Enacts new GS 15A-306 as the title indicates. Requires the information request to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to be in writing. Limits the personal identification information to be released to a law enforcement agency or officer about an individual to the following: (1) the full name; (2) date of birth; (3) Social Security number; (4) addresses on file including past and present; (5) phone numbers on file, past and present; (6) name of any family members; and (7) immediate family members’ addresses and phone numbers, including past and present. Excludes from disclosure information that is prohibited from being released under federal law. Defines immediate family for the purposes of the proposed statute.
Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any employee of the DHHS or its divisions to fail to comply with an information request from a law enforcement agency or officer under subsection (a) of proposed GS 15A-306. Imposes a fine of not less than $200 for the violation. Declares that it is an affirmative defense to assert that federal law prohibits releasing the requested information.
Declares that any law enforcement officer who (1) requests information on an individual who is not the subject of a documented investigation or (2) misuses or maliciously uses the information received for personal gain is guilty of a Class I felony.
Provides that the information obtained under the proposed statute is not a public record, but is admissible as evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction under Chapter 8 of the General Statutes.

Amends GS 1-362 to provide that a debtor's earnings for the debtor's personal services that are less than or equal to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage per work week or 75% of the debtor's net income, whichever is greater, are not subject to attachment or garnishment (was, exempted the debtor's earnings for personal services received at any time within 60 days next preceding the order, from being applied to satisfy the judgment against the debtor when, by affidavit or otherwise, it appears that the earnings are necessary for the use of a family supported wholly or partly by the debtor's labor).
Enacts a new Article 15 to GS Chapter 1C entitled Garnishment of Wages to Enforce Judgments. Provides definitions for the terms (1) disposable earnings - compensation paid or payable for personal services after the deductions required by law are withheld and (2) nonexempt earnings - the portion of the disposable earnings owed to a judgment debtor that are not exempt under GS 1-362, as amended in this act.
Provides that final judgments awarding monetary damages may be enforced by garnishment of wages, except as provided in new GS 1C-1511 (provides that garnishment is not available to enforce deficiency judgments). Provides that there is no exception to garnishment of wages for earnings paid by a city, county, state, or local government authority.
Provides criteria for the issuance of the garnishment order, notice requirements, and service of the order. Presents guidelines for the judgment debtor's filing notice of objection to the garnishment order and for setting a hearing on the objection. Includes additional provisions pertaining to (1) payment to the judgment creditor and fee retention by the employer, (2) the duration of the garnishment order, (3) the priority of garnishment orders when there is more than a single order against a judgment debtor, (4) criteria for applying the payments received, and (5) procedures for handling improper garnishment.
Requires the judgment creditor to deliver a written notice to the employer within five days of satisfaction of the judgment and to notify the clerk of court in writing within 30 days after satisfaction of the judgment.
Makes a conforming change to GS 95-241(a).
Effective October 1, 2011, and applies to civil actions filed on or after that date.

Amends GS Chapter 163 to (1) expand the definition of political party, (2) reduce the number of signatures required for unaffiliated candidates to be included on various ballots, (3) exempt certain political parties from most primary election requirements and instead provide that those parties’ candidates be selected by party convention or else by plurality, and (4) repeal the petition requirement for write-in candidates and instead require the filing of a declaration of intent by the candidate.
Definition of a Political Party. Amends the definition of a political party for purposes of state elections under GS 163-96(a) by changing the threshold for qualification as a political party to (1) at least 10,000 votes of any group of voters polled in the last preceding general state election for certain offices or (2) 10,000 registered and qualified voters if qualifying by petition filed with the State Board of Elections (current threshold for latter method of qualification is 2% of the entire votes cast in the most recent election for Governor, or for Governor or presidential electors in the former). Expands eligibility for qualification by voters polled in the last preceding general state election to include not only those voters polled for that group of voters’ candidate for Governor or presidential electors, but also for any other candidate for Council of State for a full term. For qualification as a political party by petition, reduces the number of congressional districts from which registered voters who sign the petition must come from four to three, and adjusts the deadline for filing the petition to the third Friday in July (currently the first day of June).
Unaffiliated Candidate Ballot Eligibility. Rewrites GS 163-122 by repealing subsection (a) and adding three new subsections (a1), (a2), and (a3) that provide specific requirements (namely petition requirements) for a qualified voter to be included as an unaffiliated candidate on a general election ballot, including general elections to a partisan office. Prohibits an individual whose name appears on a primary election ballot from having his name placed on the general election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for the same office in that year. Details filing procedures and the number of required signatures (according to the office sought) for unaffiliated candidates.
Unaffiliated Candidate Ballot Eligibility in Partisan Municipal Elections. Amends GS 163-296 to change the number of signatures required for an unaffiliated candidate to be placed on a regular municipal ballot to 150 signatures if the municipality has more than 25,000 registered voters or 50 signatures if the municipality has 25,000 or fewer registered voters (current signature requirement is at least 4% of the total number of voters qualified to vote in the municipal election).
Participation in Elections by and Determining Primary Results of Certain Political Parties. Amends GS 163-98 to authorize political parties with less than 10% of the registered voters in the state to become exempt from most of the requirements of the Primary Act (Article 10 of GS Chapter 163). To become exempt, an eligible political party must notify the State Board of Elections by July 1 of an odd-numbered year that the party’s state convention or state executive committee has approved its exemption from the Primary Act. Eligible political parties that choose exemption must select its candidates by party convention, and the political party and its candidates must comply with certain certification and filing requirements in order for the candidates to appear on the appropriate ballot. If an eligible political party does not choose exemption, the results of primary elections for that political party are to be determined by a plurality. Amends GS 163-111 to provide that candidates of political parties with less than 10% of the registered voters in the state are not eligible to participate in second primaries.
Petitions for Write-In Candidates. Amends GS 163-123 by repealing the petition requirement for write-in candidates, and instead requires an applicant for write-in candidacy to file a declaration of intent with the State Board of Elections or the appropriate county board of elections.
Makes other technical and conforming changes. Effective when the act becomes law with respect to all primaries and general elections held on or after that date. However, provides that application of the act to 2011 partisan municipal elections is contingent upon receiving preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prior to July 1, 2011.