Major changes in Probation system are approved in North Carolina

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The NC General Assembly gave final approval to overhaul the probation system following the murder of University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson, Cherokee County serial killer Patrick Burris who killed five people in the Gaffney S.C. area and was on parole from North Carolina, and North Carolina parolee Jerry Case who is accused of kidnapping a whole family and shooting a Cherokee County deputy before he was arrested.

The NC Senate agreed unanimously to NC House changes to the bill and sent the measure to Gov. Beverly Perdue, who had requested these changes earlier this year. The bill would allow probation officers access to an offender's juvenile records without a court order and allow warrantless searches as a regular condition of probation. The two men charged with Eve Carson's killing were also on probation at the time of her death. Lawmakers previously approved legislation allowing low risk persons on probation to go unsupervised, which lessened the caseload of probation officers. The budget bill will also include more money for probation officer salaries.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said changes to how North Carolina tracks probationers and parolees will show the state means business with keeping them out of further trouble.

Perdue signed into law Thursday a bill that allows probation officers access to an offender's juvenile records without a court order and permits warrantless searches as a regular condition of probation. The Legislature gave the bill final approval late Wednesday.

http://www.bluenc.com/major-changes-probation-system-are-approved-north-carolina