Extending Probation After Expiration

If a judge extends a defendant’s probation after probation has already expired, when does the extension begin? Under G.S. 15A-1344(f), a trial court may act on a probation violation even after the defendant’s probation has expired, so long as the probation officer filed the probation violation report before expiration. Before 2008, a judge’s only options at a violation hearing held after expiration were to revoke probation or to let the case end without sanction. For probation violation hearings held on or after December 1, 2008, the law was amended to expand the judge’s authority in after-expiration hearings, allowing him or her to extend, modify, or revoke. S.L. 2008-129. The authority to extend probation after it has already expired is a little strange. It allows the court to breathe new life into a previously expired case, returning a defendant to supervision when supervision has already ended once. (A probationer is not on probation during the pendency of a hearing held pursuant to G.S. 15A-1344(f). That subsection gives the court continued jurisdiction to hold a hearing on the case, but it does not give the probation officer continued authority to supervise.) Sometimes the delay between expiration and a violation hearing can be pretty long, making it all the more strange when an offender is returned to supervision. To return to the question I asked at the outset, if a judge extends a person’s probation after that probation has expired, when does the extension kick in? Does the remaining extended period run from the date [...]