House committee substitute to the 3rd edition makes the following changes.

Renumbers sections  of the act beginning with Section 10 (former section 11).

Removes old Section 12, which amended GS 15A-268 concerning the transfer of biological evidence back to the collecting agency for preservation.

Removes old Section 24, which amended GS 132-1.4 by designating the contents of emergency calls made by callers less than 18 years old as not public records.

Removes old Section 24.2, which enacted new GS 14-3131 prohibiting possession of hemp-derived consumable products under age 21 and amended GS 115C-407 to require public schools to adopt policies prohibiting hemp-derived consumables from being used in school buildings, school facilities, on school campuses, or in or on any other school property owned or operated by the pubic school unit.

Removes old Section 24.3, which amend GS 14-313 by increasing the age for purchasing certain tobacco products to 21.

Adds the following.

Section 23

Enacts new GS 14-409.44 allowing a law enforcement agency that has an online crime reporting system that allows individual to report crimes online to allow individuals to file reports of lost or stolen firearms online. Specifies that the reports are not public record. Makes a person who willfully makes or causes to be  made a false, deliberately misleading, or unfounded lost or stolen firearm report guilty of a violation of GS 14-225 (under which false  reports to law enforcement agencies or officers are a Class 2 misdemeanor, subject to higher penalties when the report relates to a missing child or a child victim). Specifies that the statute does not require local law enforcement agencies to acquire and implement an online crime reporting system allowing the filing of online crime reports. Effective October 1, 2025.

Section 24

Authorizes the chief district judge and the senior resident superior court judge of their respective districts to establish rules to allow for the court’s manual signature of (1) orders of the court executed outside of court and (2) fee application orders, as described. Specifies that this does not apply to criminal judgments. Assigns responsibility for filing and defines manual signature. Expires two years after the act becomes law.

Section 25

Requires that all funds received by the NC State Bar, administered by the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, from banks because of interest earned on general trust accounts established by lawyers under the specified rule, or interest earned on trust or escrow accounts maintained by settlement agents, must not be encumbered or expended for awarding grants or for any purpose other than administrative costs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.