NC budget moves endangered ankle-monitoring program under SBI

The state government is taking over a program designed to protect North Carolinians from people charged with sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and other offenses.

The $34 billion state budget, signed into law July 7, eliminates the North Carolina Criminal Justice Information Network, or CJIN, a quasi-governmental group that oversees technology that tracks accused abusers and automatically alerts their accusers if they get close. In addition to providing protection to potential victims, it also offers defendants a level of freedom they might not get otherwise, enabling them to return to work as they await trial. 

Domestic violence is one of the leading motives behind murders in North Carolina, and supporters say CJIN’s ankle monitor program has kept victims alive. That includes Prayla Mills, who told WRAL that, without the system, “I wouldn’t be here.”

Under the program, judges can enforce court-mandated “no-contact” orders by ordering defendants to wear an ankle monitor tied into the Global Positioning System. If the defendant breaks the terms of a judge’s restraining order, the monitor alerts the potential victim. 

Mills said she has called emergency dispatchers for a domestic situation and had to wait 45 minutes for help. But when she was using the monitoring program, it alerted her instantly that the person in her case had entered a restricted area, and someone from a call center contacted her to see if she was safe. “They stayed [on the phone] the whole time, to ensure that I was okay,” Mills said.

The state budget eliminates CJIN’s board, which was appointed by state lawmakers and includes law enforcement leaders, magistrates, county commissioners and judges. It also eliminates the group’s two staff positions. But the main function of the program isn’t going away.

Lawmakers are instead ordering the State Bureau of Investigation to run the technology formerly overseen by CJIN. As many as 1,200 people were being monitored in 63 counties earlier this year — including Johnston, Orange, Harnett, Chatham, and Guilford counties, as well as most counties on the coast.

The transfer has already occurred and no service disruptions have been reported, according to SBI spokesman Chad Flowers.

When the CJIN board ran the program, the group contracted with an outside vendor — Securus Technologies, a subsidiary of Aventiv Technologies — to handle day-to-day operations, according to Flowers. That arrangement isn't changing, he said in an email. “There's no ‘technology’ changing hands and no equipment coming over to the SBI — the vendor owns and supplies all of that, and they're staying on exactly as they were,” he said.

Under the new arrangement, the SBI is instructed to oversee a 24-hour call-monitoring center and offer victims access to a tangible GPS notification device that provides them with instantaneous notification if the defendant or offender is within close proximity. The new law says the device must be able to switch automatically between cellular networks. Starting in October, SBI leaders will have to provide annual reports to the state’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety.

Ashley Furst, who leads government relations for Aventiv, also said the program has remained operational with no disruption in service since the SBI assumed oversight. Furst called it a “seamless transition,” adding: “Public safety, community safety and, primarily, victim safety is always the top priority.”

Some are surprised by the shift in oversight. CJIN expanded use of the program over five years and has received praise from victims of domestic abuse, prosecutors and judges — as well as state legislators who invited CJIN’s executive director, LaVonda Fowler, to a committee meeting in January.

State Rep. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, told Fowler in January that his constituents offered positive comments on the program, adding: “Hopefully we’ll be able to work on improving things, securing things in the future.”

Plans to shift oversight of the GPS system weren’t revealed publicly until June 30, when Republican legislative leaders published their proposed spending plan for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Legislators began the first round of voting the next day and then sent the bill to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein on July 2 — with Democrats complaining during debates that they hadn’t had enough time to read the 634-page budget bill. Stein signed it July 7.

Chloe McLaurin works as a court advocate for domestic violence victims for the Hope Harbor Home in Brunswick County, where the GPS system is in use. McLaurin said she learned of the shift in oversight from a reporter — more than a week after Stein signed the budget.

“When CJIN was first implemented [in Brunswick County], there was a meeting,” McLaurin said. "We met about it: myself and other stakeholders within the court system here."

She added: “It would seem that if there were going to be any kind of changes … to make sure that we're communicating that to everyone.”

McLaurin said many of her clients rely on the alert system and that she’s glad it’s still in place. However, McLaurin said she’s concerned that the shift in its management occurred without any forewarning or communication. When McLaurin explains the program to victims, she wants to be able to give them the latest available information. 

