Other 2016 Legislation Related to Probation, Post-Release Supervision, and Parole

Prior posts looked at the new probation condition requiring a waiver of extradition and the new, new rules for jail credit for CRV. Today’s post covers the rest of this year's most significant legislation related to probation, post-release supervision, and parole. All of the changes below were enacted in S.L. 2016-77. New probation condition requiring submission to photographs. A new regular condition of probation is added requiring probationers to “[s]ubmit to the taking of digitized photographs, including the probationer’s face, scars, marks, and tattoos, to be included in the probationer’s records.” G.S. 15A-1343(b)(18). The new condition applies to all probationers, felony and misdemeanor, supervised and—somewhat oddly—unsupervised. I’m not sure who takes the pictures of the unsupervised probationers—I suppose the clerk’s office or Community Service staff could do it if they wanted to. The change is effective December 1, 2016, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date. Drug screening condition made inapplicable in unsupervised cases. Regular condition (16), "[s]upply a breath, urine, or blood specimen for analysis of the possible presence of drugs or alcohol," was added to the list of conditions that do not apply to unsupervised probationers. It never made much sense as applied to them in any event, as the sample was to provided when instructed by the probation officer. Clarification of continued probation supervision upon appeal of revocation. In 2015, the General Assembly amended G.S. 15A-1347 to say that when a person appeals a probation revocation, probation supervision continues under the same conditions until the probation [...]