Amends GS 15A-534 to no longer mandate judicial officials to require a defendant to execute a secured appearance bond when imposing house arrest with electronic monitoring as a condition of pretrial release. Additionally, no longer mandates a judicial official to require a defendant who has failed to appear on one or more prior occasions to answer the charge(s) to which pretrial conditions apply to execute a secured appearance bond in an amount at least double the amount of the most recent previous secured or unsecured bond, or $1,000 if no bond has been required of the charges. Instead, requires the judicial official to impose conditions of pretrial release provided by the statute, which includes imposing restrictions on travel, associations, conduct, or place of abode of the defendant. Effective December 1, 2023, and applies to conditions of pretrial release imposed on or after that date.

Amends GS 50B-7 to provide that any subsequent order related to child custody, child and spousal support, and possession of property issued under GS Chapters 50 (Divorce and Alimony) or 110 (Child Welfare) supersedes similar provisions in protective orders issued pursuant to GS Chapter 50B (Domestic Violence). Applies to orders in effect on or after December 1, 2023. 

Establishes a new ABC permit under GS 18B-1001, called the happy hour permit, issuable to the holder of an on-premises malt beverage permit, an on-premises unfortified wine permit, an on-premises fortified wine permit, or a mixed beverages permit, that allows the holder to: sell an alcoholic beverage at a price that is different from the usual or established price charged for the alcoholic beverage; sell more than one alcoholic beverage to a patron for a single price; establish a single price based upon the required purchase of more than one alcoholic beverage; offer "cents off" coupons; offer a meal and alcoholic beverage at a single total price, whether or not the total price reflects a reduced price of the alcoholic beverage; and advertise the price and type of alcoholic beverages on outside signage located on the permittee's premises, and/or via newspapers, radio, television, and other mass media. Requires the relevant county or city to adopt an ordinance authorizing the issuance of happy hour permits prior to issuance.

Enacts GS 153A-145.7A concerning counties, and GS 160A-205.6, concerning cities, authorizing local governments to adopt an ordinance authorizing the issuance of happy hour permits, but specifies that they do not have authority to limit or amend the parameters of the permit as enacted in GS 18B-1001.

Effective July 1, 2023.

Directs the ABC Commission to amend its rule consistent with the Act pursuant to GS 150B-21.1.

Part I titles the act as the "North Carolina Reclaiming College Education on America's Constitutional Heritage (REACH) Act."

Parts II and III

Enacts GS 116-11.5 relating to UNC constituent institutions, and GS 115D-10 relating to community colleges, to require students to complete at least three credit hours of instruction in American government as a condition of graduation with a baccalaureate or associate degree, respectively. Requires reading the following five documents in their entirety and taking a final exam, accounting for at least 20% of a student's grade, on their principles: the US Constitution; the Declaration of Independence; the Emancipation Proclamation; five essays from the Federalist Papers; and Dr. Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail. Allows for satisfying the requirement in postsecondary-level courses outside of these institutions. Requires the Board of Governors (BOG), the State Board of Community Colleges (SBCC), and the board of trustees of each institution to ensure incorporation of these requirements into degree requirements without adding to the total number of credit hours required for a degree. Charges the BOG and the SBCC with ensuring compliance. Requires the BOG and SBCC to annually report to the specified NCGA committee on compliance, beginning November 15, 2024, with required content. Grants the BOG and SBCC discretionary authority to remove the chancellor of a constitution institution for noncompliance.

Enacts GS 116-11(15) and GS 115D-5(z) requiring the BOG and SBCC to adopt policies requiring each constituent institution and community college to require the instruction mandated under new GS 116-11.5 and GS 115D-10, respectively, as a condition of graduation.

Part III makes the act applicable beginning with the 2024-25 academic year to students accepted for initial enrollment in a bachelorette or associate degree program.

Section 1

Enacts GS 143-162.6 prohibiting State and local governments from denying or refusing employment, or discharging from employment, any person for refusing to submit to a COVID-19 vaccine or series of vaccines, or provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccine. Specifies that the statute does not prevent discharge for cause. Additionally prohibits State and local governments from acts of discrimination or retaliation against an employee who in good faith takes actions in reporting violations of the statute. 

