North Carolina Department of Correction news release

State Criminal Sentencing Laws Rewarded with Federal Prison Construction Funds

October 17, 1997

Raleigh- Gov. Jim Hunt announced today that the Department of Correction was awarded $13 million in prison construction money by the U.S. Justice Department for its Truth-in-Sentencing initiatives.

The grant money follows a December award by the Justice Dept. of $11 million and comes on the heels of a $100,000 grant from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the Ford Foundation also for North Carolina's implementation of Structured Sentencing.

The most recent grant is part of the 1997 Violent Offender and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grant Program. the money will be used to build a super-max facility at Central prison and two other close-custody prisons.

"North Carolina has been getting some well-deserved recognition for its work in the criminal justice field," Correction Secretary Mack Jarvis said. "Thanks to the vision of Gov. Jim Hunt and the General Assembly, this state is known around the country now as one of the most progressive in the country when it comes to penal reform."

North Carolina was one of 25 states eligible to receive grants from the Justice Department. As part of the criteria, violent offenders are serving more time in North Carolina prisons and they are serving the entire sentence imposed by the judge. This concept, called Truth-in Sentencing, was part of the state's Structured Sentencing Act which took effect Oct. 1, 1994.