New Interstate Compact Bench Book Available

The national office for the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS) recently published its new Bench Book for Judges. They asked me to pass it along.

The new resource is available here. It covers the history of interstate compacts generally, a history of the ICAOS, and a description of how transfers and violations are handled under the Compact. The final chapter (which I wrote) covers liability and immunity considerations related to the Compact.

My sense is that probation matters related to the Interstate Compact can be a little bit daunting—but only because they are unfamiliar. North Carolina’s laws related to the Compact are adopted in Article 4B of Chapter 148 of the General Statutes. Probationers who want to transfer supervision from North Carolina to another state, or who want to come from another state to be supervised here, must satisfy North Carolina’s laws and the ICAOS rules. The rules are available here.

All felony offenders are eligible for transfer, but, under Rule 2.105, only certain misdemeanants are covered. A misdemeanor offender must have a sentence that includes one year or more of probation supervision, and must be under supervision for an offense that (1) caused “direct or threatened physical or psychological harm,” (2) involves the use or possession of a firearm, (3) was a second or subsequent DWI, or (4) requires registration as a sex offender.

Under G.S. 148-65.7, North Carolina offenders seeking transfer to another state must pay a $250 transfer application fee to our state’s compact administrator in Raleigh, although the fee can be waived by the administrator if it places an undue economic burden on the offender. Receiving states must accept offenders who have more than 90 days of supervision remaining and who are residents of the receiving state, or have family members and a job or means of support there. Rule 3.101. A receiving state may accept other offenders in its discretion. Rule 3.101-2.

When a person is transferred under the compact, he or she is subject to the supervision conditions ordered by the sending state, the compact rules, and any additional conditions added by the receiving state—though these additional conditions should be no more onerous than those imposed on similar in-state offenders. Rule 4.103.

A key component of the ICAOS rules is that offenders must, before moving, waive their right to the extradition process as a condition of transferring supervision. Compact Rule 3.109. Having waived extradition in advance, offenders who violate probation in the receiving state do not need to be extradited back to the sending state; instead, the sending state may simply retake the offender.

I hope the new bench book will be a useful resource for any questions you have about the Compact.