A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to eliminate life without parole for juveniles and to modify parole eligibility for juveniles sentenced to more than fifteen years imprisonment.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 15A‑1340.13(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Service of Minimum Required; Earned Time Authorization. – An offender sentenced to an active punishment shall serve the minimum term imposed, except as provided in G.S. 15A‑1340.18 and Part 2A of this Article. The maximum term may be reduced to, but not below, the minimum term by earned time credits awarded to an offender by the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety or the custodian of the local confinement facility, pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with law."
SECTION 2.  Part 2A of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Part 2A. Sentencing and Parole Eligibility for Certain Minors.
"

"§ 15A‑1340.19B.  Penalty and parole eligibility determination.
(a)	
	
	Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 14‑17, Part 2 of this Article, and G.S. 15A‑1371, a defendant who is convicted of first degree murder, and who was under the age of 18 at the time of the offense, shall be sentenced to life imprisonment with parole and shall be eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 years imprisonment.
(b)	Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 15A‑1371, a defendant who was (i) convicted of a crime other than first degree murder, (ii) under the age of 18 at the time of the offense, and (iii) sentenced to more than 15 years imprisonment shall be eligible for parole consideration after serving 15 years imprisonment.

	

	

	

	

	

"§ 15A‑1340.19D.  Incidents of parole.
(a)	Except as otherwise provided in this section, a defendant eligible for parole consideration under this Part shall be subject to the conditions and procedures set forth in Article 85 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes, including the notification requirement in G.S. 15A‑1371(b)(3).
(b)	The term of parole for a person released from imprisonment based on parole consideration pursuant to this Part shall be five years and may not be terminated earlier by the Post‑Release Supervision and Parole Commission.
(c)	A defendant who is paroled pursuant to this Part, and who then violates a condition of parole and is returned to prison to serve the remainder of his or her sentence, shall not be eligible for parole for five years from the date of the return to confinement.
(d)	Life imprisonment with parole under this Part means that unless the defendant receives parole, the defendant shall remain imprisoned for the defendant's natural life."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 15A‑1371(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A‑1371.  Parole eligibility, consideration, and refusal.
(a)	Eligibility. – Unless his sentence includes a minimum sentence, a prisoner serving a term of imprisonment for a conviction of impaired driving under G.S. 20‑138.1 other than one included in a sentence of special probation imposed under authority of this Subchapter is eligible for release on parole at any time. A prisoner whose sentence includes a minimum term of imprisonment imposed under authority of this Subchapter is eligible for release on parole only upon completion of the service of that minimum term or one fifth of the maximum penalty allowed by law for the offense for which the prisoner is sentenced, whichever is less, less any credit allowed under G.S. 15A‑1355(c) and Article 19A of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes. A prisoner sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act for a Class D through Class J felony, who meets the criteria established pursuant to this section, is eligible for parole consideration after completion of the service of at least 20 years imprisonment less any credit allowed under applicable State law. A prisoner who is sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act, and who was under the age of 18 at the time of the offense, shall be eligible for parole consideration after completion of 20 years imprisonment."
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2019, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.