AN ACT to amend BAIL BOND FORFEITURE LAWS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 15A‑544.5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A‑544.5.  Setting aside forfeiture.
…
(b)	Reasons for Set Aside. – Except as provided by subsection (f) of this section, a forfeiture shall be set aside for any one of the following reasons, and none other:
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(6)	The defendant was incarcerated in a unit of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety and is serving a sentence or in a unit of the Federal Bureau of Prisons located within the borders of the State at the time of the failure to appear as evidenced by a copy of an official court record or a copy of a document from the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or Federal Bureau of Prisons, including an electronic record.
(6a)	The defendant was in the custody of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or the Federal Bureau of Prisons located within the borders of the State at any time between the failure to appear and the final judgment as evidenced by a copy of an official court record or a copy of a document from the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or Federal Bureau of Prisons, including an electronic record."
…."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 15A‑544.8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A‑544.8.  Relief from final judgment of forfeiture.
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(b)	Reasons. – The court may grant the defendant or any surety named in the judgment relief from the judgment, for the following reasons:
(1)	The person seeking relief was not given notice as provided in G.S. 15A‑544.4.
(2)	Other circumstances exist that the court, in its discretion, determines should entitle that person to relief.
…."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 15th day of June, 2018.

	s/	 Philip E. Berger
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	s/	 Tim Moore
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Roy Cooper
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2018