Identical to S 702, and filed on 3/25/25.







Makes various amendments to GS Chapter 15A, Article 26 (Bail), to update and modernize laws regarding bail bonds. Makes clarifying and conforming changes throughout Article 26.
Amends GS 15A-531 to allow a defendant’s address of record to include the address on the bond, the defendant’s permanent or temporary address, an address on court records, an address the defendant provided to the bondsman, or an address provided by anyone with actual or constructive notice of the defendant’s address.
Provides in GS 15A-534(h) that a bail bond under that statute is valid for not more than three years in cases without a pending forfeiture. Requires the surety to inform the district attorney 30 days before the bond expires. Provides two new circumstances where an obligor’s obligation on a bond is terminated, when a prosecutor enters a dismissal with leave or when a court grants a motion to set aside a bond forfeiture.
Amends GS 15A-544.5 (Setting aside forfeiture) to include reference to electronic delivery through the court’s case management system. Also amends subparagraph (d)(6) to specify that after a court allows a motion to set aside forfeiture as outlined in the section, the surety is relieved of the obligation and no other forfeitures will be issued for that bail bond.
Amends GS 15A-544.8 (Relief from final judgment of forfeiture) to include reference to electronic delivery through the court’s case management system and makes a conforming change to GS 15A-544.3.
Creates new GS 15A-545, requiring district attorneys to submit information about criminal defendants who fail to appear in court to the National Crime Information Center within 10 days of their failure to appear.
Requires the district attorney for each county and the attorney for each county board of education to be listed in the county's electronic filing or case management system as parties for purposes of Article 26, and requires those attorneys to maintain current contact information.
Adds a definition of “residential address” to GS 58-71-1, which includes the defendant’s address of record or any other place they may be occupying as lodging.
Specifies that no electronic system can act in the capacity of a bondsman in GS 58-71-40(a1).
Adds a reference to the Administrative Office of the Courts’ Odyssey system in GS 58-71-200(a).
Effective and applicable to motions, orders, and notice made or given on or after October 1, 2025.