§ 7B-2204.  Right to pretrial release; detention.

(a) Once the order of transfer has been entered, the juvenile has the right to pretrial release as provided in G.S. 15A-533 and G.S. 15A-534. The release order shall specify the person or persons to whom the juvenile may be released. Pending release, the court shall order that the juvenile be detained in a detention facility while awaiting trial. Personnel of the Division of Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety, or personnel approved by the Division, shall transport the juvenile from the detention facility to court.

(b) The court may order the juvenile to be held in a holdover facility at any time the presence of the juvenile is required in court for pretrial hearings or trial, if the court finds that it would be inconvenient to return the juvenile to the detention facility. Personnel of the Division, or personnel approved by the Division, shall transport the juvenile from the holdover facility to court and shall transport the juvenile back to the detention center.

(c) If the juvenile reaches the age of 18 years while awaiting the completion of proceedings in superior court, the juvenile shall be transported by personnel of the Division, or personnel approved by the Division, to the custody of the sheriff of the county where the charges arose.

(d) Should the juvenile be found guilty, or enter a plea of guilty or no contest to a criminal offense in superior court and receive an active sentence, then immediate transfer to the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction shall be ordered. Until such time as the juvenile is transferred to the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction, the juvenile may be detained in a holdover facility or detention facility approved by the Section.

or approved by the Division of Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety.

(e) The juvenile may be kept by the Division of Prisons of the Department of Adult Correction as a safekeeper until the juvenile is placed in an appropriate correctional program. (1979, c. 815, s. 1; 1987, c. 144; 1991, c. 352, s. 1; 1998-202, s. 6; 2011-145, s. 19.1(h); 2017-186, s. 2(k); 2019-186, s. 9; 2021-123, s. 2; 2021-180, s. 19C.9(ff); 2023-114, s. 4(e).)