GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

SESSION LAW 2011-35

HOUSE BILL 159

AN ACT to authorize the division of motor vehicles to make a notation on a north carolina drivers license showing a license holder's military veteran status.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20-7(q) reads as rewritten:

"(q)      Active Duty Military Designation. - The Division shall develop a military designation for drivers licenses that may, upon request, be granted to North Carolina residents on active duty and to their spouses and dependent children. A drivers license with a military designation on it may be renewed by mail no more than two times during the license holder's lifetime. A license renewed by mail under this subsection is a permanent license and does not expire when the license holder returns to the State. A drivers license with a military designation on it issued to a person on active duty may be renewed up to one year prior to its expiration upon presentation of military or Department of Defense credentials."

SECTION 2.  Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

"(q1) Veteran Military Designation. - The Division shall develop a military designation for drivers licenses and identification cards that may, upon request, be granted to North Carolina residents who are honorably discharged from military service in the United States Armed Forces. An applicant requesting this designation must produce a Form DD-214 showing the applicant has been honorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces."

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective when the Division of Motor Vehicles has completed the implementation of the Division's Next Generation Secure Driver License System or July 1, 2012, whichever occurs first, and applies to drivers licenses issued on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 5^th day of April, 2011.

                                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Thom Tillis

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         Governor

Approved 4:05 p.m. this 12^th day of April, 2011