, the South Central and Western area offices and the reception center at Southern Correctional Institution.

Funding was approved to purchase modular housing units and to contract for 500 more out-of-state beds. Matching federal funds are expected with the $2.3 million appropriation by the General Assembly for the planning and design of new prisons in Alexander and Scotland counties and one in near Charlotte; expansions at Central Prison, Warren Correctional Institution and the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women; and for a central Department of Correction office building in Raleigh.

Legislators funded three new probation officer positions for closer supervision of sex offenders. Substance abuse services expanded to Hertford County for parolees and probationers under similar programs operating in Warren and Halifax counties. The Women at Risk Program in Buncombe County which serves non-residential treatment services for female probationers was funded. Additional funds were provided for the Summit House in Greensboro, Charlotte and Raleigh which serves female probationers and their children in group homes.

The time period for regular post-release supervision was extended from six to nine months and to five years for sex offenders. In addition, when a parolee has allegedly violated his parole, a preliminary hearing must be held reasonably near the place of the violation or arrest and within seven working days to determine probable cause.

The Joint Legislative Corrections Oversight Committee is charged with developing a plan for conducting a performance audit of the Division of Adult Probation and Parole to include an outline of the issues to be studied. The plan is to be completed by the 1997 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

All Correction employees injured by a deliberate act or while performing supervisory duties may file for salary continuation benefits. Prior to the new law, employees who were not certified by the Criminal Justice Academy were ineligible for salary compensation if injured by a state prisoner.

Gov. Hunt's popular Community Work Program will expand by 714 inmates, bringing the total number of inmates working for governments and local communities to 1,979.

Drug tests for inmates about to be released from prison was approved by legislators as well as tougher sentences for some crimes such as the sale of handguns to minors or assaulting a law enforcement officer.

County jails which held state prisoners convicted and awaiting transfer to the Department of Correction since Jan. 1, 1996 will be reimbursed $14.50 a day through June 30, 1996. The state will pay $40 per day following June 30, 1996.

The Legislature chose Pamlico and Avery/Mitchell counties as the sites for two private prisons to be built by United States Corrections Corporation.

The proposed plan to hot-bunk, or sleep inmates in shifts was not approved.

"Overall, the Department of Correction is in a good position to work more effectively with the funding of new prisons and programs," Freeman said. "We plan to place more emphasis on community corrections now that prison capacity has been appropriately expanded."

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Ed Banks Retires

Last of the original McLeansville group.

Goldsboro - After 35 years of service, Ed Banks, superintendent of Goldsboro Correctional Center, retired July 31.

Banks was among the first group of African-American men hired in the Department of Correction to work at the McLeansville prison in Guilford County in 1961. "Ed Banks' retirement is the passing of an era," Correction Secretary Franklin Freeman said. "None of us will ever know what he had to go through being one of the first black correctional officers in the prison system. He carried himself well throughout his career." Asst. Prisons Director Pete Barnett said Banks embarked on a new experience for himself and the state of North Carolina when he was hired in 1961. "An excellent job was done by the recruiters," Barnett said.

Eastern Geographic Command Manager Lloyd Parker said he worked 25 years with Banks and found him to be a credit to the Department of Correction, Goldsboro Correctional Center and the Eastern Area Office.

Banks was hired as a sergeant of the guard. He held a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education and history from A&T University and had a stint in the U.S. Army. Among the other positions Banks held in the Department of Correction was athletic director and coach at Goldsboro Correctional Center and coordinator of the Committed Youthful Offender Program, the statewide Jaycee Program and the Central Classification Board. He was superintendent of Greene Correctional Center from 1973 to 1975, then moved to Goldsboro Correctional Center where he was superintendent for 20 years.

The Mayor of Goldsboro said Banks was caring of other people and made a difference.

"I've had some happy days throughout my career," Banks said. "I have been blessed beyond any reasonable doubt." Banks said patience, dedication and family support were the reasons for his survival. "My experience has been very good, and I am leaving on a high note."

Five of the first 19 African Americans hired at the McLeansville prison attended Ed Banks' retirement luncheon July 25 at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Officers' Club. Leon Gaither, Robert Reese and Ernest Wiggins (Front row, left to right). Arey Lambeth, Herman Bridges and Ed Banks (Back row, left to right).

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Everette Retires

One of the first 30 probation officers.

"I think I'm the vintage of the last," says Lowell Everette, retiring as the Judicial District Manager in Windsor August 31 after 39 years. After high school, three years in the Navy and earning a degree at East Carolina, Everette launched a career as a North Carolina probation officer.

