House committee substitute to the 2nd edition replaces the prior edition in its entirety with the following. Makes conforming changes to act’s long and short titles.

Section 1.

Specifies that unless covered under some provision of law providing greater punishment, a person who willfully or wantonly discharges a weapon in violation of GS 14-34.1 in or on the property of another without the property owner's permission, on a public street or highway, or at any public place where persons other than the person who discharged the weapon are present is guilty of a Class E felony. Makes conforming changes to the statute’s title. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 2.

Enacts GS 14-72.13, making it a Class I felony if the person is found within the area of a retail establishment where goods are stored or offered for sale with the intent to commit larceny from a merchant while knowingly possessing any of the three listed categories of antishoplifting or inventory control devices or theft shielding devices. Defines antishoplifting or inventory control device and theft detection shielding device. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 3.

Amends GS 14-202 (secretly peeping into room occupied by another person), as amended by SL 2025-70, as follows. Clarifies that the punishment categories for violations of GS 14-202(a), (f), (g), and (h) apply unless covered under another provision of law providing greater punishment. Defines minor and custody. Increases the punishment by one class if the victim is a minor and by two classes if the victim is a minor in the offender’s custody, as described. Expands the categories of second or subsequent offenses subject to a one class punishment enhancer to include all convictions (currently, only felony convictions). Removes provisions pertaining to punishment enhancements for second or subsequent convictions for Class 1 misdemeanors. Clarifies that an enhancement under GS 14-202(h)(3), applies in addition to other enhancement imposed under the subsection. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 4.

Increases the punishments for disrupting, disturbing, or interfering with a religious service or assembly as described in GS 14-288.4(a)(7) so that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class H felony for a second or subsequent offense. Makes conforming changes. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 5.

Adds new Article 16C, “Provision of Wireless Call Location Information to Law Enforcement” to GS Chapter 15A, as follows. Requires a wireless telecommunications carrier (wireless carrier) to provide, upon request by certain law enforcement personnel, and subject to any limitations under applicable federal law, available phone location information of a telecommunications device without delay if the law enforcement personnel asserts either of the following:

• The device that is the subject of the request was used to place a 911 call requesting emergency assistance.
• There is reasonable suspicion that the device that is the subject of the request is in the possession of an individual who is involved in an emergency situation that involves risk of death or serious physical harm.

Permits the wireless carrier to establish protocols pertaining to voluntary disclosures.  Provides immunity for wireless carriers and their personnel providing phone location information while acting in good faith and in accordance with the statute. Requires wireless carriers registered to do business in this State or submitting to the jurisdiction thereof and all resellers of wireless telecommunications services to annually submit their emergency contact information to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) by June 15 to facilitate the requests set forth above. Requires those carriers to update contact information with SBI immediately upon any change. Provides for a database maintained by SBI with the wireless provider contact information. Defines wireless telecommunications provider.

Directs the SBI to adopt temporary rules to implement the act, which are effective until replaced by permanent rules. 

Effective July 1, 2026.

Section 6.

Requires, in new GS 15A-511(c1), a magistrate to issue written findings supporting a finding of no probable cause for an implied consent defense, including at minimum, the following six listed findings:

1. When performed, the result of any alcohol or other impairing substance screening test.
2. When performed, the results of any standardized field sobriety tests.
3. When performed, the results of any drug recognition expert evaluation.
4. When available, the alcohol concentration or the fact that the driver refused the implied consent test.
5. Whether a blood sample for analysis was obtained from the defendant.
6. The element or elements of the offense charged that the magistrate believes are missing that led to the determination that probable cause did not exist.
7. The magistrate’s signature.

Provides for a form for filing, and requires that the findings be sent to the head of the law enforcement agency that employed the charging officer, the chief district court judge, and the DA for the judicial district. Instructs the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to electronically record the data in its database and make it available upon request.

Applies to initial appearances occurring on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 7.

Amends GS 18B-302 (sale to or purchase of alcohol by underage persons) to make it a Class F felony if a person of age who aided and abetted a purchase by a person under lawful drinking age if the underage person consumed the alcoholic beverage involved in the violation and serious bodily injury (defined) to the person under lawful age or another that was proximately caused by the consumption of the alcoholic beverage. Makes conforming changes. Makes conforming changes to GS 18B-302.1 and adds additional statutory cross reference. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 8.

Authorizes drug screening tests, in addition to alcohol screening tests already authorized under GS 20-16.3 when the driver has been involved in either a moving traffic violation or an accident or collision and the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person has consumed alcohol, a substance other than alcohol, or both. Directs DHHS to examine and approve oral fluid drug screening devices suitable for use by law-enforcement officers to test drivers for the presence of impairing substances other than alcohol in oral fluids. For each device or class of devices approved, requires DHHS to adopt regulations governing the manner of use of the device and the level of training required for officers who are authorized to use the device, including the shortest feasible minimum waiting period that does not produce an unacceptably high number of false positive test results. Allows negative or low (was, just negative) results on the alcohol screening test to be used in appropriate cases in determining whether the driver’s impairment is caused by an impairing substance other than alcohol. Makes conforming changes.

