2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 148-70. Management and care of inmates; prison industries; disposition of products of inmate labor.

§ 148‑70.  Management and care of inmates; prison industries; disposition of products of inmate labor.

The State Department of Correction in all contracts for labor shall provide for feeding and clothing the inmates and shall maintain, control and guard the quarters in which the inmates live during the time of the contracts; and the Department shall provide for the guarding and working of such inmates under its sole supervision and control. The Department may make such contracts for the hire of the inmates confined in the State prison as may in its discretion be proper. In accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of Chapter 66 of the General Statutes, the Department may use the labor of inmates confined in the State prison in work on farms and manufacturing, either within or without the State prison. The Department may dispose of the products of the labor of the inmates, either in farming or in manufacturing or in other industry at the State Prison System to any public institution owned, managed, or controlled by the State, or to any county, city or town in this State, or to any federal, state, or local public institution in any other state of the union. Provided however, no manufacturing or other industry shall be established, supervised or controlled by the Department unless specifically approved by the Governor pursuant to G.S. 66‑58(f).

All departments, institutions and agencies of this State which are supported in whole or in part by the State shall give preference to Department of Correction products in purchasing articles, products, and commodities which these departments, institutions, and agencies require and which are manufactured or produced within the State prison system and offered for sale to them by the Department of Correction, and no article or commodity available from the Department of Correction shall be purchased by any such State department, institution, or agency from any other source unless the prison product does not meet the standard specifications and the reasonable requirements of the department, institution, or agency as determined by the Secretary of Administration, or the requisition cannot be complied with because of an insufficient supply of the articles or commodities required. The provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes respecting contracting for the purchase of all supplies, materials and equipment required by the State government or any of its departments, institutions or agencies under competitive bidding shall not apply to articles or commodities available from the Department of Correction, but the Department of Correction shall be required to keep the price of such articles or commodities substantially in accord with that paid by governmental agencies for similar articles and commodities of equivalent quality as determined by the Secretary by reference to competitive bidding as required by law.

In addition, the Secretary of Correction may lease one or more buildings or portions of buildings on the grounds of any State correctional institution or location under Department of Correction control, together with the real estate needed for reasonable access to such buildings, for a term not to exceed 20 years, to a private corporation for the purpose of establishing and operating a factory for the manufacture and processing of products or any other commercial enterprise deemed by the Secretary to provide employment opportunities for inmates in meaningful jobs for wages. A lease entered into pursuant to this section may include provisions for the remodeling or construction of buildings. Each lease shall be approved by the Governor and Council of State and may be entered into only after consultation with the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. Each lease negotiated and concluded pursuant to this section shall include and shall be valid only so long as the lessee adheres to the following provisions:

(1)       All persons employed in the factory or other commercial enterprise operated in or on the leased property, except the lessee's supervisory employee and necessary training personnel, shall be inmates who are approved for such employment by the Secretary or his designee.

(2)       The factory or other commercial enterprise operated in or on the leased property shall observe at all times such practices and procedures regarding security as the lease may specify or as the Secretary may stipulate.

(3)       The factory or other commercial enterprise operated on the leased property shall be deemed a private enterprise and subject to all the laws and lawfully adopted rules of this State governing the operation of similar business enterprises elsewhere, except that the provisions of G.S. 66‑58 shall not apply to the industries or products of such private enterprise.

The Secretary shall adopt rules for the administration and management of personnel policies for prisoner workers including wages, working hours, and conditions of employment.

Except as prohibited by applicable provisions of the United States Code, inmates of correctional institutions of this State may be employed in the manufacture and processing of products and services for introduction into interstate commerce, so long as they are paid no less than the prevailing minimum wage. (1917, c. 286, s. 2; 1919, c. 80, s. 1; C.S., s. 7762; 1925, c. 163; 1931, c. 145, s. 35; 1933, c. 172, s. 18; 1957, c. 349, s. 10; 1959, c. 170, s. 2; 1967, c. 996, s. 13; 1975, c. 730, s. 1; 1983, c. 717, s. 14; 1985, c. 118; c. 226, s. 11; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 902, s. 2.)