North Carolina General Statutes 15A-1340.17. Punishment limits for each class of offense and prior record level
(a) Offense Classification; Default Classifications. – The offense classification is as specified in the offense for which the sentence is being imposed. If the offense is a felony for which there is no classification, it is a Class I felony.
(b) Fines. – Any judgment that includes a sentence of imprisonment may also include a fine. If a community punishment is authorized, the judgment may consist of a fine only. Additionally, when the defendant is other than an individual, the judgment may consist of a fine only. Unless otherwise provided, the amount of the fine is in the discretion of the court.
(c) Punishments for Each Class of Offense and Prior Record Level; Punishment Chart Described. – The authorized punishment for each class of offense and prior record level is as specified in the chart below. Prior record levels are indicated by the Roman numerals placed horizontally on the top of the chart. Classes of offense are indicated by the letters placed vertically on the left side of the chart. Each cell on the chart contains the following components:
(1) A sentence disposition or dispositions: “C” indicates that a community punishment is authorized; “I” indicates that an intermediate punishment is authorized; “A” indicates that an active punishment is authorized; and “Life Imprisonment Without Parole” indicates that the defendant shall be imprisoned for the remainder of the prisoner’s natural life.
Attorney's Note
Under the N.C. Gen. Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class I felony | between 3 and 12 months |
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 15A-1340.17
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- month: shall be construed to mean a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" alone shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(2) A presumptive range of minimum durations, if the sentence of imprisonment is neither aggravated or mitigated; any minimum term of imprisonment in that range is permitted unless the court finds pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated or mitigated sentence is appropriate. The presumptive range is the middle of the three ranges in the cell.
(3) A mitigated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16 that a mitigated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the mitigated range is permitted. The mitigated range is the lower of the three ranges in the cell.
(4) An aggravated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the aggravated range is permitted. The aggravated range is the higher of the three ranges in the cell.
PRIOR RECORD LEVEL
I II III IV V VI
0-1 Pt 2-5 Pts 6-9 Pts 10-13 Pts 14-17 Pts 18+ Pts
A Life Imprisonment With Parole or Without Parole, or Death, as Established by Statute
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
240-300 276-345 317-397 365-456 Life Imprisonment Aggravated
Without Parole
B1 192-240 221-276 254-317 292-365 336-420 386-483 PRESUMPTIVE
144-192 166-221 190-254 219-292 252-336 290-386 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
157-196 180-225 207-258 238-297 273-342 314-393 Aggravated
B2 125-157 144-180 165-207 190-238 219-273 251-314 PRESUMPTIVE
94-125 108-144 124-165 143-190 164-219 189-251 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
73-92 83-104 96-120 110-138 127-159 146-182 Aggravated
C 58-73 67-83 77-96 88-110 101-127 117-146 PRESUMPTIVE
44-58 50-67 58-77 66-88 76-101 87-117 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
64-80 73-92 84-105 97-121 111-139 128-160 Aggravated
D 51-64 59-73 67-84 78-97 89-111 103-128 PRESUMPTIVE
38-51 44-59 51-67 58-78 67-89 77-103 Mitigated
I/A I/A A A A A DISPOSITION
25-31 29-36 33-41 38-48 44-55 50-63 Aggravated
E 20-25 23-29 26-33 30-38 35-44 40-50 PRESUMPTIVE
15-20 17-23 20-26 23-30 26-35 30-40 Mitigated
I/A I/A I/A A A A DISPOSITION
16-20 19-23 21-27 25-31 28-36 33-41 Aggravated
F 13-16 15-19 17-21 20-25 23-28 26-33 PRESUMPTIVE
10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 17-23 20-26 Mitigated
I/A I/A I/A I/A A A DISPOSITION
13-16 14-18 17-21 19-24 22-27 25-31 Aggravated
G 10-13 12-14 13-17 15-19 17-22 20-25 PRESUMPTIVE
8-10 9-12 10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 Mitigated
C/I/A I/A I/A I/A I/A A DISPOSITION
6-8 8-10 10-12 11-14 15-19 20-25 Aggravated
H 5-6 6-8 8-10 9-11 12-15 16-20 PRESUMPTIVE
4-5 4-6 6-8 7-9 9-12 12-16 Mitigated
C C/I I I/A I/A I/A DISPOSITION
6-8 6-8 6-8 8-10 9-11 10-12 Aggravated
I 4-6 4-6 5-6 6-8 7-9 8-10 PRESUMPTIVE
3-4 3-4 4-5 4-6 5-7 6-8 Mitigated
(d) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class F through Class I Felonies. – Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for each minimum term of imprisonment in the chart in subsection (c) of this section, expressed in months, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment, also expressed in months, is as specified in the table below for Class F through Class I felonies. The first figure in each cell in the table is the minimum term and the second is the maximum term.
