§ 74G-1. Title.
This Chapter is the "Campus Police Act" and may be cited by that name. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-2. Policy and scope.
(a) The purpose of this Chapter is to protect the safety and welfare of students, faculty, and staff in institutions of higher education by fostering integrity, proficiency, and competence among campus police agencies and campus police officers. To achieve this purpose, the General Assembly finds that a Campus Police Program needs to be established. As part of the Campus Police Program, the Attorney General is given the authority to certify a private, nonprofit institution of higher education, other than those described by G.S. 116-15(d), as a campus police agency and to commission an individual as a campus police officer.
(b) The purpose of this Chapter is also to assure, to the extent consistent with the State and federal constitutions, that this protection is not denied to students, faculty, and staff at private, nonprofit institutions of higher education originally established by or affiliated with religious denominations. To achieve this purpose, the General Assembly finds that:
(1) Most of the State's private, nonprofit institutions of higher education were originally established by or affiliated with religious denominations;
(2) These institutions have made and continue to make significant contributions in education to the State and the nation;
(3) These institutions admit students regardless of their spiritual or religious beliefs;
(4) These institutions' principal mission is educational;
(5) All of these institutions are accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and as such have independent governing boards of trustees;
(6) The principal State power conferred on campus police by this Chapter is the power of arrest;
(7) This power is important to protect the safety and welfare of students, faculty, and staff at these institutions;
(8) In exercising the power of arrest, these officers apply standards established by State and federal law only; and
(9) The exercise of this power is reviewable by the General Court of Justice and the federal courts.
(c) Public educational institutions operating under the authority of the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina or the State Board of Community Colleges and private educational institutions that are licensed by the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina pursuant to G.S. 116-15 or that are exempt from licensure by the Board of Governors pursuant to G.S. 116-15(c) may apply to the Attorney General to be certified as a campus police agency. A campus police agency may apply to the Attorney General to commission an individual designated by the agency to act as a campus police officer for the agency. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-3. Liability insurance policy or certificate of self-insurance required; suspension of campus police agency certification for failure to comply.
(a) An applicant for certification as a campus police agency must file with the Attorney General either a copy of a liability insurance policy that meets the requirements of this section or a certificate of self-insurance designating assets sufficient to satisfy the coverage requirements of this section if the applicant is a nonpublic entity. The policy or certificate of self-insurance must provide not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) of coverage per incident for personal injury or property damage resulting from a negligent act of the applicant or an agent or employee of the applicant operating in the course and scope of employment or under color of law. The form, execution, and terms of a liability insurance policy must meet the requirements of the Attorney General.
(b) An insurance carrier that issues a liability insurance policy required by this section may cancel the policy upon giving 30 days' written notice to both the campus police agency and the Attorney General. The written notice must be given by certified mail, return receipt requested. Cancellation of a liability insurance policy does not affect any liability on the policy that accrued prior to the effective cancellation date.
(c) A campus police agency that is a nonpublic entity must maintain the liability insurance policy or certificate of self-insurance required by this section in effect at all times. The Attorney General shall suspend the certification of a campus police agency that fails to maintain a liability insurance policy or certificate of self-insurance when required to do so by this section. A certification suspended for this reason may not be reinstated until the person whose certification was suspended files with the Attorney General an application for reinstatement and either the required liability insurance policy or certificate of self-insurance. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-4. Powers of Attorney General.
The Attorney General has the following powers in addition to those conferred elsewhere in this Chapter:
(1) To establish minimum education, experience, and training standards and establish and require written or oral examinations for an applicant for certification as a campus police agency, a certified campus police agency, an applicant for commission as a campus police officer, or a commissioned campus police officer.
(2) To require a campus police agency or a campus police officer to submit reports or other information.
(3) To inspect records maintained by a campus police agency.
(4) To conduct investigations regarding alleged violations of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter and to make evaluations as may be necessary to determine if a campus police agency or a campus police officer is complying with this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter.
(5) To deny, suspend, or revoke a certification as a campus police agency or a commission as a campus police officer for failure to meet the requirements of or comply with this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter, in accordance with Article 3 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
(6) To appear in the name of the Campus Police Program and apply to the courts having jurisdiction for injunctions to prevent a violation of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter.
(7) To delegate the authority to administer this Chapter.
(8) To require that the Criminal Justice Standards Division provide administrative support staff for the Campus Police Program.
(9) To adopt rules needed to implement this Chapter, in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-5. Campus police program records.
(a) The Attorney General is the legal custodian of all books, papers, documents, or other records and property of the Campus Police Program.
(b) Any papers, documents, or other records that become the property of the Campus Police Program and are placed in a campus police officer's personnel file maintained by the Attorney General are subject to the same restrictions concerning disclosure as set forth in Chapters 126, 153A, and 160A of the General Statutes for other personnel records.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Attorney General may disclose the contents of any records maintained under the authority of this Chapter to the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, the Sheriff's Education and Training Standards Commission, or any other criminal justice agency for certification or employment purposes. (2005-231, s. 1; 2013-97, s. 1.)
