May a Magistrate Impose Conditions on a Defendant's Conduct While in Pretrial Detention?

This question in the title of this post came up in a recent class. The specific context involved a domestic violence defendant who was in jail waiting for a judge to set conditions of release pursuant to the 48 hour rule established in G.S. 15A-534.1. But a similar issue arises whenever a magistrate sets conditions of release for a defendant who is unable to make bond and so remains in pretrial detention. An example of a common condition is that the defendant not contact the alleged victim. [Update: The court of appeals ruled in State v. Mitchell (June 5, 2018), that a no-contact provision of a release order was "not conditioned on defendant's release or commitment [and] was required as long as the Order was in effect," including while the defendant was in pretrial detention. That condition formed the basis of a felony charge of stalking in violation of a court order. Mitchell is contrary to the analysis below and, unless reversed, is the law. Shea Denning posted about Mitchell here.] I don’t think that a magistrate is authorized to impose such a condition on an incarcerated defendant. No statute expressly allows a magistrate to impose conditions of detention on a defendant, whether during the period of time that a domestic violence defendant is waiting to appear before a judge for a bond hearing or during the period of time that a defendant has failed to satisfy financial or other conditions of his or her release. To the contrary, the various bond statutes [...]