ENHANCE PRISON SECURITY.

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View NCGA Bill Details2017-2018 Session
House Bill 969 (Public) Filed Thursday, May 17, 2018
AN ACT TO ENHANCE PRISON SECURITY, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY.
Intro. by Davis, Boles.

Status: Ch. SL 2018-67 (House Action) (Jun 25 2018)

SOG comments (2):

Identical Bill

Identical to S728 filed on 5/21/18.

Long Title Change

House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes changes to the long title. The original title is as follows:

AN ACT TO ENHANCE PRISON SECURITY AND TO MODIFY THE ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDY PROCEDURE, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY.

H 969/S.L. 2018-67

Bill Summaries:

  • Summary date: Jun 26 2018 - View Summary

    AN ACT TO ENHANCE PRISON SECURITY, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY. Enacted June 25, 2018. Sections 1.2 and 4 are effective June 25, 2018. The remainder is effective December 1, 2018.


  • Summary date: Jun 15 2018 - View Summary

    Senate amendment makes the following change to 3rd edition. Amends GS 14-258.4, requiring sentences imposed under this Article (Prison Breach and Prisoners) to run consecutively and to commence at the expiration of any sentence being served by the person sentenced under this section. 


  • Summary date: Jun 13 2018 - View Summary

    House amendments to the 2nd ed. revise the bill as follows:

    Amendment 1 revises amendments to GS 14-258.4 by adding a new subsection (b) to make willfully exposing genitalia to an employee while the employee is performing official duties a Class I felony, and adding a new subsection (c) to apply the statute to offenses committed inside or outside a jail or correctional facility. 

    Amendment 2 deletes revisions to GS 143B-919 and instead amends GS 143B-929 to authorize the Information and Sharing Analysis Center of the State Bureau of Investigation to analyze information related to threats of violence on educational property or places of worship.  The Center must promptly notify local law enforcement if the threat is credible and of the location of the threatened property and the suspect if ascertained.  If requested by local law enforcement, the SBI and other sworn law enforcement officers may provide assistance to local law enforcement.


  • Summary date: Jun 11 2018 - View Summary

    House committee substitute deletes all provisions of 1st edition and replaces it with AN ACT TO ENHANCE PRISON SECURITY, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY. Now amends GS Chapter 14, Article 33, concerning prison-related safety offenses including prison escapes and possession and furnishing of dangerous weapons in prison, adding new GS 14-254.5, defining the term employee as any person working for the State or local government, and prisoner as any person in the custody of a law enforcement officer, the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, or any local confinement facility.

    Adds new GS 14-258.7, requiring the Department of Public Safety and Juvenile Justice, the Conference of District Attorneys, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to each report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety annually by March 15. These reports must include the quantity and resolution of each violation of Article 33 and GS 14-34.5(b), 14-34.7(b), and 14-34.7(c)(2) (concerning assault on detention facility employees). Effective when the act becomes law.

    Amends  GS 14-258.4(a), which sets out the elements of the crime of malicious conduct by a prisoner, to include exposing genitalia to an employee and throwing an unknown substance on an employee. Makes other conforming changes. Amends GS 14-258, deleting all provisions and replacing them with new section "Providing forbidden articles or tools for escape; possessing tools for escape." Sets out the elements of providing forbidden articles or tools for escape as conveying to a prisoner an article forbidden by prison rules or a letter, oral message, weapon, tool, good, clothing, or device to effect an escape or aide in an assault or insurrection. Makes this a Class H felony, elevated to a Class F felony if committing this conveyance does effect an escape, assault, or insurrection. Sets possession of escape tools for the purpose of effecting an escape or aiding in an assault or insurrection as a Class H felony. Effective December 1, 2018, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. 

    Amends GS 143B-919, which sets out the cases which the State Bureau of Investigation is required to investigate, adding any threat to school safety due to weapons on campus, and breaking or entering into a place of worship with intent to commit any felony or larceny. Makes other technical changes. Effective when the act becomes law.

    Unless otherwise indicated, effective December 1, 2018.


  • Summary date: May 17 2018 - View Summary

    Amends GS 14-258.4, concerning malicious conduct by a prisoner, to provide that any person in the custody of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety (Division), any law enforcement officer, or any local confinement facility who knowingly and willfully throws, emits, or causes to be used as a projectile bodily fluids, excrement, or unknown substance (previously, does not include unknown substance) at a State or local government employee while the employee is in the performance of the employee’s duties is guilty of a Class F felony. Also expands the statute to provide that any person in the custody of the Division, any law enforcement officer, or any local confinement facility that knowingly and willfully exposes genitalia or masturbates at a State or local government employee while the employee is in the performance of the employee’s duties is guilty of a Class F felony. Provides that sentences imposed under Article 33 of GS Chapter 14 (Prison Breach and Prisoners) run consecutively to and commence at the expiration of any sentence being served by the person under the statute. Effective December 1, 2018, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

    Amends GS 148-118.2, which requires prisoners to pursue and exhaust remedies provided by the Corrections Administrative Remedy Procedure (Procedure) prior to filing a grievance or complaint against the State, the Division, or its employees in state court. Clarifies that a state court must dismiss a prisoner’s petition or complaint if the prisoner has failed to pursue administrative remedies through the Procedure or the prisoner’s ability to file a grievance pursuant to the Procedure is time barred. Eliminates the existing provision that allows the court to waive the exhaustion requirement if it finds the waiver to be in the interest of justice. Adds a new provision limiting a prisoner who alleges a claim for damages less than $500 to the remedies afforded by the Procedure. Makes language gender-neutral. Effective October 1, 2018, and applies to grievances filed on or after that date.

    Amends GS 148-118.8, which establishes that the inmate grievance examiner’s decision to grant appropriate relief or deny a prisoner’s grievance pursuant to the Procedure is binding unless the Secretary of Public Safety finds that the relief is not appropriate, and the Secretary provides written findings and an alternative order of relief or denies the grievance. Authorizes the Secretary of Public Safety’s designee to also find that the inmate grievance examiner’s decision is not appropriate, and to provide written findings and an alternative order or denial in the same manner as the Secretary is authorized.