Probation Confinement Options Other than CRV

A frequently asked question of late is whether a judge may still impose special probation (a split sentence) in a probation case. Apparently the question arises out of a sense that the new forms of confinement created by the Justice Reinvestment Act—short term confinement for 2–3 days (“quick dips”) and confinement in response to violation (CRV, or “dunks”)—are now the only proper form of probationary confinement. Reports of the death of the split sentence are exaggerated. The new types of JRA confinement are certainly similar to a split sentence, but they are statutorily distinct and did not replace it. The statutes authorizing special probation, G.S. 15A-1351(a) for splits imposed at sentencing and G.S. 15A-1344(e) for splits imposed as a modification of probation, were not repealed or amended by the JRA. Even if the split sentence laws are still on the books, I can think of reasons they might be used less frequently now. First, for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011, the judge is not required to impose any particular conditions of probation to make the sentence intermediate as required by an “I” block on the sentencing grid. My sense is that under prior law, when the judge was required to impose one of the six intermediate conditions to make a sentence intermediate, a short split sentence (perhaps to time already served) was often the intermediate condition of choice. With that requirement gone, I suspect the number of splits may go down. Second, CRV may be preferable to a [...]