NC 'COVID Motel' May Pose Problems For Re-Entering Citizens

By Nadia Ramlagan, Public News Service

January 29, 2021

DURHAM, N.C. - Attorneys are seeking answers from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety about its pilot program that houses men being released from prison at a Durham motel so they can quarantine for two weeks.

According to a letter recently sent to DPS officials by Emancipate NC, a legal and policy advocacy organization, some individuals are being detained beyond the quarantine period or are being sent back to prison for violating vague and legally unsupported motel rules.

Staff Attorney at Emancipate NC Ian Mance said he supports the effort to increase housing options for people who are re-entering society during the pandemic. But he said he's concerned the program may conflict with state law.

"The general statutes don't empower DPS to extend people's incarceration in this way, and that's really what this hotel in Durham seems to be," said Mance. "They said in press statements that they're not holding people, but anyone who visits the hotel can see that's not true. People are not free to leave, and those that have attempted to have in some cases been sent back to jail or prison."

He noted that the average length of stay at the motel is 18 days and says multiple residents have been detained for a month or longer.

The Durham motel is the first of its kind, but there are plans to expand the program to other parts of the state. DPS has said the men are not being held, and that the motel option is part of post-release supervision.

Mance pointed out that some motel residents have serious medical conditions but aren't receiving health care. He said one of his clients went for weeks without his medication.

"He was someone who had significant medical issues and had a number of prescriptions, for which he was only given a two-week supply," said Mance. "They were unable to find a placement for him so they extended his stay an additional month, effectively. He was really there for about a month and a half."

Yet Mance said he doesn't think the program should be shut down. He said expanded housing options are critical for people being released from prison during a pandemic, and notes many re-entering citizens - including many of the men living at the motel - have nowhere else to go.

"My hope is that we can, through dialogue, just make some tweaks to this program so that we can address the legal concerns, and that will be how it gets resolved," said Mance.

One hundred ninety-one individuals have completed their quarantines at the Durham motel. Around 83 residents were on site as of mid-January.

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