A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to direct the Departments of Correction and justice to study the establishment of a north carolina correctional and probation officer education and training standards commission.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The North Carolina Department of Correction and the North Carolina Department of Justice shall study all of the following:
(1)	Issues that impede the timely certification of correctional officers and probation/parole officers and ways to expedite the certification process.
(2)	The current minimum education and training requirements for correctional and probation/parole officers and whether those requirements are necessary and appropriate for certified employees of the Department of Correction.
(3)	Inconsistencies between rules promulgated by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and applicable State and federal laws, and ways to resolve those inconsistencies.
(4)	The current process of certifying criminal justice training schools and programs or courses of instruction and whether that process could be expedited.
(5)	Ways to improve communication and cooperation between the Criminal Justice Standards Division and the Department of Correction regarding the employment, education, training, and retention of correctional officers and probation/parole officers.
(6)	Ways to expedite and enhance the technical assistance the Criminal Justice Standards Division provides to the Department of Correction pursuant to Chapter 17C of the General Statutes.
(7)	The feasibility and advisability of establishing a separate training and standards commission for State correctional officers and probation/parole officers.
SECTION 2.  The Department of Correction and the Department of Justice shall report their findings and recommendations no later than April 1, 2010, to the Chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Justice and Public Safety and the Joint Legislative Corrections, Crime Control, and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2009.