North Carolina Felony Classes and Misdemeanor Sentences (2026)

North Carolina defines a felony as a crime that was a felony at common law, is or may be punishable by death or by imprisonment in the State's prison, or is denominated a felony by statute, and treats every other crime as a misdemeanor (G.S. 14-1). Under the Structured Sentencing Act in Article 81B of Chapter 15A, felonies are sorted into ten classes (A through I, with Class B split into B1 and B2) and misdemeanors into four (A1, 1, 2 and 3), and the sentence comes from a chart that crosses the offense class with the person's prior record (G.S. 15A-1340.17, 15A-1340.23).

Information last verified on 2026-10-17. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers how North Carolina's General Statutes define felonies, misdemeanors and infractions (G.S. 14-1, 14-3, 14-3.1), the Structured Sentencing charts and fine rules (G.S. 15A-1340.16, 15A-1340.17, 15A-1340.20, 15A-1340.23), the habitual felon and related repeat-offender status laws (G.S. 14-7.1, 14-7.6, 14-7.7, 14-7.12, 14-7.26, 14-7.31, 14-7.36, 14-7.41) and the general probation sections (G.S. 15A-1342, 15A-1343, 15A-1343.2, 15A-1344). It does not cover how individual offenses are classed (see the North Carolina theft laws and North Carolina assault laws pages), impaired-driving sentencing, time limits for prosecution, record clearing, local ordinances or federal offenses. For every state side by side, see felony and misdemeanor classes by state.

Felony vs misdemeanor in North Carolina

G.S. 14-1 draws the line in four parts:

"A felony is a crime which: (1) Was a felony at common law; (2) Is or may be punishable by death; (3) Is or may be punishable by imprisonment in the State's prison; or (4) Is denominated as a felony by statute. Any other crime is a misdemeanor."

The class itself is written into each offense statute. G.S. 15A-1340.17(a) provides that "The offense classification is as specified in the offense for which the sentence is being imposed," and that a felony "for which there is no classification" is a Class I felony.

Below misdemeanors sits a third category that is not a crime at all. G.S. 14-3.1(a) provides: "An infraction is a noncriminal violation of law not punishable by imprisonment. Unless otherwise provided by law, the sanction for a person found responsible for an infraction is a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00)."

North Carolina felony classes and sentence ranges

North Carolina does not give each felony class a single maximum term. G.S. 15A-1340.17(c) sets out a chart: offense classes run down the left side, prior record levels I through VI run across the top, and each cell lists the permitted sentence types and three ranges of minimum terms (mitigated, presumptive and aggravated). The statute states that "The presumptive range is the middle of the three ranges in the cell." Prior record levels are based on points: level I is 0 to 1 point, II is 2 to 5, III is 6 to 9, IV is 10 to 13, V is 14 to 17 and VI is 18 or more.

All terms below are minimum terms in months. Sentence types: A = active (prison), I = intermediate punishment, C = community punishment.

These are the ranges for the class itself; the habitual felon, violent habitual felon, armed habitual felon and habitual breaking and entering laws (G.S. 14-7.6, 14-7.12, 14-7.41, 14-7.31) set higher sentences for some repeat convictions, described below. A court may also depart from an active-only cell in limited cases (G.S. 15A-1340.13(g)), described under probation.

On fines, G.S. 15A-1340.17(b) provides that "Unless otherwise provided, the amount of the fine is in the discretion of the court." The felony class sections set no dollar ceiling.

How the maximum term is set

The chart number is the minimum. The maximum term is derived from it:

• Class F through I: G.S. 15A-1340.17(d) assigns a maximum to each minimum in a table, equal to the minimum plus 20 percent (rounded up) plus 9 months. A 4-month minimum carries a 14-month maximum, a 10-month minimum a 21-month maximum and a 13-month minimum a 25-month maximum.
• Class B1 through E: the maximum is the minimum plus 20 percent (rounded up to the next month) plus 12 months, so a 20-month minimum carries a 36-month maximum and a 192-month minimum a 243-month maximum. For minimums of 340 months or more, G.S. 15A-1340.17(e1) applies the same formula: "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."
• Sex offenses requiring registration: for a Class B1 through E felony that is a reportable conviction subject to registration under Article 27A of Chapter 14, G.S. 15A-1340.17(f) uses "60 additional months" instead of 12.

