North Carolina § 14-208 - 40. Establishment of program; creation of guidelines; duties.

§ 14-208. 40. Establishment of program; creation of guidelines; duties.

The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety shall establish a sex offender monitoring program that uses a continuous satellite-based monitoring system and shall create guidelines to govern the program. The program shall be designed to monitor three categories of offenders as follows: Any offender who is convicted of a reportable conviction as defined by G.S. 14-208.6(4) and who is required to register under Part 3 of Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes because the defendant is classified as a sexually violent predator, is a recidivist, or was convicted of an aggravated offense as those terms are defined in G.S. 14-208.6. Any offender who satisfies all of the following criteria: (i) is convicted of a reportable conviction as defined by G.S. 14-208.6(4), (ii) is required to register under Part 2 of Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, (iii) has committed an offense involving the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor, and (iv) based on the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice's risk assessment program requires the highest possible level of supervision and monitoring. Any offender who is convicted of G.S. 14-27.23 or G.S. 14-27.28, who shall be enrolled in the satellite-based monitoring program for the offender's natural life upon termination of the offender's active punishment. In developing the guidelines for the program, the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice shall require that any offender who is enrolled in the satellite-based program submit to an active continuous satellite-based monitoring program, unless an active program will not work as provided by this section. If the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice determines that an active program will not work as provided by this section, then the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice shall require that the defendant submit to a passive continuous satellite-based program that works within the technological or geographical limitations. The satellite-based monitoring program shall use a system that provides all of the following: Time-correlated and continuous tracking of the geographic location of the subject using a global positioning system based on satellite and other location tracking technology. Reporting of subject's violations of prescriptive and proscriptive schedule or location requirements. Frequency of reporting may range from once a day (passive) to near real-time (active). The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice may contract with a single vendor for the hardware services needed to monitor subject offenders and correlate their movements to reported crime incidents. The contract may provide for services necessary to implement or facilitate any of the provisions of this Part. History (2006-247, s. 15(a); 2007-213, s. 1; 2007-484, s. 42(b); 2008-117, s. 16; 2011-145, s. 19.1(h); 2015-181, s. 40; 2017-186, s. 2(t).) Editor's Note. - This section was enacted as G.S. 14-208.33 by Session Laws 2006-247, s. 15(a), and was recodified as this section at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2006-247, s. 1(a), provides: "This act shall be known as 'An Act To Protect North Carolina's Children/Sex Offender Law Changes.'" Session Laws 2006-247, s. 15(j), provides: "The Department of Correction [now the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety] shall have the program enacted by subsection (a) of this section established by January 1, 2007." Session Laws 2006-247, s. 15(l), provides: "Unless otherwise provided in the section, this section is effective when it becomes law [August 16, 2006] and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. This section also applies to any person sentenced to intermediate punishment on or after that date and to any person released from prison by parole or post-release supervision on or after that date. This section also applies to any person who completes his or her sentence on or after the effective date of this section who is not on post-release supervision or parole. However, the requirement to enroll in a satellite-based program is not mandatory until January 1, 2007, when the program is established." Session Laws 2006-247, s. 16, provides: "The Department of Correction [now the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety] shall either issue an RFP prior to signing a contract, or with prior approval by the State Chief Information Officer or his designee, enter into a contract through an approved contracting alliance or consortium for a passive and active Global Positioning System. The system shall be for use as an intermediate sanction and to help supervise certain sex offenders who are placed on probation, parole, or post-release supervision. If an RFP is issued, the contract shall be awarded by October 1, 2006 for contract terms to begin January 1, 2007. The Department of Correction [now the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety] shall report by November 1, 2006 to the Chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Justice and Public Safety on the details of the awarded contract." Session Laws 2006-247, s. 17, provides: "No later than January 1, 2007, the Department of Correction [now the Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety] shall develop a graduated risk assessment program that identifies, assesses, and closely monitors a high-risk sex offender who, while not classified as a sexually violent predator, a recidivist, or convicted of an aggravated offense as those terms are defined in G.S. 14-208.6 , may still require extraordinary supervision and may be placed on probation, parole, or post-release supervision only on the conditions provided in G.S. 15A-1343(b2) or G.S. 15A-1368.4(b1) ." Session Laws 2006-247, s. 21, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2006-247, s. 22, provides, in part: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." Session Laws 2015-181, s. 48, made the amendment to subdivision (a)(3) by Session Laws 2015-181, s. 40, effective December 1, 2015, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date, and further provided that: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2007-213, s. 1, as amended by Session Laws 2007-484, s. 42(b), effective December 1, 2007, deleted the last sentence in subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2), regarding lifetime monitoring. Session Laws 2008-117, s. 16, effective December 1, 2008, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date, in subsection (a), substituted "three categories" for "two categories"; and added subdivision (a)(3). Session Laws 2011-145, s. 19.1(h), effective January 1, 2012, substituted "Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety" for "Department of Correction" and "Division of Adult Correction" for "Department." Session Laws 2015-181, s. 40, effective December 1, 2015, substituted "G.S. 14-27.23 or G.S. 14-27.28 " for "G.S. 14-27.2A or G.S. 14-27.4 A" in subdivision (a)(3). For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2017-186, s. 2(t), effective December 1, 2017, inserted "and Juvenile Justice" and similar language throughout the section. Legal Periodicals. - For article, "The Least of These: A Constitutional Challenge to North Carolina's Sexual Offender Laws and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-208.18," see 33 N.C. Cent. L. Rev. 53 (2010).