AN ACT to increase the punishment for altering, destroying, or removing permanent personal identification marks from personal property and removing, defacing, destroying, altering, or covering over identifying marks on certain machinery, equipment, and apparatuses.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑160.1(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, a violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be (i) a Class 1 misdemeanor if the personal property was valued at not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) at the time of the offense or (ii) a Class H felony if the personal property was valued at more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) at the time of the offense."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑401.4(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any part of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the machine or other apparatus was valued at more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) at the time of the offense, then the person, firm, or corporation shall be guilty of a Class H felony."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2021, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 10th day of June, 2021.

	s/	 Mark Robinson
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Tim Moore
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Roy Cooper
	 Governor

Approved 3:37 p.m. this 16th day of June, 2021