Section 2

Enacts GS 115C-377.1 to prohibit governing bodies of public school units from (1) adopting policies regarding the use of face coverings and (2) quarantining healthy students. Effective on the date the act becomes law, allows a student or parent to bring a civil action against a governing body for violating the statute and requires awarding reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs for prevailing claims.

Enacts new subsections to GS 115C-12, GS 115C-47, GS 115C-218.75, GS 115C-238.66, and GS 116-239.8 to bar the State Board of Education, local boards of education, charter school and regional school boards of directors, and chancellors of lab schools from implementing any health requirement prohibited by new GS 115C-377.1.

Applies beginning with the 2023-23 school year unless otherwise specified.

Section 3

Amends GS 130A-152, which establishes immunization requirements for children in the state, to enact a new subsection prohibiting the Commission for Public Health, and public schools, colleges and universities, from requiring a student to submit to a COVID-19 vaccine or series of vaccines, or to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Makes conforming changes.

Enacts GS 130A-158.3 prohibiting State and local public health agencies and public health officials from requiring any person, including applicants for employment and employees, to submit to a COVID-19 vaccine or series of vaccines, or to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Includes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Health Director and the head of any State or local public health agency and their designees in the definition of State or local public health official. Includes other defined terms.

Section 4

Enacts GS 153A-461 relating to counties, and GS 160A-499.6 relating to cities, prohibiting counties and cities from requiring any person, including applicants for employment and employees, to submit to a COVID-19 vaccine or series of vaccines, or to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Includes defined terms.

Part I.

Titles the Act as "The Firearms Liberty Act."

Part II.

Amends GS 14-269.2 (setting forth those circumstances when weapons on campus or other educational property is a crime) by adding a new defined term, school operating hours, to mean any time when the premises are used for curricular, extracurricular, educational, instructional, or school-sponsored activities or when the premises are being used for programs for minors by entities not affiliated with the religious institution.  Adds a new subsection providing that the statute does not apply to a person with a valid concealed handgun permit, or a person who is exempt from obtaining a permit, if: (1) the person possesses and carries a handgun on educational property other than an institution of higher education or a nonpublic, postsecondary educational institution; (2) the educational property is the location of both a school and a building that is a place of religious worship; (3) the weapon is a handgun; (4) the handgun is only possessed and carried on educational property outside of the school operating hours; and (5) the person or persons in legal possession or control of the premises have not posted a conspicuous notice prohibiting the carrying of a concealed handgun on the premises. Specifies for these purposes, property owned by a local board of education or county commission must not be construed as a building that is a place of religious worship. Makes conforming changes to GS 14-415.11. Effective December 1, 2023.

Part III.

Amends GS 14-415.27 to allow a person with a concealed handgun permit to carry a concealed handgun in a law enforcement or correctional facility if the person is employed by a law enforcement agency and who (1) is not a law enforcement officer sworn and certified pursuant to Article 1 of GS Chapter 17C or GS Chapter 17E, (2) has been designated in writing by the head of the law enforcement agency in charge of the facility, (3) has in the person's possession written proof of the designation, and (4) has not had the designation rescinded. Allows for the written designation to be rescinded by the head of the law enforcement agency in charge of the law enforcement facility. Applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2023.

Part IV.

Repeals the following statutes concerning pistol permits: GS 14-402 (forbidding sale of pistols without permit), GS 14-403 (concerning issuance of a permit to purchase a pistol), GS 14-404 (concerning permit denials) and GS 14-405 (concerning confidentiality and record-keeping requirements). Repeals GS 14-407.1 (concerning permits for the purchase of blank cartridge pistols). Repeals GS 14-315(b1)(1) (setting out the defense for selling a weapon to a minor that the minor produced a permit under now repealed GS 14-402). Repeals GS 122C-54(d2) (giving a sheriff access to a record of involuntary commitment for mental health treatment or for substance abuse treatment that is required to be reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) by GS 14-409.43, for the purposes of conducting background checks under now repealed GS 14-404).