How a North Carolina sentence is set

The chart, not the class alone, drives the sentence. A felony sentence is set in four steps under G.S. 15A-1340.17: identify the offense class from the offense statute, determine the prior record level, choose a sentence type the chart cell allows, and pick a minimum term from the presumptive range unless the court finds aggravating or mitigating factors.

Departures from the presumptive range turn on proof. G.S. 15A-1340.16(a) provides: "The State bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that an aggravating factor exists, and the offender bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a mitigating factor exists."

Misdemeanor sentences follow their own chart. G.S. 15A-1340.20(b) requires that a misdemeanor sentence "contain a sentence disposition specified for the class of offense and prior conviction level, and any sentence of imprisonment shall be within the range specified for the class of offense and prior conviction level, unless applicable statutes require otherwise."

Habitual felon law

G.S. 14-7.1(a) provides that "Any person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three felony offenses in any federal court or state court in the United States or combination thereof is declared to be an habitual felon and may be charged as a status offender pursuant to this Article." On conviction, G.S. 14-7.6 provides that the habitual felon shall "(except where the felon has been sentenced as a Class A, B1, or B2 felon) be sentenced at a felony class level that is four classes higher than the principal felony for which the person was convicted; but under no circumstances shall an habitual felon be sentenced at a level higher than a Class C felony." A Class H felony, for example, is sentenced as a Class D felony, which the chart lists as active-only at every prior record level. Sentences under the habitual felon law run consecutively with any sentence the person is already serving (G.S. 14-7.6).

Separate status laws go further:

• Violent habitual felon: a person convicted of two violent felonies (any Class A through E felony) is a violent habitual felon, and on conviction of another violent felony "must, upon conviction (except where the death penalty is imposed), be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole." The judge "may not suspend the sentence and may not place the person sentenced on probation" (G.S. 14-7.7, 14-7.12).
• Armed habitual felon: a person convicted of a firearm-related felony after one or more prior firearm-related felonies is sentenced as a Class C felon (unless sentenced as a Class A, B1 or B2 felon), and "in no case shall the person receive a minimum term of imprisonment of less than 120 months"; the court may not suspend the sentence or order probation (G.S. 14-7.36, 14-7.41).
• Habitual breaking and entering: a person convicted of felony breaking and entering after one or more prior felony breaking and entering convictions must be sentenced as a Class E felon (G.S. 14-7.26, 14-7.31).

North Carolina misdemeanor classes

The misdemeanor chart in G.S. 15A-1340.23(c) works the same way, with three prior conviction levels: level I is no prior convictions, level II is one to four, and level III is five or more. All ranges are in days and apply unless the offense statute provides otherwise.

Class 3 has an added limit: under G.S. 15A-1340.23(d), unless the offense statute provides otherwise, the judgment for a person convicted of a Class 3 misdemeanor "who has no more than three prior convictions shall consist only of a fine."

G.S. 15A-1340.23(b) sets the fine rule: "Unless otherwise provided for a specific offense, the maximum fine that may be imposed is two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a Class 3 misdemeanor and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a Class 2 misdemeanor. The amount of the fine for a Class 1 misdemeanor and a Class A1 misdemeanor is in the discretion of the court."

Offenses without a class

Two default rules fill gaps:

• Felonies: a felony "for which there is no classification" is a Class I felony (G.S. 15A-1340.17(a)).
• Misdemeanors: G.S. 15A-1340.23(a) sends an unclassified misdemeanor to G.S. 14-3. Under G.S. 14-3(a), a misdemeanor for which "no specific classification and no specific punishment is prescribed by statute shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor." A misdemeanor that has a stated punishment but no class is classed by the maximum punishment the offense carried when Structured Sentencing (Article 81B of Chapter 15A) took effect: more than six months is Class 1, more than 30 days but not more than six months is Class 2, and 30 days or less or only a fine is Class 3.

G.S. 14-3(b) adds an upgrade: "If a misdemeanor offense as to which no specific punishment is prescribed be infamous, done in secrecy and malice, or with deceit and intent to defraud," the offender is guilty of a Class H felony, except where the offense is a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor.

