GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2019
SESSION LAW 2019-198
SENATE BILL 584
AN ACT to make changes to future criminal laws related to regulatory offenSes, to extend the time for local governments to report ordinances with criminal penalties, and to require the General Statutes commission to study current offenses not enacted by statute.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. Article 1 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 14‑4.1. Legislative review of regulatory crimes.
(a) Any rule adopted or amended pursuant to Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes that creates a new criminal offense or otherwise subjects a person to criminal penalties is subject to G.S. 150B‑21.3(b1) regardless of whether the rule received written objections from 10 or more persons pursuant to G.S. 150B‑21.3(b2).
(b) This section applies to rules adopted on or after January 1, 2020."
SECTION 2. Effective January 1, 2020, G.S. 150B‑21.3(b1) reads as rewritten:
"(b1) Delayed Effective
Dates. – If Except as provided in G.S. 14‑4.1, if the
Commission received written objections to the rule in accordance with
subsection (b2) of this section, the rule becomes effective on the earlier of
the thirty‑first legislative day or the day of adjournment of the next
regular session of the General Assembly that begins at least 25 days after the
date the Commission approved the rule, unless a different effective date
applies under this section. If a bill that specifically disapproves the rule is
introduced in either house of the General Assembly before the thirty‑first
legislative day of that session, the rule becomes effective on the earlier of
either the day an unfavorable final action is taken on the bill or the day that
session of the General Assembly adjourns without ratifying a bill that
specifically disapproves the rule. If the agency adopting the rule specifies a
later effective date than the date that would otherwise apply under this
subsection, the later date applies. A permanent rule that is not approved by
the Commission or that is specifically disapproved by a bill enacted into law
before it becomes effective does not become effective.
A bill specifically disapproves a rule if it contains a provision that refers to the rule by appropriate North Carolina Administrative Code citation and states that the rule is disapproved. Notwithstanding any rule of either house of the General Assembly, any member of the General Assembly may introduce a bill during the first 30 legislative days of any regular session to disapprove a rule that has been approved by the Commission and that either has not become effective or has become effective by executive order under subsection (c) of this section."
SECTION 3. Section 1 of S.L. 2018‑69 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 1. All State agencies, boards, and
commissions that have the power to define conduct as a crime in the North
Carolina Administrative Code shall create a list of all crimes defined by the
agency, board, or commission that are in effect or pending implementation. Each
agency, board, or commission shall submit the list to the Joint Legislative
Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative
Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety no later than December 1,
2018.November 1, 2019."
SECTION 4. Section 3 of S.L. 2018‑69 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 3. Every county, city, town, or
metropolitan sewerage district county with a population of 20,000 or
more according to the last federal decennial census, city or town with a
population of 1,000 or more according to the last federal decennial census, or
metropolitan sewerage district that has enacted an ordinance punishable
pursuant to G.S. 14‑4(a) shall create a list of applicable
ordinances with a description of the conduct subject to criminal punishment in
each ordinance. Each county, city, town, or metropolitan sewerage district
shall submit the list to the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure
Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice
and Public Safety no later than December 1, 2018.November 1,
2019."
SECTION 5. No ordinance adopted on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2022, by a county, city, or town that was required to report pursuant to Section 3 of S.L. 2018‑69, as amended by Section 4 of this act, shall be subject to the criminal penalty provided by G.S. 14‑4 unless that county, city, or town submitted the required report on or before November 1, 2019. Ordinances regulated by this section may still be subject to civil penalties as authorized by G.S. 153A‑123 or G.S. 160A‑175.
SECTION 6. The General Statutes Commission shall study the reports received pursuant to S.L. 2018‑69, as amended by Section 3 and Section 4 of this act, and make recommendations regarding whether any conduct currently criminalized either (i) by an ordinance of a county, city, town, or metropolitan sewerage district or (ii) in the North Carolina Administrative Code by an agency, board, or commission, should have criminal penalties provided by a generally applicable State law. The Commission shall report to the 2020 Regular Session of the 2019 General Assembly and to the Joint Oversight Committee on General Government on or before May 1, 2020.
SECTION 7. G.S. 93A‑8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 93A‑8. Penalty for violation of Chapter.
Any person violating the
provisions of this Chapter G.S. 93A‑1 shall upon
conviction thereof be deemed guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."
SECTION 8. Section 7 becomes effective December 1, 2019, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 7th day of August, 2019.
s/ Philip E. Berger
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved 5:12 p.m. this 14th day of August, 2019