Pending Alcohol Monitoring Legislation

House Bill – H494

“Continuous Alcohol Monitoring Law Changes”
Download - H494

CAM has proved itself to be cost-saving and life-saving in NC since 2004. H494 enables broader use. Below are some of H494 key points.

• Enhances community safety - 24/7 monitoring deters alcohol consumption by offenders for all forms of alcohol-related crime (about 40% of all crime).
• Greatly reduces state prison and county jail costs - est. savings over $11million of annual state/county operating expense and over $40million of avoided jail and prison construction expense. CAM = $12/day the offender pays, versus state prison = $64/day the state pays.
• Supports rehabilitation, which reduces recidivism – as shown through a growing number of studies nationwide.
• Consistent with the Justice Reinvestment Act H642, passed by Judiciary B, CAM enhances community-based supervision

H494 Elements
- Broadens criminal justice use of proven, state approved CAM technology all forms of alcohol-related crime

• Authorizes court’s discretionary use of CAM for all levels of DWI .
• Authorizes CAM as a judge-determined alternative to current NCGS minimum detention requirements for DWI, with 90+ days of CAM for Level 2 DWI conviction (versus current 7 day jail min.) and 10 days jails and 120+ days of CAM for Level 1 DWI (versus current 30 day jail minimum).
• Specifies CAM as an “Intermediate Punishment”.
• Provides probation officers with “discretionary authority” to impose CAM.
• Specifies CAM for use as an alternative to detention in “driving while license revoked” (DWLR) sentencing, when the offender has a DWI conviction.
• Specifies CAM for use in domestic violence-related sentencing.
• Specifies CAM as a parental assessment in child custody-related cases.
• Authorize CAM use in NC Drug Treatment Courts and DWI Courts.
• Authorizes direct CAM fee payments by offenders to vendors – essential for continued private sector support and innovation.