G.S. 14-3(c) adds a second upgrade for offenses committed because of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin: a Class 2 or Class 3 misdemeanor becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor, and a Class A1 or Class 1 misdemeanor becomes a Class H felony.

Wobblers and reductions

The classification sections (G.S. 14-1, 14-3, 15A-1340.17 and 15A-1340.23) fix the class through the offense statute and contain no provision letting a court charge, sentence or reduce the same offense as either a felony or a misdemeanor. The class-crossing rules in them run upward: G.S. 14-3(b) moves certain unclassified misdemeanors up to a Class H felony, and G.S. 14-3(c) makes a Class A1 or Class 1 misdemeanor committed because of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin a Class H felony.

Probation in North Carolina

G.S. 15A-1343.2(d) sets probation periods for people sentenced to community or intermediate punishment, "Unless the court makes specific findings that longer or shorter periods of probation are necessary." Where a chart cell allows only an active sentence, those punishments are not available: for example, Class B1, B2, C and D at every prior record level and Class E at levels III to VI, among other cells (G.S. 15A-1340.17(c)). One statutory exception applies: a court that finds in writing that extraordinary mitigating factors are present, that they substantially outweigh any aggravating factors, and that an active sentence would be a manifest injustice may impose an intermediate punishment in an active-only cell, but not for a Class A or B1 felony, a drug trafficking offense under G.S. 90-95(h) or (i), or a defendant with five or more prior record points (G.S. 15A-1340.13(g), (h)). Class A carries life imprisonment or death, and the violent habitual felon and armed habitual felon laws bar probation (G.S. 14-7.12, 14-7.41).

The original periods are:

• Misdemeanants on community punishment: "not less than six nor more than 18 months."
• Misdemeanants on intermediate punishment: "not less than 12 nor more than 24 months."
• Felons on community punishment: "not less than 12 nor more than 30 months."
• Felons on intermediate punishment: "not less than 18 nor more than 36 months."

The same subsection adds: "If the court finds at the time of sentencing that a longer period of probation is necessary, that period may not exceed a maximum of five years." G.S. 15A-1342(a) repeats the five-year limit, caps probation for a deferred prosecution or conditional discharge at two years, and allows a special extension, with the person's consent, to finish restitution or ordered medical or psychiatric treatment, which "shall not exceed three years beyond the original period of probation" and may be ordered only in the last six months of the original period (G.S. 15A-1342(a)). Separately, the court may extend probation for good cause after notice and a hearing up to the five-year maximum (G.S. 15A-1344(d)).

Probation violations

On a violation, G.S. 15A-1344(d) lets the court continue probation with or without modified conditions, place the person on special probation, or, "if continuation, modification, or special probation is not appropriate," revoke probation and activate the suspended sentence, "provided that probation may not be revoked solely for conviction of a Class 3 misdemeanor."

Revocation itself is limited. G.S. 15A-1344(a) provides that "The court may only revoke probation for a violation of a condition of probation under G.S.15A-1343(b)(1) or G.S.15A-1343(b)(3a), except as provided in G.S.15A-1344(d2)." Those two conditions are to "Commit no criminal offense in any jurisdiction" and, for supervised probation, not to abscond "by willfully avoiding supervision or by willfully making the defendant's whereabouts unknown to the supervising probation officer" (G.S. 15A-1343(b)(1), (3a)).

For other violations by a person on probation for a felony, G.S. 15A-1344(d2) allows "a period of confinement of 90 consecutive days," and "The court may not revoke probation unless the defendant has previously received a total of two periods of confinement under this subsection."

For a person on Structured Sentencing probation for a misdemeanor, the court may order a period of confinement under G.S. 15A-1343(a1)(3) for other violations, and "may not revoke probation unless the defendant has previously received at least two periods of confinement" for such violations. A person on probation for a misdemeanor not sentenced under Article 81B may receive up to 90 consecutive days of confinement, and revocation again requires two prior periods of confinement (G.S. 15A-1344(d2)).

