N.C. Gen. Stat. § 148-41
The Secretary of the Department of Adult Correction shall use every means possible to recapture, regardless of expense, any prisoners escaping from or leaving without permission any of the State prisons, camps, or farms. When any person who has been confined or placed to work escapes from the State prison system, the Secretary shall immediately notify the Governor, and accompany the notice with a full description of the escaped prisoner, together with such information as will aid in the recapture. The Governor may offer such rewards as he may deem desirable and necessary for the recapture and return to the State prison system of any person who may escape or who heretofore has escaped therefrom. Such reward earned shall be paid by warrant of the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction and accounted for as a part of the expense of maintaining the State's prisons.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 148-41