In 2011 North Carolina added a new class of sentencing for DWI cases called a Level A1 sentence. Prior to 2011 those convicted of DWI were classified between a Level 1 and Level 5, with Level 5 being the lowest sentence. Anyone who was convicted of DWI could be eligible for parole if they received a prison sentence. The new Level A1 sentence that was enacted in 2011 changed parole eligibility for DWI defendants. If someone is convicted of DWI and sentenced as a Level A1 he or she will not be eligible for parole.
Those convicted and sentenced at the A1 Level must serve a minimum of 12 months in prison with the maximum sentence that can be received being 36 months. While those convicted at the A1 Level are not eligible for parole, they may be able to be released four months prior to the end of the maximum imposed prison term under post-release supervision. There was some question when the new sentencing level was enacted as to if someone would be able to get post-release supervision if they were sentenced to 12 months in prison, since that is the minimum amount of time that must be served. However defendants haven been able to receive post-release supervision after serving 8 months in prison if they received the 12 month minimum sentence.
Defendants who are convicted for a misdemeanor DWI are generally able to receive good time credit to reduce their sentence. However, another departure from the other levels of sentencing is that those convicted of Level A1 DWI are not able to receive good time credit to reduce their sentence. Good time credit is given to inmates for good behavior during their period of imprisonment which can be applied to their court imposed sentence to reduce the amount of time actually served. The lack of credit given to Level A1 offenders makes a big difference in the contrast between the amounts of time served compared to other levels. Someone who is convicted at another level of DWI may be able to be released after serving 12 months in prison even though the imposes sentence was 24 months, whereas someone convicted at a Level A1 will only be released after serving 20 months into post-release supervision.
In addition to those convicted at the Level A1 as a misdemeanor DWI, those who are sentenced as a Level A1 as a felony DWI will also be required to serve a longer minimum sentence before being eligible for post release supervision. The maximum punishment is 38 months which means the earliest someone could be released is at 32 months, whereas someone convicted a lower level could be released as early as 23 months.
