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."