164-42.1. Policy recommendations.

(a) Using the studies of the Special Committee on Prisons, the Governor's Crime Commission, and other analyses, including testimony from representatives of the bodies that conducted the analyses, the Commission shall:

(1) Determine the long-range needs of the criminal justice and corrections systems and recommend policy priorities for those systems;

(2) Determine the long-range information needs of the criminal justice and corrections systems and acquire that information as it becomes available;

(3) Identify critical problems in the criminal justice and corrections systems and recommend strategies to solve those problems;

(4) Assess the cost-effectiveness of the use of State and local funds in the criminal justice and corrections systems;

(5) Recommend the goals, priorities, and standards for the allocation of criminal justice and corrections funds;

(6) Recommend means to improve the deterrent and rehabilitative capabilities of the criminal justice and corrections systems;

(7) Propose plans, programs, and legislation for improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice and corrections systems;

(8) Determine the sentencing structures for parole decisions;

(9) Examine the impact of mandatory sentence lengths as opposed to the deterrent effect of minimum mandatory terms of imprisonment;

(10) Examine good time and gain time practices;

(11) Study the value of presentence reports;

(12) Consider the rehabilitative potential of the offender and the appropriate rehabilitative placement;

(13) Examine the impact of imprisonment on families of offenders;

(14) Examine the impact of imprisonment on the ability of the offender to make restitution;

(15) Study the need for an amendment to Article XI, Section 1 of the State Constitution to include restitution, restraints on liberty, work programs, or other punishments to the list of punishments allowed under that section; and

(16) Study the costs and consequences of criminal behavior in North Carolina and consider the value of preventing crimes by using incarceration to deter both prospective criminals and convicted criminals from future crimes.

(b) Using the studies and analyses available, including testimony from representatives of the bodies that conducted the analyses, the Commission shall:

(1) Determine the long-range needs of the juvenile justice system and recommend policy priorities for that system;

(2) Determine the long-range information needs of the juvenile justice system and acquire that information as it becomes available;

(3) Identify critical problems in the juvenile justice system and recommend strategies to solve those problems;

(4) Assess the cost-effectiveness of the use of State and local funds in the juvenile justice system; and

(5) Recommend the goals, priorities, and standards for the allocation of juvenile justice funds.