3-13 4-14 5-15 6-17 7-18 8-19 9-20 10-21
11-23 12-24 13-25 14-26 15-27 16-29 17-30 18-31
19-32 20-33 21-35 22-36 23-37 24-38 25-39 26-41
27-42 28-43 29-44 30-45 31-47 32-48 33-49 34-50
35-51 36-53 37-54 38-55 39-56 40-57 41-59 42-60
43-61 44-62 45-63 46-65 47-66 48-67 49-68
(e) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 through Class E Felonies for Minimum Terms up to 339 Months. Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for each minimum term of imprisonment in the chart in subsection (c) of this section, expressed in months, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment, also expressed in months, is as specified in the table below for Class B1 through Class E felonies. The first figure in each cell of the table is the minimum term and the second is the maximum term.
15-30 16-32 17-33 18-34 19-35 20-36 21-38 22-39
23-40 24-41 25-42 26-44 27-45 28-46 29-47 30-48
31-50 32-51 33-52 34-53 35-54 36-56 37-57 38-58
39-59 40-60 41-62 42-63 43-64 44-65 45-66 46-68
47-69 48-70 49-71 50-72 51-74 52-75 53-76 54-77
55-78 56-80 57-81 58-82 59-83 60-84 61-86 62-87
63-88 64-89 65-90 66-92 67-93 68-94 69-95 70-96
71-98 72-99 73-100 74-101 75-102 76-104 77-105 78-106
79-107 80-108 81-110 82-111 83-112 84-113 85-114 86-116
87-117 88-118 89-119 90-120 91-122 92-123 93-124 94-125
95-126 96-128 97-129 98-130 99-131 100-132 101-134 102-135
103-136 104-137 105-138 106-140 107-141 108-142 109-143 110-144
111-146 112-147 113-148 114-149 115-150 116-152 117-153 118-154
119-155 120-156 121-158 122-159 123-160 124-161 125-162 126-164
127-165 128-166 129-167 130-168 131-170 132-171 133-172 134-173
135-174 136-176 137-177 138-178 139-179 140-180 141-182 142-183
143-184 144-185 145-186 146-188 147-189 148-190 149-191 150-192
151-194 152-195 153-196 154-197 155-198 156-200 157-201 158-202
159-203 160-204 161-206 162-207 163-208 164-209 165-210 166-212
167-213 168-214 169-215 170-216 171-218 172-219 173-220 174-221
175-222 176-224 177-225 178-226 179-227 180-228 181-230 182-231
183-232 184-233 185-234 186-236 187-237 188-238 189-239 190-240
191-242 192-243 193-244 194-245 195-246 196-248 197-249 198-250
199-251 200-252 201-254 202-255 203-256 204-257 205-258 206-260
207-261 208-262 209-263 210-264 211-266 212-267 213-268 214-269
215-270 216-272 217-273 218-274 219-275 220-276 221-278 222-279
223-280 224-281 225-282 226-284 227-285 228-286 229-287 230-288
231-290 232-291 233-292 234-293 235-294 236-296 237-297 238-298
239-299 240-300 241-302 242-303 243-304 244-305 245-306 246-308
247-309 248-310 249-311 250-312 251-314 252-315 253-316 254-317
255-318 256-320 257-321 258-322 259-323 260-324 261-326 262-327
263-328 264-329 265-330 266-332 267-333 268-334 269-335 270-336
271-338 272-339 273-340 274-341 275-342 276-344 277-345 278-346
279-347 280-348 281-350 282-351 283-352 284-353 285-354 286-356
287-357 288-358 289-359 290-360 291-362 292-363 293-364 294-365
295-366 296-368 297-369 298-370 299-371 300-372 301-374 302-375
303-376 304-377 305-378 306-380 307-381 308-382 309-383 310-384
311-386 312-387 313-388 314-389 315-390 316-392 317-393 318-394
319-395 320-396 321-398 322-399 323-400 324-401 325-402 326-404
327-405 328-406 329-407 330-408 331-410 332-411 333-412 334-413
335-414 336-416 337-417 338-418 339-419.
(e1) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 through Class E Felonies for Minimum Terms of 340 Months or More. – Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, when the minimum sentence is 340 months or more, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment shall be equal to the sum of the minimum term of imprisonment and twenty percent (20%) of the minimum term of imprisonment, rounded to the next highest month, plus 12 additional months.
(f) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 Through Class E Sex Offenses. – Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for offenders sentenced for a Class B1 through E felony that is a reportable conviction subject to the registration requirement of Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the N.C. Gen. Stat., the maximum term of imprisonment shall be equal to the sum of the minimum term of imprisonment and twenty percent (20%) of the minimum term of imprisonment, rounded to the next highest month, plus 60 additional months. (1993, c. 538, s. 1; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 14, ss. 20, 21; c. 22, s. 7; c. 24, s. 14(b); 1995, c. 507, s. 19.5(l); 1997-80, s. 3; 2009-555, s. 2; 2009-556, s. 1; 2011-192, s. 2(e)-(g); 2011-307, s. 1; 2011-412, s. 2.4(a); 2013-101, s. 6; 2013-410, s. 3(b).)