Bill Summary for S 801 (2021-2022)

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Summary date: 

May 25 2022

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2021
Senate Bill 801 (Public) Filed Wednesday, May 25, 2022
AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN POLICIES AND STANDARDS SURROUNDING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS.
Intro. by Batch, Fitch, Garrett.

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Bill summary

Part I.

Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist law enforcement agencies seeking grant funds by alerting law enforcement agencies to available grant funds and assisting law enforcement agencies with drafting and submitting grant proposals and applications. 

Appropriates $200,000 in recurring funds for 2022-23 from the General Fund to DOJ to hire two full-time grant writers.

Effective July 1, 2022.

Part II.

Appropriates $250,000 in recurring funds for 2022-23 from the General Fund to DOJ to award grants to law enforcement agencies for initiatives supporting community policing. Effective July 1, 2022.

Part III.

Appropriates $500,000 in recurring funds for 2022-23 from the General Fund to DOJ to be used for grants: (1) provided to law enforcement agencies to be awarded to law enforcement officers exhibiting exemplary service and (2) awarded to law enforcement agencies for meeting racial or gender diversity benchmarks. Caps grant awards at $10,000. Effective July 1, 2022.

Part IV.

Amends GS 15A-401(d)(2), which sets out when a law-enforcement officer is justified in using deadly physical force, by making the following changes. Adds that the use of deadly force includes strangleholds, lateral vascular neck restraints, carotid restraints, or any other tactics that restrict oxygen or blood flow to the head or neck. Requires in all circumstances in which a law enforcement officer uses force of any kind, that the law-enforcement officer use the minimum amount of force reasonably necessary to accomplish the law-enforcement action and attempt to use de-escalation tactics. Effective October 1, 2022.

Requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association and the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, to develop uniform use-of-force policies that may be adopted by all law enforcement agencies in the state. Requires the policies to be submitted to the specified NCGA committee by December 1, 2022, published on DOJ's website, and distributed digitally to all law enforcement agencies in the state.

Part V.

Amends GS 17C-6 to also give the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission the power to establish the minimum age requirement for qualification for entry level employment as a criminal justice officer, which must not be less than age 21. 

Amends GS 17C-13 to allow the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission access to a person's misdemeanor conviction records and allow the Commission to deny, suspend, or revoke a person's certification based solely on that person's conviction of four or more misdemeanors.

Amends GS 17E-4 to also give the North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission the power to establish the minimum age requirement for qualification for entry level employment as an officer, which must not be less than age 21. 

Amends GS 17E-12 to allow the North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission access to a person's misdemeanor conviction records and allow the Commission to deny, suspend, or revoke a person's certification based solely on that person's conviction of four or more misdemeanors.

The above provisions are effective January 1, 2023.

Part VI.

Appropriates $1 million in recurring funds for 2022-23 from the General Fund to DOJ for grants to law enforcement agencies to temporarily provide funding for detectives or other investigative law enforcement positions in order to aid in the investigation of person crimes that would constitute a charge of a Class D felony or higher. Effective July 1, 2022.

Part VII.

Includes a severability clause.