Pender County inmates to be tracked with GPS ankle monitors

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Some inmates in Pender County will soon be allowed to walk around freely before going to trial.

Pender County Commissioners approved the pre-trial release program. It will allow some inmates to be tracked with GPS ankle monitors before they head to court. Not every inmate will qualify for the program and will have to be screened first. Though not all details are set in stone about which inmates would or would not qualify, Sheriff Carson Smith says that violent crime offenders would definitely be ineligible.

“This year, we’ve really tried different ways that we can ease the burden and the cost of our jail program,” said Smith. “A lot of these inmates, we’re having to send out to other counties to keep. That’s costing us about fifty dollars per day per inmate.”

Those with ankle monitors would only cost taxpayers about $12 a day.