A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to balance fair sentencing and structured sentencing and to keep inmates who pose great risks to society in the prisons.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143B‑268.  Recalculation of sentence for parole.
(a)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person in the custody of the Department of Correction who was convicted for an offense that occurred prior to the effective date of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes, shall be paroled by the Commission if all of the following conditions are met:
(1)	The Commission determines that the person has served more time in custody than the person would have served if sentenced to the maximum sentence under the provisions of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes. The "maximum sentence," for the purposes of this section, shall be calculated as set forth in subsection (b) of this section.
(2)	The Commission determines that the person does not pose a substantial risk of violence or recidivism.
(3)	The Commission determines that the person's crime was not so heinous that the Commission cannot in good conscience release the person.
This section shall not apply to persons sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder.
(b)	For the purposes of this section, the following rules apply for the calculation of the maximum sentence:
(1)	The offense upon which the person was convicted shall be classified as the same felony class as the offense would have been classified if committed after the effective date of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.
(2)	The minimum sentence shall be the maximum number of months in the presumptive range of minimum durations in Prior Record Level VI of G.S. 15A‑1340.17(c) for the felony class determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection. The maximum sentence shall be calculated using G.S. 15A‑1340.17(d), (e), or (e1).
(3)	If a person is serving sentences for two or more offenses that are concurrent in any respect, then the offense with the greater classification shall be used to determine a single maximum sentence for the concurrent offenses. The fact that the person has been convicted of multiple offenses may be considered by the Commission in making its determinations under subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	The Commission's findings and determinations under this section are final and are not reviewable by any court."
SECTION 2.  The Commission shall give priority in its determinations under subsection (a) of G.S. 143B‑268 to those prisoners who have served the greatest amount of time in excess of what each prisoner would have served if sentenced under the provisions of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes and who have not previously been considered for parole.  The Commission shall report the results of the implementation of this act to the Joint Legislative Corrections, Crime Control, and Juvenile Justice Committee on or before June 1, 2008.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2007.