Part V.

Amends GS 14-415.16 to require rather than allow sheriffs to waive the requirement of taking another firearms safety and training course if a concealed carry permittee applies for permit renewal no more than 60 days after permit expiration. Adds new provisions to require sheriffs to waive the same requirement if the permittee applies for permit renewal after 60 days but within 180 days of permit expiration, if the permittee completes and submits documentation of completion of a refresher course on the state laws governing firearm use and safety certified or sponsored by the NC Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission (Commission), the National Rifle Association (NRA), or a law enforcement agency, college, institution or organization, or firearms training school, taught by instructors certified by the Commission or the NRA. Applies to renewal applications submitted on or after October 1, 2023.

Part VI.

Amends GS 50B-3.1 as follows. Allows a defendant to enter into an agreement with a qualified licensed firearms dealer, after the defendant surrenders possession of all firearms, machine guns, ammunition, and permits to the sheriff pursuant to existing subsection (d), which requires the surrender upon service of a domestic violence emergency or ex parte order pursuant to GS Chapter 50B (Domestic Violence). Defines qualified licensed firearms dealer as a federally licensed firearms dealer that operates a business in a commercial building located in the State that is open to the public, who regularly engages in the purchase and sale of firearms with members of the public. 

Provides for the qualified licensed firearms dealer to take possession of the surrendered items from the custody of the sheriff if the defendant is the owner of the items and the items have been in the custody of the sheriff for at least 15 days. Requires that the defendant authorize the qualified licensed firearm dealer to submit a form created by the Administrative Office of the Courts requesting the transfer with notarized signatures of the defendant and the qualified licensed firearms dealer, and authorizing the storage or sale of the firearms, machine guns, and ammunition by the qualified licensed firearms dealer. Requires the form to include information concerning the defendant's rights to recover the surrendered items. Requires the qualified licensed firearms dealer to submit the form and a copy of the dealer's valid federal firearms license to the sheriff, who must facilitate the transfer within 24 hours. Specifies that sale proceeds are property of the defendant. Specifies that the defendant's permits remain with the sheriff. Requires the qualified licensed firearms dealer to provide a copy of the record required to be maintained under federal law upon the receipt or disposition of the firearm, machine gun, or ammunition, to the sheriff and the owner, upon taking possession. Makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a qualified licensed firearms dealer that accepts possession to (1) release the transferred items to the defendant unless the motion for a protective order is dismissed or any order of surrender expires or (2) transfer possession to any person the dealer knows or reasonably should know will allow the defendant to exercise care, custody, possession, ownership, or control of the items. Prohibits a sheriff from charging storage fees for the first 15 days for items transferred to a qualified licensed firearms dealer.

Makes conforming changes throughout regarding retrieval, motions to return by third-party owners, and disposal, making the provisions applicable to qualified licensed firearms dealers.

Revises the procedure for a defendant's surrendered items to be returned. Now requires the defendant to submit a written request with the sheriff or the qualified licensed firearms dealer who has control of the firearms, ammunition, or permits (was file a motion with the court) at the expiration of the current order or final disposition of any pending criminal charges committed against the person that is subject to the current protective order, no later than 30 days (was, 90 days) after the expiration of the current order or final disposition of any pending criminal charge committed against the person that is subject to the current protective order. Upon receipt of the request, requires the sheriff or the qualified licensed firearms dealer to conduct a check through the NICS, and file a motion with the court on a form created by AOC if the check provides grounds for the defendant's preclusion from owning or possessing a firearm under State or federal law, during which time the items cannot be returned to the defendant until a court rules on the motion. Requires the court to hold a hearing and rule on the motion as previously provided for motions by the defendant for return of the items, with notice required for the qualified licensed firearms dealers, as applicable. 

Adds that a judge can order firearms and ammunition surrendered to a qualified licensed firearms dealer to be disposed of by sale by the dealer. Specifies that proceeds from the sale after deducting any costs associated with the sale and any storage fees owed to the sheriff or the qualified licensed firearms dealer must be provided to the defendant (previously, did not include deductions for storage fees from sale proceeds under this subsection). No longer requires the defendant to request proceeds from the sale by motion before or at the hearing.