§ 74G-5.1. Campus police agency records.
(a) Each campus police agency is the legal custodian of all books, papers, documents, records of criminal investigations or of criminal intelligence information, or other records and property maintained by the campus police agency. Books, papers, documents, records of criminal investigations or of criminal intelligence information, or other records maintained by a campus police agency that is affiliated with a private, nonprofit institution of higher education shall not be public records as that term is defined in G.S. 132-1.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) "Complaining witness" means an alleged victim or other person who reports a violation or apparent violation of the law to a campus police agency.
(2) "Violation of the law" means crimes and offenses that are prosecutable as misdemeanors or felonies in the criminal courts in this State or the United States.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, as a condition of certification, a campus police agency affiliated with a private, nonprofit institution of higher education shall, upon request by any person and subject to the provisions and implementing regulations of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f), and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, permit the following information maintained by the campus police agency to be inspected at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision:
(1) The time, date, location, and nature of a violation or apparent violation of the law reported to the campus police agency.
(2) The name, sex, age, address, employment, and alleged violation of law of a person arrested or formally charged or indicted for an alleged violation of law in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) The circumstances surrounding an arrest, including the time and place of the arrest, whether the arrest involved resistance, possession or use of weapons, or pursuit, and a description of any items seized in connection with the arrest.
(4) The contents of emergency telephone calls received by or on behalf of the campus police agency, except for such contents that reveal the natural voice, name, address, telephone number, or other information that may identify the caller, victim, or witness. In order to protect the identity of the complaining witness, the contents of emergency telephone calls may be released pursuant to this section in the form of a written transcript or altered voice reproduction; provided that the original shall be provided under process to be used as evidence in any relevant civil or criminal proceeding.
(5) The contents of communications between or among employees of the campus police agency pertaining to the information described in subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection that are broadcast over the public airways.
(6) The name, sex, age, and address of a complaining witness.
(7) The daily log of crimes reported to the campus police agency that is maintained pursuant to the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and implementing regulations.
(d) The campus police agency shall furnish copies of the information requested in subsection (c) of this section upon payment of the actual cost of reproducing the information. Any person denied access to or copies of the information listed in subsection (c) of this section may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order compelling disclosure of the information.
(e) A campus police agency shall temporarily withhold the name or address of a complaining witness if release of the information is reasonably likely to pose a threat to the mental health, physical health, or personal safety of the complaining witness or materially compromise an ongoing or future criminal investigation or criminal intelligence operation. Information temporarily withheld under this subsection shall be made available for inspection or copying as soon as the circumstances that justify withholding it cease to exist. Any person denied access to information withheld under this subsection may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order compelling disclosure of the information. In such action, the court shall balance the interests of the requesting individual in disclosure against the interests of the campus police agency and the alleged victim in withholding the information.
(f) If a campus police agency believes that the release of information listed in subsection (c) of this section will jeopardize the right of the State to prosecute a defendant or the right of a defendant to receive a fair trial, will undermine an ongoing or future investigation, or will violate the provisions and implementing regulations of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, it may seek an order from a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent disclosure of the information.
(g) Actions brought pursuant to subsection (d), (e), or (f) of this section shall be set down for immediate hearing, and subsequent proceedings in such actions shall be accorded priority by the trial and appellate courts.
(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring campus police agencies to disclose the following:
(1) Information that would not be required to be disclosed under Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.
(2) Information that is reasonably likely to identify a confidential informant.
(i) Campus police agencies shall not be required to maintain any recordings of emergency telephone calls for more than 30 days from the time of the call, unless a court of competent jurisdiction orders a portion sealed. (2013-97, s. 2.)
§ 74G-6. Oaths, powers, and authority of campus police officers.
(a) Requirements. - An individual who is commissioned as a campus police officer must take the oath of office required of a law enforcement officer before the individual assumes the duties of a campus police officer. The person in each campus police agency who is responsible for the agency's campus police officers must be commissioned as a campus police officer.
(b) Powers and Authority of Officers. - Campus police officers, while in the performance of their duties of employment, have the same powers as municipal and county police officers to make arrests for both felonies and misdemeanors and to charge for infractions on any of the following:
(1) Real property owned by or in the possession and control of the institution employing the officer.
(2) Any portion of any public road or highway passing through the real property described in subdivision (1) of this subsection or immediately adjoining it, wherever located.
(3) Any other real property while in continuous and immediate pursuit of a person for an offense committed upon property described in subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection.
In exercising the powers conferred by this subsection, campus police officers shall apply the standards established by the law of this State and the United States.
