When Probation Begins

When a defendant is convicted of more than one crime, there are decisions to be made about how the sentences for those convictions will fit together. Generally speaking, they may be consolidated for judgment, allowed to run concurrently, or set to run consecutively. If at least one of those judgments suspends a sentence and places the defendant on probation, the judge has an additional decision to make regarding when probation begins. By default, a probation period begins on the day it is imposed and runs concurrently with any other period of probation, parole, or imprisonment to which the defendant is subject. G.S. 15A-1346(a). If all of the defendant’s sentences are probationary, the probation periods must run concurrently with one another. In other words, probation periods cannot be stacked. It would be improper, for example, to “boxcar” two 5-year probation periods so that the defendant faced 10 years of supervision. State v. Canady, 153 N.C. App. 455 (2002). If a defendant being placed on probation is also being sentenced to an active sentence, or if he or she is already subject to an undischarged term of incarceration, the court may run the period of probation either concurrently with or consecutively to the term of imprisonment. G.S. 15A-1346(b). Probation officers refer to such an arrangement as a “contingent” case (that is, the exact date on which it begins for them is contingent on the defendant's release from jail or prison). A contingent sentence does not arise by default; unless otherwise specified a probation period [...]