Reimbursement of Extradition Expenses for the Return of a Fugitive

Subject:

Requested By: Mr. Jack Cozort Legal Counsel to the Governor

Question: Shall State Treasury or the appropriate County Treasury pay the costs and expenses for the return of a fugitive misdemeanant probationer?

Conclusion: The appropriate County Treasury where the misdemeanor allegedly occurred is responsible for the payment of expenses involved in the extradition of a fugitive misdemeanant probationer from an asylum state.

An extradition agent is ordinarily entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and subsistence costs involved in returning a fugitive to North Carolina from an asylum state. However, the question arises as to who is ultimately responsible for this reimbursement, the State or County wherein the extraditable crime allegedly occurred?

North Carolina is a party to the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, codified in Article 37 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes of North Carolina. N.C.G.S. 15A-721 et seq. Although the rendition laws are generally uniform, the cost and expense provisions for the reimbursement of extradition agents vary among the different states. The reimbursement provision adopted in North Carolina is a variation of the suggested uniform rule. N.C.G.S. 17A-744 provides in part, the following:

"§ 15A-744. Costs and expenses. – Subject to the requirements, restrictions and conditions hereinafter set forth in this section, if the crime shall be a felony, the reimbursements for expenses shall be paid out of the State Treasury on the certificate of the Governor and warrant of the Auditor, as provided by this section. In all other cases, such expenses or reimbursements shall be paid out of the County Treasury of the County wherein the crime is alleged to have been committed according to such regulations as the Board of County Commissioners may promulgate. In all cases, the expenses, for which repayment or reimbursement may be claimed, shall consist of the reasonable and necessary travel expense and subsistence costs of the extradition agent or fugitive officer, as well as the fugitive, together with such legal fees as were paid to the officials of the State on whose Governor the requisition is made." (Emphasis added). Rather than classifying crimes as felonies, the suggested uniform rule provides that when the punishment of the extradictable crime involves confinement in the penitentiary, the extradition expenses will be paid out of the State Treasury. Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, § 24.

The language of N.C.G.S. 15A-744 is clear and unambiguous, and must be given its plain and definite meaning. State v. Camp, 286 N.C. 148, 209 S.E.2d 754 (1974). The Statute expressly classifies felonies separate and apart from "all other cases." The apparent legislative intent of the distinct class "all other cases" was to encompass crimes which are not felonies, to wit, misdemeanors.

This narrow construction of the Statute is supported by State v. Patterson, 224 N.C. 471, 31 S.E.2d 380 (1944), decided under former N.C.G.S. 15-78. In Patterson, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that where the return of a fugitive felon from any asylum state is accomplished without formal extradition, the State is not responsible for the expenses involved.

N.C.G.S. 15-78 was amended in 1955 to provide that if a fugitive is an alleged felon and he is returned to North Carolina without the aid of formal extradition, the State rather than the County must bear the expense of the return. 1955 North Carolina Session Laws, c. 289. This provision was carried over and recodified in N.C.G.S. 15A-744. 1973 North Carolina Session Laws, c. 1286, s.16. The use of the word "felon" in the subsequent provisions of N.C.G.S. 15A-744 is further indication of the legislative intent to exclude the State from responsibility for reimbursement of extradition expenses involved in the return of criminals other than felons. Therefore, when the extradition involves a fugitive convicted of or charged with a felony, the State Treasury is ultimately responsible for the reimbursement of the extradition agent’s expenses. However, in all other cases, to wit, misdemeanors, the County Treasury of the County wherein the crime allegedly occurred must bear the financial burden of reimbursing the extradition agent.

The unequivocal language of N.C.G.S. 15A-744 is controlling on the question raised herein. The appropriate County Treasury where the misdemeanor allegedly occurred is responsible for the payment of extradition expenses involved in the return of a fugitive misdemeanant probationer from an asylum state.

Rufus L. Edmisten Attorney General

Barry S. McNeill Associate Attorney