Changes references from testing methods approved by the Commission for Public Health to DHHS in GS 15A-534.2(d)(2) (alcohol testing for detained impaired drivers) and GS 20-138.7.

Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 9.

Expands the types of vehicles included in GS 20-138.2B (operating listed vehicles after consuming alcohol) to include TNS service vehicles (a motor vehicle operated for the purpose of operating a TNS service), effective for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Expands the reasons the DMV has to immediately revoke a driver's license under GS 20-17 to include when it receives a record of a driver’s second or subsequent conviction for driving a TNC service (a prearranged transportation service such as Uber or Lyft) vehicle after consuming alcohol.  Mandates, in GS 20-280.6 that a transportation network require that its TNC drivers agree in writing that they will not act as a driver while consuming alcohol or at any time while the driver has remaining in the driver's body any alcohol or controlled substance previously consumed. Prohibits a transportation network from using a TNC driver that has been convicted within the past seven years of a second or subsequent conviction of driving a TNC service vehicle after consuming alcohol.

Requires transportation networks to notify their drivers of these requirements. Prohibits a TNC from allowing a person to serve as a TNC driver if they do not comply with the written agreement set forth above by no later than 12 months from the section’s effective date.

Effective December 1, 2026.

Section 10.

Amends GS 20-19 (suspension or revocation of driver’s license and conditions of restoration) by enacting new subsection (d1) as follows. Permits the DMV, when a person has been convicted of an impaired driving offense and was sentenced under GS 20-179, to conditionally restore a person’s license after the license has been revoked for at least one year if the person provides the DMV all of the following: (1) a certificate of graduation from a Drug Treatment or Driving While Impaired (DWI) Treatment Court Program established pursuant to Article 62 of GS Chapter 7A and (2) completes an approved driver improvement clinic.

If a license is restored, specifies that the DMV will impose the following requirements and restrictions on the person’s license for the duration of the original revocation period: (1) a requirement that all registered vehicles owned by that person be equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system in line with the requirements of state law set forth in GS 20-17.8(c1), (2) a restriction that the person may operate only a motor vehicle equipped with a functioning ignition interlock system of a type approved by the Commissioner that is set to prohibit driving with an alcohol concentration of  greater than 0.02, and (3) a requirement that the person personally activate the ignition interlock system before driving the motor vehicle. Allows the DMV to impose a requirement that the person prove abstention from the consumption of alcohol by use of a continuous alcohol monitoring system approved under GS 15A-1343.3 in lieu of an ignition interlock system. Provides for reports by the monitoring program to the DMV if that option is used. Permits the DMV to impose other reasonable requirements, restrictions, and conditions on the person in addition to the three specified above.

Effective December 1, 2026.

Section 11.

Amends Section 33 of SL 2006-253, as amended, as follows. Changes the effective date of Section 20.1, Section 20.2, and the requirement that the Administrative Office of 42 the Courts electronically record certain data contained in subsection (c) of GS 20-138.4 as amended by the act from after the next rewrite of the superior court clerks system by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to December 1, 2026.

Section 12.

Removes provisions from GS 20-141.5 (speeding to elude arrest; seizure and sale of vehicles) that pertain to presuming the registered owner as the prima facie operator of the vehicle and requiring the officer to make a reasonable attempt to contact the registered owner as part of that presumption. Applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 13.

Specifies under the domestic violence provisions of GS 50B-2 that the existence of a verifiable order of protection issued previously or from another jurisdiction, including a military protective order (defined), may be considered evidence of the potential for future danger of acts of domestic violence against the aggrieved party or a minor child. Expands the types of foreign protective orders that are covered under GS 50B-4.1 (class A1 misdemeanors for violation of protective orders from foreign jurisdictions) to include valid military protective orders. When a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person committed a violation of this statute, that officer determines a military protective order entered into the National Crime Information Center registry was also issued against that person, and the officer has probable cause to believe that the person also violated the military protective order, the officer, or his or her employing agency, must notify the agency that entered the military protective order into the registry. Applies to violations issued and offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

Section 14.

Amends GS 162-8 (bond requirements) so that if a suit is maintained against the sheriff and the sheriff's surety upon their respective bond and the surety is required to pay out on the bond, the county must reimburse the surety on behalf of the sheriff for the amount paid by the surety on the bond, including reasonable and necessary  expenses incurred by the surety related to the claim against the bond. Specifies that the county will not beat the cost of reimbursing the surety for recovery of the money paid by the surety on the bond if the conduct that gave rise to the claim against the sheriff's bond resulted in the conviction of the sheriff of a felony.

Section 15.

Contains prosecutorial savings clause.