Articles related to probation

There are over 200 available beds at the DART Center. No wait. Today’s post talks about that and other things we learned on a recent visit to Goldsboro. Last week, […]

Today’s post addresses a small (and admittedly mundane) thing that trips people up from time to time. What happens when an appealed probationary sentence comes back to the trial court […]

There are two different types of probation extensions. They are set out in different statutes. And they can be confusing. Ordinary extensions. Under G.S. 15A-1344(d), probation may be extended at […]

Probation records are privileged. That protection stems from an old statute, G.S. 15-207, which was enacted in 1937—the same year the original North Carolina Probation Commission was established. See N.C. […]

Some guilty pleas are “open,” where the defendant pleads guilty to agreed-upon charges without any promises from the State about the ultimate sentence. Other pleas include an arrangement as to […]

In 2018, I wrote this post, https://nccriminallaw.sog.unc.edu/2018/11/28/total-split-sentence-exposure/, about split sentences, examining the total limit on split sentence incarceration that a judge can order at sentencing and as a later modification […]

Author’s Note: Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is now available at the DART Center provided that the treatment began before arrival at the Center. MAT will not be initiated at the […]

We are putting the final touches on the new edition of the North Carolina Sentencing Handbook – publication date forthcoming! As part of revising and updating the DWI Sentencing portion, three updates stood out to me as warranting some more discussion. First, the legislature has expanded delegated authority for probation officers to include probationers sentenced for impaired driving under G.S. 20-179. Second, the Court of Appeals further clarified the presumption for unsupervised probation and requirements for transferring a probationer from supervised to unsupervised probation. Third, a new mitigating factor was added for voluntary pretrial installation of an ignition interlock device. Read on for more details.

Important Note: In State v. Thomas, No. 248PA24 (N.C. Aug. 14, 2026), the North Carolina Supreme Court held that the defendant’s challenge to the warrantless search of his ankle-monitoring data was not preserved for appeal. That opinion is summarized here. Thus, the Court of Appeals’ analysis of the issue lacks precedential authority.

In February, I blogged about State v. Thomas, 295 N.C. App. 564 (2024), and whether law enforcement can review ankle-monitoring data without a warrant. The defendant in Thomas was on post-release supervision when officers pulled his location data, and the Court of Appeals upheld the warrantless retrieval of the data. However, questions remain about whether a warrant is necessary when a supervisee is on probation or pretrial release. Although North Carolina appellate courts have not directly addressed these questions, courts outside the state have in recent years. This post examines some of the cases.

I’m happy to announce the availability of the Second Edition of Probation Violations in North Carolina. The book is available in the School of Government bookstore, here. Even though the […]