Under the Dome: NC prisons reduce vacancy rate; prosecutors want eCourts pause

Kyle Ingram
·3 min read

Hello and welcome to your Under the Dome newsletter. Kyle Ingram here.

North Carolina lawmakers heard two presentations about the state of the judicial system on Thursday.

One was a relatively positive look into the operations of the Department of Adult Correction, which has reduced staff vacancies in jails and prisons.

The other presentation was about eCourts, the state’s new digital court filing system that has experienced a variety of issues as it rolls out statewide.

Prison staff vacancies, violence are down, agency says

Todd Ishee, the secretary of DAC, told the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety that the department had made significant progress toward its goals of recruiting staff and strengthening the safety and security of prisons.

Vacancy rates among correctional officers and probation officers have trended down in recent months as the department held 620 hiring events in 2023.

In an effort to retain current employees, Ishee said DAC invested $84 million in salary increases last year.

Violent incidents are also down, according to the agency’s data, with assaults on staff resulting in injuries having dropped by 69% since before the pandemic. Assaults between offenders have also decreased since 2019, the data says.

Going forward, Ishee said the department will need help addressing a growing prison population and aging inhabitants who need medical care.

Judicial staff share concerns with eCourts

After Ishee’s presentation, lawmakers heard from clerks, judges and lawyers about the state of eCourts, which is currently active in 17 counties and set to expand soon.

Most speakers had issues with the system’s rollout, saying that it had led to massive delays in court proceedings, caused confusion and even made it easier to find contact information for victims of domestic violence.

Chuck Spahos, general counsel for the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, said the state’s DAs want a pause to the expansion until these problems are resolved.

Ryan Boyce, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said his agency and Chief Justice Paul Newby oppose a delay.

“Slowing down that increase of public access to justice, I think is harmful,” he said.

Lawmakers on the committee shared some of the speakers’ concerns, with one senator questioning whether the state could keep the system but end its relationship with the developer, Tyler Technologies.

For more on the discussion around eCourts, read the full story from me, Ryan Oehrli and Tyler Dukes here.

That’s all for today. Check your inbox on Sunday for more #ncpol news.

  • You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at newsobserver.com/newsletters. Want your friends to get our email, too? Forward them this newsletter so they can sign up here.

  • We want to know what you would like to see in the Under the Dome newsletter. Do you like highlights from the legislature? Political analysis? Do you have a question you’d like The News & Observer team to answer? Tell us here. You can also email us at dome@newsobserver.com

  • Don’t forget to follow our tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast for more developments.