2019 North Carolina Conditions of Release Report

We previously produced information about the prevalence of secured bonds at the state and county level. In this report we update that work with 2019 data and look at changes in the imposition of financial and non-financial conditions in North Carolina. A few key takeaways from our research: Notwithstanding North Carolina’s statutory preference for imposition of nonfinancial conditions except when specified circumstances are present, G.S. 15A-534(b), in 2019 secured bonds continued to be the most commonly imposed condition of pretrial release. At the state level in 2019 for cases in which conditions were set, secured bonds were imposed in 66.2% of misdemeanor cases and in 79% of felony cases. There is considerable variability regarding the use of secured bonds at the county-level. In misdemeanor cases, for example, the county at the lowest end imposed secured bonds in 36.1% of cases; the county at the highest end imposed secured bonds in 86.8% of misdemeanor cases. The two counties with the greatest decrease in use of secured bonds in misdemeanor cases were Haywood and Jackson Counties. Those counties adopted consensus bail reforms in 2018 that took effect January 1, 2019. A report on that project is here. Before we get to county level information, we offer a few notes about the data and the purpose of this report. First, our information comes from NC AOC data runs showing the last condition imposed in 2018 and 2019 cases. There is no way to extract from the existing case management system a history of conditions [...]