Law

Chatham County's new Justice Center is open for business.

The new justice center has four courtrooms, and significantly more office space than the previous, historic courthouse in Pittsboro. Plans to move out of that building started 13 years ago, but a fire in 2010 threatened its future. David Hughes is the Public Works Director in Chatham county. He says the 130-year-old building has been preserved.

A new state law requires more extensive background checks for people working with children.

In years past employees at day care centers could start working with children before a background check was complete. Anna Carter is with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Anna Carter: "What this law change did was, it changes it to be a pre-service requirement for when a new staff is hired. So before you work with children it would have to be completed."

State children's advocates say statistics are showing a rise in reports of child abuse cases.

Organizations that track these cases say results can be deadly if left uninvestigated. President of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina Rosie Allen Ryan said at one point there were 125 thousand reported cases annually in the state.

Rosie Allen Ryan: "And then this past set of data that we have shows an increase up to 129-thousand."

The North Carolina Bankers Association says the number of bank robberies is down slightly since last year. The group met with law enforcement agencies yesterday to discuss how to reduce the crime rate. The association says there have been 113 robberies this year compared to 129 in 2011. Associate counsel Dawn Thompson says the group keeps track of crime trends to help law enforcement cut down on robberies.