“When it comes to something as important as their safety, I need to be able to give them information that is accurate,” she said. “I don't want to tell that something is going to happen or that the program works in this particular way if it does not.”

The budget was primarily written by Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Destin Hall and their top deputies. Their offices provided little information about the decision to eliminate CJIN and shift the GPS program to the SBI.

A spokesperson for Hall said: “Our understanding is that members from both chambers decided during the budget process that the GPS monitoring initiative is a good program but will operate more effectively under the State Bureau of Investigation.”

Lauren Horsch, a spokesperson for Senate leader Phil Berger, said legislators moved the GPS program from CJIN to the SBI “to ensure its long-term viability.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Stein said the Democrat is grateful that the GPS program will continue under the SBI, which is part of Stein’s administration, adding: “Electronic monitoring is a valuable resource that gives judges a tool to protect victims and communities. Governor Stein will continue working to ensure all North Carolinians feel safe in their homes and communities.” 

Confusion over funding

The state’s move comes about a year after CJIN relied on an emergency infusion of cash from the state Department of Public Safety to avoid suspending its GPS system. 

CJIN’s chairman, Steve Lingerfelt, told district court judges last August that the GPS system needed to be suspended due to “unforeseen budgetary concerns.” Fowler, CJIN’s executive director, told WRAL at the time that the group had been operating under the impression that lawmakers intended to provide the funds on an annual basis: the 2023-24 state budget granted $4 million to DPS “in recurring funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year … to expand the electronic monitoring program." 

But DPS, which operates as CJIN’s administrative agent, said it interpreted language in the bill to mean that the funds were recurring only until 2024 — meaning CJIN would be responsible for securing its own funding in future years. Lingerfelt didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

News that CJIN planned to suspend the GPS program triggered a series of phone calls and emails between court officials, DPS administrators and staff members in the governor’s office. DPS provided temporary financial assistance to CJIN last year and then, in January, Fowler made her case for additional funding to members of a legislative committee. Fowler declined to comment for this article. 

Several current and former judges wrote to members of the committee to praise the program and urge lawmakers to fund it. Scott Ussery, a district court judge for Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties, said in a Jan. 13 letter to lawmakers that the CJIN program gives victims and court personnel “peace of mind,” adding that “our stakeholder agencies work well together to ensure that we do everything in our power to quick monitoring and quick responses to potential violations.”

Jeff Nieman, the district attorney for Chatham and Orange counties, told WRAL in January that it would be “unfortunate at the least and tragic at the most” if lawmakers let program funding lapse “without at the very least having an alternative plan or process in place.” He declined to comment on the changes made by the budget.

The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence is withholding judgement on the change in oversight, said Quisha Mallette, a spokesperson for the group. “We don't have any immediate concerns about this change, but we do know that implementation will paint a much clearer picture,” Mallette said. 

Little room for error

The GPS monitoring program was initially launched as part of a nonprofit known as Caitlyn’s Courage, named after Caitlyn Whitehurst, whose ex-boyfriend killed her in 2019. The following year, state lawmakers granted Caitlyn’s Courage $3.5 million in federal Covid-19 pandemic relief funds to launch the GPS tracking program in nine judicial districts. 

In 2021, state lawmakers shifted the $3.5 million from Caitlyn’s Courage to CJIN following scrutiny of the nonprofit. And in January, Fowler told a legislative committee that she had expanded the GPS program while successfully protecting every alleged victim — but that CJIN needed additional funding to keep the program operational. 

The state budget, which ends Fowler’s position, includes $7.4 million in recurring funds to continue the ankle monitoring program. It also includes $1 million in non-recurring funds “specifically to keep the transition from causing any hiccups,” said Flowers, the SBI spokesman.

Domestic violence victims who use the GPS system can’t afford any hiccups, Mills said. In domestic violence situations, delays in protection can be the difference in life and death. 

Mills said she can’t imagine how she would’ve reacted if the monitors had failed when she was relying on them. Without the GPS system in place, “I don't know that I'd be comfortable going anywhere or doing anything.”