Makes conforming, organizational, and clarifying changes. 

Effective December 1, 2023, and applies to orders issued on or after that date. 

Part VII.

Specifies that prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions.

Section 1

Effective retroactively to October 1, 2022, amends GS 90-186, which sets special powers of the Veterinary Medical Board (Board), eliminating reference to the registration of veterinary student preceptees, a term that was eliminated by SL 2022-67. Makes further technical and clarifying changes to the statute. Corrects existing language of subsubsection (6)d., GS 90-186, which includes a current version with a contingent expiration date and an enacted version with a contingent effective date (expiring and effective on the date the rules adopted by the Board pertaining to veterinary facility permits required by Section 4, SL 2019-170 become effective) to accurately reflect the changes made to the current version of subsubsection (6)d. enacted in SL 2022-67. Effective 60 days after the date the rules adopted by the Board pertaining to veterinary facility permits required by Section 4, SL 2019-170 become effective, reinstates the limitation of the $150 inspection fee for veterinary facilities to those resulting from a serious inspection violation or as a result of a complaint. 

Section 2

Amends GS 93B-8.1, which addresses the use of criminal history records by occupational licensing boards and State agency licensing boards. Expands the definition of applicant specific to the statute to include individuals who make an application for licensure from a board, which is defined to include both occupational licensing boards and State agency licensing boards, rather than occupational licensing boards only. Replaces the term person with individual throughout. Makes further technical and clarifying changes. 

Section 3

Amends GS 130A-440.1, which requires children entering kindergarten in public schools to obtain vision screening, to no longer require that the screening, results, or notice or reminders of recommended eye exams be in accordance with standards adopted by the Governor's Commission on Early Childhood Vision Care (Commission). Eliminates further references to the Commission.

Section 4

Makes a technical correction to the effective date provision set forth in Section 7(c) of SL 2022-73. Effective retroactively to July 11, 2022. 

Section 5

Makes technical corrections to the introductory language of Section 15.3(f) of SL 2022-74. Effective July 1, 2023.

Section 6

Amends Section 20.4(b), SL 2022-74, to correct the statutory reference to GS 147-69.2(a)(22), repealed by the law. Effective retroactively to July 1, 2022.

Section 7

Makes a technical correction to the introductory language of Section 39.16, SL 2022-74 to include reference to SL 2021-180. Effective retroactively to July 1, 2022. 

Enacts new GS 105-277.1G, creating a process where a qualifying elderly homeowner may defer increases on property taxes due for their primary residence. Defines “qualifying owner” as a NC resident at least age 65 who has owned the property as a permanent residence for at least five consecutive years and and occupied the primary residence for at least five years. Assesses the taxable value of a qualifying owner’s primary residence at the lower of either the true value or the assessed value in the first year the qualifying owner's application for property tax relief is accepted. Permits the qualifying owner to defer the portion of property taxes due on any increase in assessed value. Provides that a husband and wife may share the deferral benefit on a primary residence if one is a qualifying owner, but denies this benefit to other primary residences owned by two or more persons unless all owners are qualifying owners under the section. 

Mandates that each taxing unit record and carry forward the deferred taxes. Establishes disqualifying events and the amount of taxes due and payable upon the loss of eligibility for a deferral. Prevents any mortgagee or trustee who elects to pay the deferred portion of the property taxes from foreclosing on the property as a result of that election. Makes void any provision in a deed of trust or mortgage forbidding an owner from deferring property taxes as permitted under the section. Requires the county tax assessor to notify qualifying owners of their eligibility no later than January 15 preceding the tax year for the owner’s eligibility.

Makes conforming changes to GS 107-277.1 (concerning the elderly or disabled property tax homestead exclusion) and GS 105-282.1 (a)(2)c (concerning the application for special classes of property classified for taxation at a reduced valuation).

Effective for taxes imposed for taxable years beginning on or after July 1, 2023.