Curfews and Electronic Monitoring of Probationers

Some probationers are subject to a curfew—a time each day (usually in the evening or at night) when they are restricted to their residence. Recent changes to the law have generated some questions about curfews. In particular, there appears to be some confusion about whether a curfew can or must be monitored electronically. This post collects the relevant statutes and discusses some of the legal issues raised by electronically-monitored curfews. At the outset, I should be clear about what I mean by electronic monitoring. As a result of legislation passed in 2011, “electronic monitoring” is a defined term throughout Chapter 15A. S.L. 2011-245 (SB 311). It means “monitoring with an electronic monitoring device that is not removed from a person’s body, that is utilized by the supervising agency in conjunction with a Web-based computer system that actively monitors, identifies, tracks, and records a person’s location at least once every minute 24 hours a day . . . .” G.S. 15A-101.1(3a). Thus, when electronic monitoring is statutorily required, it necessarily involves a pretty high-powered technology. In fact, when Community Corrections monitors a curfew electronically, they use the very same GPS-enabled ankle bracelets that they use for satellite-based monitoring of sex offenders (albeit with different policy guidelines for how officers respond to perceived violations). But when is electronic monitoring of a curfew actually required by statute? Pretty rarely, as it turns out. There are three types of probation curfews: two that may be imposed by a judge and one that may be imposed [...]