The Albemarle Region Offender Referral services program is considered a Resources Center by the State of North Carolina. A resource Center is responsible to coordinate activities such as intensive and regular outpatient substance abuse treatment services including, individual and group sessions, domestic violence accountability programs, including individual and group sessions, family/ marriage counseling, anger management counseling, educational and vocational assistance and aftercare services for the offender population of the first judicial district.

The counties served by the Offender Referral Services Program include six of the counties in the first judicial district. These counties include Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans. They are located in the northeastern corner of North Carolina and represent mostly rural areas.

All of the services provided by the Offender Referral Services Program on ORS property are free of charge for the participants. In conjunction with the passage of structured sentencing of 1994, the General Assembly also enacted the State-County Criminal Justice Partnership Act to establish community-based correction programs. By statute, the Department of Correction awards community corrections grants to counties that voluntarily apply for funding.

The goals of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Partnership Program include:

• Reduce Recidivism
• Reduce the number of probation violations
• Reduce alcoholism and other drug dependencies among the offender population

Eligible Offenders Referred by the Court/ Probation Parole include:

• Adult offenders who were convicted of a misdemeanor or felony offense and received a non- active sentence of an intermediate punishment.
• Adult offenders who are serving a term of probation as part of an intermediate punishment and violated the terms of the probation.
• Adult offenders who are serving a term of post-release supervision or parole after completing an active sentence of imprisonment.

Offender Referral Services Related Links

• Criminal Justice Partnership Program
  
• North Carolina Department of Corrections
  
• The NC TASC Training Institute
  
• Pasquotank County