Opinion ID: 896129
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: uniform mandatory disposition of detainers act

Text: [¶ 18] Moe asserts that if his May 23, 1996 demand did not properly invoke the IAD, it should be construed as invoking the UMDDA on February 1, 1997, when he was transferred from Colorado to the Burleigh County jail. [¶ 19] Application of the UMDDA, as codified in N.D.C.C. ch. 29-33, is limited to those instances where a detainer has been filed against a person imprisoned in a penal or correctional institution in the State of North Dakota. State v. Carlson, 258 N.W.2d 253, 257 (N.D.1977); see also State v. Smith, 849 S.W.2d 209, 213 (Mo.Ct.App.1993) (in order for appellant to obtain the protection of the UMDDA, a detainer must have been filed against him); cf. Runck v. State, 497 N.W.2d 74, 79 (N.D.1993) (detainer is a necessary prerequisite under the IAD). Assuming, without deciding, that an ineffective IAD request might be considered as a request under the UMDDA when the prisoner is returned to North Dakota, such a request could only be valid if a detainer had been filed against Moe with the person having custody of him at the Burleigh County jail. [¶ 20] No such detainer was filed, or could have been filed, against Moe. By definition, a detainer is a notification filed with the institution in which a prisoner is serving a sentence, advising that he faces pending criminal charges in another jurisdiction and requesting the institution to hold the prisoner or give notice when his release is imminent. Runck, 497 N.W.2d at 79. A detainer may only be filed when the prisoner is serving a sentence on another charge, not when he is being held on the pending charge. This result is supported by N.D.C.C. § 29-33-02(1), which requires the warden or other official having custody of the prisoner to send a certificate indicating the prisoner's term of commitment, time already served, time remaining to be served, good time earned, parole eligibility, and prior decisions of the parole board. The requirement of such a certificate indicates the Act is intended to apply only to prisoners already incarcerated within the state on other charges. [¶ 21] We conclude the UMDDA does not apply when the prisoner is being held locally on the pending charges and no detainer has been filed. Thus, Moe did not validly invoke the UMDDA, N.D.C.C. ch. 29-33.