Attachment or Garnishment and Lien for Ambulance Service in Certain Counties.
§ 44-51.4. Attachment or garnishment for county or city ambulance or county or city supported ambulance service.
Whenever ambulance services are provided by a county, by a county-franchised ambulance service supplemented by county funds, or by a municipally owned and operated ambulance service or by an ambulance service supplemented by municipal funds and a recipient of such ambulance services or one legally responsible for the support of a recipient of such services fails to pay charges fixed for such services for a period of 90 days after the rendering of such services, the county or municipality providing the ambulance services, or providing financial support to the ambulance service, may treat the amount due for such services as if it were a tax due to the county or municipality and may proceed to collect the amount due through the use of attachment and garnishment proceedings as set out in G.S. 105-368. (1969, c. 708, s. 1; 1973, c. 1366, s. 1; 1975, c. 595, s. 2; 1991, c. 595.)
§ 44-51.5. General lien for county or city ambulance service.
There is hereby created a general lien upon the real property of any person who has been furnished ambulance service by a county, by a county-franchised ambulance service supplemented by county funds, or municipal agency or at the expense of a county or municipal government or upon the real property of one legally responsible for the support of any person who has been furnished such ambulance service. (1969, c. 708, s. 2; 1973, c. 1366, s. 2.)
No lien created by G.S. 44-51.5 shall be valid but from the time of filing in the office of the clerk of superior court a statement containing the name and address of the person against whom the lien is claimed, the name of the county or municipality claiming the lien, the amount of the unpaid charge for ambulance service, and the date and place of furnishing the ambulance service for which charges are asserted and the lien claimed. No lien under this section shall be valid unless filed after 90 days of the date of the furnishing of ambulance service, and within 180 days of the date of the furnishing of ambulance service. (1969, c. 708, s. 3.)
Liens created by G.S. 44-51.5 may be discharged as follows:
(1) By filing with the clerk of superior court a receipt of acknowledgment, signed by the county treasurer, that the lien has been paid or discharged;
(2) By depositing with the clerk of superior court money equal to the amount of the claim, which money shall be held for the benefit of the claimant; or
(3) By an entry in the lien docket that the action on the part of the lien claimant to enforce the lien has been dismissed, or a judgment has been rendered against the claimant in such action. (1969, c. 708, s. 4.)
§ 44-51.8. Counties to which Article applies.
The provisions of this Article shall apply only to Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cherokee, Chowan, Cleveland, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Gates, Graham, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Iredell, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Lincoln, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Pender, Person, Pitt, Polk, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Union, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Watauga, Wilkes, Wilson, Yadkin and Yancey Counties. (1969, c. 708, s. 5; c. 1197; 1971, c. 132; 1973, c. 880, s. 1; cc. 887, 894, 907, 1182; 1975, c. 595, s. 1; 1977, cc. 64, 138, 357; 1977, 2nd Sess., cc. 1144, 1157; 1979, c. 452; 1983, cc. 186, 424; 1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 933; 1985, c. 9; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 936, s. 6; 1987, c. 466; 1995, c. 9, s. 1; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 676, s. 1; 2000-15, s. 3; 2000-107, s. 1; 2017-53, s. 1.)