Message From Former President Gary Presnell

Served from June 1997 - September 2004

Since its inception in 1978, an important part of the mission of North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services has been to provide information to public officials and the public generally about matters affecting the welfare of inmates in North Carolina's prisons and jails. The advent of the internet, and more recently, the World Wide Web, offers an opportunity to disseminate that information in a new medium, and to a much larger audience.

The welfare of prisoners is of concern, not only to inmates and their families, but to us all. As taxpayers, we foot the bill for the substantial costs of incarceration, so we may be interested in knowing why so many are being incarcerated and to what extent prison punishes and deters criminal conduct. Because about 97% of the people in prison are eventually released back into the community, we may also be interested in knowing how prisoners are being treated, and what is being done to prepare ex-offenders to lead productive, law-abiding lives.

The NCPLS web site contains information about our Board of Directors, our staff and the services provided by our program. You will also learn about important issues facing the criminal justice system, as well as jails and prisons across North Carolina. In these pages, you will be able to reach our staff through e-mail, and you can connect directly to other web-based resources through hypertext links.

We undertake this project to build upon our tradition of service to North Carolina inmates, public officials, and the citizens of this State. We hope you will find it easy to use and informative. Please let us know what you think and share with us your ideas for improving the site.

Gary Presnell, Esq.
Former President, NCPLS Board of Directors