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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 6, 2007 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. E: <br />SUBJECT: Acceptance of Electronic Monitoring Initiative Grant Award and Authorization of <br />Deputy Sheriff Position <br />DEPARTMENT: Budget PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass - (919) 644-3050 <br />Grant Award - Electronic Monitoring Captain Charles Blackwood - (919) 644-3050 <br />Initiative <br />PURPOSE: To accept Law Enforcement Electronic Monitory grant funds awarded to the <br />Sheriff's Department, and authorize one full-time equivalent Deputy Sheriff position, <br />effective February 7, 2007, for one-year contingent upon continuation of grant funding in <br />year two. <br />BACKGROUND: In 2004 as the result of work of a House Select Committee on <br />Domestic Violence, the, General Assembly enacted House Bill 1354 to strengthen <br />domestic violence laws in North Carolina. Part XI of this Bill, Domestic Violator Offense <br />Tracking, has a goal of saving domestic violence victims, including their children, from <br />continued harm or death by accounting for offender whereabouts during the pre-trial <br />release period. At the time of the Bill's passage, twenty-six percent of domestic violence <br />homicides in North Carolina occurred while the offender was free on bond. <br />As a condition of an offender's pre-trial release, the Domestic Violence Protective Order <br />will require that the offender wear an ankle bracelet that electronically monitors his or her <br />location, via a global positioning system (GPS), twenty-four hours a day, seven days per <br />week. During the pre-trial release period, should the offender attempt to access "off-limit" <br />areas such as the victim's home, workplace or school, law enforcement officers would be <br />immediately notified and subsequently arrest the offender before he/she had an <br />opportunity to harm or kill the victim. Law enforcement and judicial officials have found <br />the use of this technology to be especially beneficial in cases where the pre-trial period is <br />marked by consistent violations of protection orders. Electronic monitoring is an added <br />measure of security, accountability, and protection for victims. <br />As a pilot project, the State's Department of Crime Control and Public Safety awarded a <br />federal pass-through grant to Pitt County in 2005 to initiate this program in that county. <br />This year, the State awarded additional federal pass-through Law Enforcement Electronic