CRIMINAL COURT FILINGS CONTINUE TO INCREASE

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has called Watauga County "ground
zero" in the statewide war on methamphetamine. Watauga County Sheriff Mark
Shook and his investigators and deputies have led the way in busting more
than 30 (of a statewide total of 130) of the clandestine labs manufacturing
the lethal, toxic drug.

The Watauga County jail was recently found to be "out of compliance" in an
inspection of the facility. The reason, according to Shook, is the
overcrowding of the facility based on arrests and the failure of a number of
the inmates to make bail.

While waiting for the construction of the new jail with greater capacity,
the question was asked, has crime gone up that much in Watauga County?

The answer, in one word, is - maybe. The crime may have always been around.

At a minimum the number of arrests and charges has gone up significantly.

Watauga County Clerk of Court Glenn Hodges said that the five-year average
for criminal court cases filed in Watauga County Superior Court (the court
with jurisdiction over felonies) is 635 cases. The actual number of cases
filed in the 2002-2003 fiscal was 861, a 226 case increase.

This fiscal year, a little more than three months old, looks even worse.

Hodges said that in the first three months 342 cases had been filed in
Superior criminal Court and, if that rate continues, Hodges projects more
than 1,368 cases in 2003/2004, an increase of 115.4 percent over the five
year average.

Hodges said that in the District Court 4,243 motor vehicle cases were filed
last year and the five-year average is 3,869. Non-motor vehicle cases went
up nominally over the five-year average of 2,963 to 3,044.

Hodges said that Superior Court hears all felony cases plus those cases
appealed from the District Court. All misdemeanors that require a court
appearance are heard in District Court, this includes most traffic cases.

A summary of all cases filed in the first three months, Hodges said, showed
a 28.4 percent increase in the number of cases filed in Watauga County over
last year. Criminal cases have gone up 33 percent and juvenile filings have
increased 25 percent.

"If the number of filings for the first three months continues for the
entire year this county will exceed 19,000 total cases for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 2004," Hodges said.

He included in that figure roughly 2,100 civil cases filed every year.
Hodges said that in 1987/1988 the clerk's office handled 9,336 cases with 10
employees with an average case load of 933 cases per employee. The clerk's
office now has 11 employees and if Hodges projection of 19,000 cases comes
true, each employee will have an average case load of more than 1,700 cases.