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~ 15A-744. Costs and expenses. - Subject <br /> to the requirements , restrictions and <br /> conditions hereinafter set forth in this <br /> section, if the crime shall be a felon~, <br /> the reimbursements for expenses shall be <br /> paid out of the State Treasury on the <br /> certificate of the Governor and warrant <br /> of the Auditor, as provided by this section. <br /> In all other cases, such expenses or <br /> reimbursements shall be paid out of the <br /> County Treasury of the County wherein the <br /> crime is alleqed to have been committed <br /> according to such regulations as the <br /> Board of County Commissioners may promul- <br /> gate. In all cases, the expenses, for <br /> which repayment or reimbursement may be <br /> claimed, shall consist of the reasonable <br /> and necessary travel expense and subsistence <br /> costs of the extradition agent or fugitive <br /> officer, as well as the fugitive, together <br /> with such legal fees as were paid to the <br /> officials of the State on whose Governor <br /> the requisition is made. <br /> <br />(Emphasis added). Rather than classifying crimes as felonies, <br />the suggested uniform rule provides that when the punishment <br />of the extradictable crime involves confinement in the <br />penitentiary, the extradition e~penses will be paid out . <br />of the State Treasury. Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, <br />~ 24. <br /> <br /> The language of N.C.G.S. § 15A-744 is clear and <br />unambiguous, and must be given its plain and definite meaning. <br />State v. Camp, 286 N.C. 148, 209 S.E.2d 754 (1974). The <br />Statute expressly classifies felonies separate and apart from <br />"all other cases." The apparent legislative intent of the <br />distinct class "all other cases~' was to encompass crimes <br />which are not felonies, to wit~ misdemeanors. <br /> <br /> This narrow construction of the Statute is supported <br />by State v. Patterson, 224 N.C. 471, 31 S.E.2d 380 (1944), <br />decided under former N.C.G.S. § 15-78. In Patterson, the <br />North Carolina Supreme Court held that where the return of a <br />fugitive felon from an asylum state is accomplished without <br />formal extradition, the State is not responsible for the <br />expenses involved. N.C.G.$. § 15-78 was amended in 1955 to <br />provide that if a fugitive is an alleged felon and he is <br />returned to North Carolina without the aid of formal extradition, <br />the State rather than the County must bear the expense of the <br />return. 1955 North Carolina Session Laws, c.289. This provision <br /> <br /> <br />