Recent changes

The class charts in G.S. 15A-1340.17 last carry a credit to S.L. 2013-410, and the misdemeanor fine and chart section G.S. 15A-1340.23 to S.L. 2013-360. The probation sections carry later credits: S.L. 2021-180 (G.S. 15A-1342 and 15A-1340.20), S.L. 2022-6 (G.S. 15A-1343.2) and S.L. 2023-45 (G.S. 15A-1344). S.L. 2025-93 (Iryna's Law) added an aggravating factor to G.S. 15A-1340.16(d) for an offense committed while the victim was using a public transportation system, effective for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2025. No future effective date is set in the sections covered here.

Related legal issues in North Carolina

The class of a particular offense comes from its own statute. The North Carolina theft laws page explains how larceny and related offenses are classed, and the North Carolina assault laws page covers the assault classes from Class 2 misdemeanors to felonies. Class A carries life imprisonment, which the North Carolina life sentence page explains. For clearing an old record, see North Carolina expungement laws, and for time limits on charges, see the North Carolina statute of limitations.

Under federal law, a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year may not possess a firearm or ammunition in or affecting commerce (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)), and the definition excludes "any State offense classified by the laws of the State as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or less" (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20)(B)). Separately, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) bars possessing a firearm or ammunition after a conviction in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33) defines it, whatever the misdemeanor's maximum sentence. The federal classes are on the felony and misdemeanor classes hub.

Related

• Felony and misdemeanor classes by state
• North Carolina theft laws
• North Carolina assault and battery laws
• North Carolina expungement laws
• How long is a life sentence in North Carolina

This article provides general legal information about North Carolina's criminal classification, sentencing and probation statutes as of 2026-10-17. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in North Carolina.

Last updated: 2026-10-17.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor in North Carolina?

Under G.S. 14-1, a felony is a crime that was a felony at common law, is or may be punishable by death or by imprisonment in the State's prison, or is denominated a felony by statute. Every other crime is a misdemeanor.

How many felony classes does North Carolina have?

Ten: Class A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F, G, H and I. A felony whose statute gives no class is a Class I felony (G.S. 15A-1340.17(a)).

What is the maximum sentence for a Class I felony in North Carolina?

The chart sets minimum terms, not a single maximum. For Class I the minimum ranges from 3 to 4 months (mitigated, prior record level I) up to 10 to 12 months (aggravated, level VI), and the maximum term follows by formula, for example a 4-month minimum carries a 14-month maximum (G.S. 15A-1340.17(c), (d)). Habitual felon status can raise the class used, and other repeat-offender status laws set higher sentences (G.S. 14-7.6, 14-7.12, 14-7.41).

What is a Class A1 misdemeanor in North Carolina?

It is the highest misdemeanor class. Unless the offense statute provides otherwise, the jail range is 1 to 60 days with no prior convictions, 1 to 75 days with one to four, and 1 to 150 days with five or more, and the fine is in the court's discretion (G.S. 15A-1340.20(b), 15A-1340.23(b), (c)).

Is an infraction a crime in North Carolina?

No. G.S. 14-3.1(a) defines an infraction as a noncriminal violation of law not punishable by imprisonment, with a penalty of not more than $100 unless otherwise provided by law.

Does North Carolina have wobblers?

The classification sections (G.S. 14-1, 14-3, 15A-1340.17 and 15A-1340.23) contain no provision letting the same offense be treated as either a felony or a misdemeanor; the offense statute sets the class. G.S. 14-3 runs the other way: subsection (b) makes certain unclassified misdemeanors a Class H felony, and subsection (c) makes a Class A1 or Class 1 misdemeanor committed because of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality or country of origin a Class H felony.

How long is probation in North Carolina?

Original periods are 6 to 18 months or 12 to 24 months for misdemeanants and 12 to 30 months or 18 to 36 months for felons, depending on community or intermediate punishment, unless the court finds a longer or shorter period necessary. A longer period may not exceed five years; a special extension with the person's consent to finish restitution or treatment may add up to three years beyond the original period (G.S. 15A-1343.2(d), 15A-1342(a)).

What happens if you violate probation in North Carolina?

The court may continue probation, modify conditions, order special probation, or revoke and activate the suspended sentence. For other violations it may revoke only after the person has received two prior periods of confinement for violations, which are 90 days each for a felony probationer (G.S. 15A-1344(d2)); a new criminal offense or absconding can support revocation directly. Probation may not be revoked solely for a conviction of a Class 3 misdemeanor (G.S. 15A-1344(a), (d)).