North Carolina's new Pretrial Integrity Act

As a general rule, most defendants are entitled to have conditions of pretrial release set without unnecessary delay, and this typically happens at the initial appearance before a magistrate. G.S. 15A-511; -534. There is a carve out for capital defendants—only a judge can set conditions in a capital case and conditions are in the judge’s discretion. G.S. 15A-533(c). The statute contains other exceptions to the general rule, such as the 48-hour hold rule for domestic violence cases, providing that only a judge can set conditions within the first 48 hours of arrest. G.S. 15A-534.1(a). North Carolina’s new Pretrial Integrity Act, effective October 1, 2023, and applying to offenses committed on or after that date, creates significant additional exceptions to the general rule. (The statute also changes a provision in juvenile law; that change is beyond the scope of this post.) First, the new law expands the existing carve out for capital offenses, making it apply to a broader list of charges. For this expanded list of offenses, only a judge can set conditions and whether to set conditions is in the judge’s discretion. As a practical matter, this means two things: defendants charged with these offenses will have to be held for a judge to set conditions, presumably at the first appearance, and conditions may be denied, in the judge’s discretion. Essentially, the statute allows for preventative detention for additional offenses. Because the new statute does not include the procedural protections present in the federal pretrial detention statute upheld in United [...]