Statewide misdemeanant confinement program capacity projection : fy . . . [2020-2024]

Sentencing and POLICY ADVISORY NORTH CARO LI NA COMMISSION SMCP Capacity Projections: Fiscal Year 2020 to Fiscal Year 2024 Introduction In 2011, the General Assembly created the Statewide Misdemeanant Confinement Program (SMCP) as part of the Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA).12The SMCP provides State funding to house misdemeanants serving sentences of more than 90 days and all impaired driving sentences (regardless of length)2 in local jails. Every county is required to send eligible misdemeanants to the SMCP but becoming a "receiving county" is voluntary; counties not volunteering beds are referred to as "sending only" or "sending" counties. The creation of this program allowed the State to move misdemeanants from the state prison system to the local jails. However, if the SMCP lacks capacity, additional sentenced misdemeanants may be transferred to a state prison.3 This dynamic raises the possibility that misdemeanants returning to prison could place an additional burden on the prison system. For planning and budgetary purposes, policymakers need to know how many beds are and will be available in the SMCP. North Carolina General Statutes § 164-51 requires the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission (Sentencing Commission), with the assistance of the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association (Sheriffs' Association) to annually develop projections of available bed space in the SMCP for the next five fiscal years. The SMCP capacity projections were developed using data from the NC Sheriffs' Association monthly reports on SMCP capacity, population, and participating counties, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) jail project information, and information from architectural firms and jails building additions or new facilities. Historical SMCP Capacity and Average Monthly Population Historical SMCP capacity data are a key component for producing the five-year SMCP capacity projections, in particular, the net change in capacity overtime. Figure 1 shows the total SMCP capacity and the average monthly population beginning in July 2013. The most notable increase in population occurred in FY 2015 due to legislative changes that expanded the eligible population for the program. At the end of FY 2019, the SMCP capacity was 1,459. This is a 17% decrease since the end of FY 2018 and a 20% decline since the end of FY 2015. The SMCP monthly average population has increased 10% since FY 2015 but decreased 4% in the last year. Since the inception of the program, the capacity has always been greater than the SMCP inmate population. However, due to the trend in declining capacity and the overall increase in population, the gap between the available capacity and the average monthly population has narrowed. 1 N.C. Session Law (hereinafter S.L.) 2011-192, s. 7. 2 N.C. Gen. Stat. (hereinafter G.S.) 148-32. 1(b2) (2017). 3 G.S. 148-32. 1(b4).