"Your contact was not so much with the central office in Raleigh as it was with the superior court judge. You got to know judges on a one-to-one basis. When you returned a violator, normally the court went along with you," he said. "For example, we took a person for breaking and entering, a young man 16 or 17 years old who would skip school. I'd go out and pick him up on Friday and put him in jail and let him stay there during the weekend. He'd carry his books with him. Monday morning, I'd let him out."

But Everette said he always cleared his actions with the superior court judge.

"In the beginning, a probation officer was the eyes, the ears and the arm of the superior court judge. The people in the community knew that. They knew if the probation officer carried you back, you were gone."

Revoking an offender and sending him to prison was a matter of finding the judge, talking to the judge in chambers or in court and having the sheriff hold the offender in custody until the necessary papers were completed. Paper work was a minimum then at all levels.

The state's probation system has changed during Everette's years.

"You can see where the department has made a full swing. From 1957 to the mid-60s, probation had a lot of teeth in it. In the 70s and the first of the 80s, you went through a cycle where officers were like social service representatives. You would say," would you come to the office, would you please pay the cost of court," Everette explained. "The theory was you could change behavior through the practices social service agencies used. Being of the old school, I thought differently. If you know you are going to prison, you are going to really, really think about it."

When Everette went to work, officers worked for the state probation commission. The commission was abolished and probation became a part of the Department of Correction.

"I was blessed in that W.H.S. Burgwyn, Jr. came as a district attorney about the same time I began to work. He served as commissioner and later chairman of the N.C. probation commission. He was the district attorney for this area for 30 years," said Everette. "I was very fortunate to have good resident superior court judges. Our present judge is Judge Cy Grant, who is excellent, people's people."

Though relishing the past independence and lack of paperwork, Everette says today's probation officers have improved technology, communications and more opportunity.

"Today you have the opportunity to be a probation officer, chief probation officer, intensive officer, surveillance officer and a variety of steps in the career ladder," he said. "Its a very exciting time. I've remarked to some of my co-workers, that I really hate to leave because there is so much excitement and new life in the department. I wish I were 24 and starting again."

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DOC Web Page Updated

The Department of Correction internet web page sports a new look. The gray pages of the old document that first went on line last year are making way for color photos and charts that help people understand the agency and get the latest information about it.

An online newspaper format will allow the front page to focus on the department's latest efforts. Currently, computer users can find articles and photographs about community work squad projects for the Durham, Goldsboro, Hickory, Marion and Snow Hill school systems.

The 1995 abstract, filled with information about the prisoners, parolees and probationers supervised by the department, is now available online thanks to the Office of Research and Planning. Other webpages describe the operations of the Division of Prisons, Division of Adult Probation and Parole, Correction Enterprises and the Criminal Justice Partnership Program.

The department's address on the internet is http://www.doc.state.nc.us.

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News Briefs

Kernersville - Women Working in Corrections annual workshop is scheduled for Sept. 10. The theme is, Challenges Women Face in Corrections - Evolving into the 21st Century. South Piedmont Area Deputy Administrator Jennifer Langley will be the keynote speaker. Also scheduled during the workshop is a service award presentation.

DOC At The Fair

More than 942,000 people had the chance to talk with Department of Correction officers when they attended fairs in Asheville, Raleigh and Winston-Salem last year. Plans are being made now to have correction displays up again this year at the Mountain State Fair September 4-8; Dixie Classic October 4-13 and State Fair October 18-27. Urge folks to visit, take a look and say howdy.

PERT Team Recognized for Rescuing Elderly Man

Rutherford County - DOC's Prison Emergency Response Team or PERT (first platoon of company C, third battalion) was recently recognized for helping to locate an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's disease. PERT went to the man's home and began a systematic sweep search led by Platoon Leader Wade Hatley and squad leaders David Mitchell and Ronald Hileman. The area had a thick growth of underbrush. PERT searched this area to a creek and then searched in the direction of the flow of the creek. Sgt. Wallace King found an empty cigarette pack believed to belong to the missing man. Officer Duane Rhodes and his bloodhounds from the Western Area Fugitive Squad helped determine a direction of travel. Sgt. Joey Hylemon and officer William Morrow later spotted the missing man and turned him over to the care of paramedics on the scene.

"Four hours ago, I never heard of you people and now I'll never forget you," said Barry Davis, director of Rutherford's Emergency Management Service.

"I believe this activity epitomizes the professionalism, dedication and loyalty to duty exemplified by PERT members statewide," said Charles Stewart, chief of security for the Division of Prisons.

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Recognitions

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