(c) Powers and Authority of Institutions. - The governing body of any private educational institution that has a campus police agency may:
(1) Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any municipality to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into any or all of the municipality's jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances in which this extension of authority may be granted;
(2) Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any county and, with the consent of the sheriff, to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into any or all of the county's jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances in which this extension of authority may be granted; and
(3) Enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any other public or private educational institution that has a campus police agency pursuant to this Chapter or pursuant to G.S. 116-40.5 to extend the law enforcement authority of its campus police officers into any or all of the other institution's jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances as to which its extension of authority may be granted.
(d) Concealed Weapons. - Campus police officers shall have, if duly authorized by their campus police agency and by the sheriff of the county in which the campus police agency is located, the authority to carry concealed weapons pursuant to and in conformity with G.S. 14-269(b)(5).
(e) Public Institutions Option. - Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Chapter, the board of trustees of any constituent institution of The University of North Carolina may elect to have its officers certified under Article 1 of Chapter 17C and Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, and the board of trustees of any community college may elect to have its officers certified under Article 1 of Chapter 17C and Chapter 115D of the General Statutes rather than requesting certification as a campus police agency and campus police commission pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.
(f) Exclusive Authority. - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority granted to campus police officers certified under this Chapter shall be limited to the provisions of this Chapter. (2005-231, s. 1; 2018-5, s. 17.1(a).)
§ 74G-7. Badges, uniforms, weapons, and vehicles.
Campus police agencies shall be responsible for ensuring that all employees, whether or not commissioned, comply with the provisions of this Chapter and the rules adopted under this Chapter, including those provisions pertaining to the wearing of badges and uniforms, the carrying of weapons, and the operation of vehicles. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-8. Minimum standards for campus police officers.
Applicants for commission as a campus police officer and a commissioned campus police officer must meet and maintain the same minimum preemployment and in-service standards as are required for State law enforcement officers by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and must meet and maintain any other preemployment and in-service requirements set by the Attorney General. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-9. Compensation of campus police officers.
The compensation of a campus police officer shall be paid by the campus police agency for which the officer is commissioned, as may be agreed on between them. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-10. Expiration, renewal, and termination of agency certification or officer commission.
(a) Agency. - Unless sooner suspended or revoked by the Attorney General, a campus police agency's certification expires on June 30 of the calendar year following the date it is issued. A campus police agency may renew the certification upon payment of the appropriate fee and compliance with this Chapter and the rules adopted under this Chapter. An entity whose campus police agency's certification was denied or revoked for a violation of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter is not eligible to apply again for that certification for three years.
(b) Officer. - Unless sooner suspended or revoked by the Attorney General, a campus police officer's commission expires on June 30 of the calendar year following the date it is issued. A campus police officer may renew a commission upon payment of the appropriate fee and compliance with this Chapter and the rules adopted under this Chapter. The Attorney General shall immediately revoke the commission of a campus police officer when any of the following occurs:
(1) Termination of employment with the campus police agency for which the officer is commissioned.
(2) Termination, suspension, or revocation of the certification of the campus police agency for which the officer is commissioned.
(3) Failure to meet in-service training requirements as required by this Chapter or the rules adopted under this Chapter.
(4) Violation of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter.
An individual whose campus police officer's commission was denied or revoked for a violation of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter is not eligible to apply again for a commission for three years. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-11. Immunity.
Neither the Attorney General nor any of the Attorney General's employees may be held criminally or civilly liable for any acts or omissions in carrying out the provisions of this Chapter or for the acts or omissions of agencies or officers certified or commissioned under this Chapter. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-12. Fees.
The Attorney General may charge fees for the items listed in the following table, not to exceed the amounts listed in the table:
Item Maximum Fee
Application for certification as $ 250.00
a campus police agency
Annual renewal of certification $ 200.00
as a campus police agency
Application for reinstatement of $ 1,000
certification as a campus
police agency
Application for commission as a $ 100.00
campus police officer
Annual renewal of commission as $ 50.00
a campus police officer
Application for reinstatement of $ 150.00
commission as a campus police
officer
The fees imposed under this section are not refundable. Fees collected under this section shall be applied to the cost of administering this Chapter. (2005-231, s. 1.)
§ 74G-13. Penalties and enforcement.
(a) No private person, firm, association, or corporation, and no public institution, agency, or other entity shall engage in, perform any services as, or in any way hold itself out as a campus police agency or engage in the recruitment or hiring of campus police officers without having first complied with the provisions of this Chapter. Any person, firm, association, or corporation or their agents and employees violating any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(b) The Campus Police Program may apply in its own name to the superior court for an injunction to prevent any violation or threatened violation of this Chapter or a rule adopted under this Chapter, and the superior courts have jurisdiction to grant the requested relief, irrespective of whether or not criminal prosecution has been instituted or administrative sanctions imposed because of the violation. The venue for an action brought under this subsection shall be in any county selected by the Attorney General.
(c) This section does not relieve a campus police agency from any civil liability for the acts of its campus police officers in exercising or attempting to exercise the powers conferred by this Chapter. (2005-231, s. 1.)