Press Releases

Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order No. 145 today, forming the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. The task force will recommend solutions to stop discriminatory law enforcement and criminal justice practices, and hold public safety officers accountable.

The Division of Prisons has announced the appointment of John Coleman as the director of Correction Enterprises. Coleman is a 29-year veteran of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and has been the chief of Ohio Penal Industries since 2018.

Today, Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 143. to addresses the social, environmental, economic, and health disparities in communities of color

An additional 31 asymptomatic offenders at Caswell Correctional Center have tested positive for COVID-19, as part of a mass testing operation conducted on Friday by the Division of Prisons.

Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks has named Paul Sherwin to be the new director of Private Protective Services. Sherwin has been serving as that agency’s deputy director since last year. 

The N.C. Department of Public Safety today announced it will extend until July 31 an initiative that provides voluntary COVID-19 testing to employees in its Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (ACJJ).

To protect staff and offenders, Division of Prisons officials today initiated the testing of all 420 offenders at Caswell Correctional Center, as well as continuing to provide testing access and to encourage staff to be tested.

The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Jennifer Walsh as warden of the Columbus Correctional Institution in Whiteville. She had served as associate warden for custody and operations at the prison since 2010.

Yesterday, state and local officials shut down two illegal bars in Greensboro resulting in arrests, charges and seizures. 

A minimum custody offender who escaped yesterday from Wake Correctional Center was caught today in the act of trying to steal a car, according to the Chapel Hill Police Department.