Is a conviction final for the purposes of enhancement when a defendant is convicted of a felony offense, sentenced, and subsequently paroled in absentia out of the county jail?

As long as the time for filing notice of appeal, motion in arrest of judgment or motion for new trial has expired, then you have a final judgment. You should be fine. Similar to a state jail felony where credit for time served at the time of the plea completely discharges the sentence.

I think the key is that he was sentenced to time rather than probation. It is the sentence of confinement without an NOA or MNT that makes it a final conviction. Probated sentences, by contrast, are not final until defendant is revoked to confinement.

So what's old is new again. You should hve no trouble there; in the late 1980's using convictions that resulted in a parole straight from the county jail was quite common. Imagine the shock of inmates who found out they were looking at 25-99/life... when they had not yet gone to the pen for their first 2 felonies!