§ 15A-1353. Order of commitment when imprisonment imposed; release pending appeal. - North Carolina Statutes

§15A‑1353.  Order of commitment when imprisonment imposed; release pendingappeal.

(a)        When a sentenceincludes a term or terms of imprisonment, the court must issue an order ofcommitment setting forth the judgment. Unless otherwise specified in the orderof commitment, the date of the order is the date service of the sentence is tobegin.

If a female defendant isconvicted of a nonviolent crime and the court is provided medical evidence froma licensed physician that the  defendant is pregnant or the court otherwisedetermines that the defendant is pregnant, the court may specify in the orderthat the date of service of the sentence is not to begin until at least sixweeks after the birth of the child or other termination of the pregnancy unlessthe defendant requests to serve her term as the court would otherwise order.The court may impose reasonable conditions upon defendant during such waitingperiod to insure that defendant will return to begin service of the sentence.

If the court sentences adefendant pursuant to G.S. 15A‑1351(a), the period during which thatdefendant is awaiting imprisonment shall be considered part of the probationarysentence and such defendant shall be subject to all incidents and conditions ofprobation.

(b)        There must be includedin the commitment, or in a separate order referred to in the commitment, anyprovisions with regard to release under Article 26, Bail, if an appeal istaken, and the conditions of the release. If the commitment has been enteredbefore appeal or the setting of the conditions for release, appropriate copiesof those documents must be forwarded to the agency having custody of thedefendant.

(c)        Unless a later timeis directed in the order of commitment, or  the defendant has been releasedfrom custody pursuant to Article 26, Bail, or the defendant is appealing from ajudgment of the district court to the superior court for a trial de novo, thesheriff must cause the defendant to be placed in the custody of the agencyspecified in the judgment on the day service of sentence is to begin or as soonthereafter as practicable.

(d)        A certified copy ofthe order of commitment, together with any  separate order providing forrelease of the defendant pending appeal, must be delivered to the custodian ofthe confinement facility.

(e)        When a defendanthas been committed pursuant to this section:

(1)        If appeal has beenentered and conditions of release have been set as provided in Article 26,Bail, the agency having custody of the defendant may effect his release in the mannerprovided in G.S. 15A‑537; or

(2)        If appeal is enteredand the conditions of release are not set until after the order of commitmenthas been issued, and  the defendant has been placed in the custody of theagency directed therein, appropriate copies of the conditions of release mustbe certified by the clerk and forwarded to the agency, which then may effecthis release in the manner provided in G.S. 15A‑537.

(f)         When thesentencing court, with the consent of the person sentenced, orders that a personconvicted of a misdemeanor be granted work release, the following provisionsmust be included in the commitment, or in a separate order referred to in thecommitment:

(1)        The date workrelease is to begin;

(2)        The prison or localconfinement facility to which the offender is to be committed;

(3)        A provision thatwork release terminates the date the offender loses his job or violates theconditions of the work‑release plan established by the Department ofCorrection; and

(4)        A determinationwhether the earnings of the offender are to be disbursed by the Department ofCorrection or the clerk of the sentencing court in the manner that the court inits order directs. (1977, c. 711, s. 1; 1979, c. 758, s. 1; 1983, c. 389;1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 201(c).)