A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to regulate the dissemination and removal or destruction of booking photographs.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 23 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 15A‑502.01.  Prohibition on providing copy of booking photograph.
(a)	Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Booking photograph. – A photograph or image of an individual that is generated (i) for identification purposes and (ii) when the individual is booked into a detention facility.
(2)	Publish‑for‑pay publication. – A publication that requires the payment of a fee or other consideration in order to remove or delete a booking photograph from the publication.
(3)	Publish‑for‑pay website. – A website that requires the payment of a fee or other consideration in order to remove or delete a booking photograph from the website.
(b)	Prohibition. – A law enforcement agency is prohibited from providing a copy of a booking photograph in any format to a person requesting a copy of the booking photograph if (i) the booking photograph will be placed in a publish‑for‑pay publication or posted to a publish‑for‑pay website or (ii) the booking photograph is prohibited from disclosure under G.S. 132‑1.4.
(c)	Statement Required. – A person who requests a copy of a booking photograph from a law enforcement agency shall, at the time of making the request, submit a written statement signed by the person affirming that the booking photograph will not be placed in a publish‑for‑pay publication or posted to a publish‑for‑pay website. A written statement provided in accordance with this subsection shall have the same effect as an affirmation under G.S. 14‑209, and a person's knowing and intentional perjury on a statement provided in accordance with this subsection shall be subject to the punishment set forth in G.S. 14‑209.
(d)	Removal. – A publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website shall remove and destroy a booking photograph of an individual who submits a request for removal and destruction as follows:
(1)	Within seven calendar days after the day on which the individual makes the request if both of the following conditions are met:
a.	The booking photograph relates to a criminal charge (i) that was dismissed without leave, dismissed by the court, or resulted in a finding of not guilty or not responsible or (ii) that was expunged, vacated, or pardoned.
b.	The individual submits with the request evidence that the condition in sub‑subdivision a. of this subdivision is met.
In addition to any other punishment or penalty set forth in this section, an act of a publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website that seeks to condition removal or destruction of a booking photograph covered by this subdivision on the payment of any fee or other item of value constitutes extortion and shall be punishable under G.S. 14‑118.4.
(2)	Within 30 calendar days after the day on which the individual makes the request for requests not covered by subdivision (1) of this subsection. A publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website may condition the removal or destruction of a booking photograph covered by this subdivision on the payment of a fee in an amount not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00).
(e)	Failure to Remove. – In addition to any other punishment or penalty set forth in this section, if a publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website does not remove and destroy a booking photograph in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, the individual who submitted the request for removal and destruction may bring a civil action against the publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website, and the publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website is liable for both of the following:
(1)	All costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any legal action the individual brings in relation to the failure of the publish‑for‑pay publication or publish‑for‑pay website to remove and destroy the booking photograph.
(2)	A civil penalty as follows:
a.	For failure to remove and destroy a booking photograph subject to subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of this section, a civil penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day for each day after the seven‑day deadline described in subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of this section on which the booking photograph is visible or publicly accessible in the publish‑for‑pay publication or the publish‑for‑pay website.
b.	For failure to remove and destroy a booking photograph subject to subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of this section, a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each day after the 30‑day deadline described in subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of this section on which the booking photograph is visible or publicly accessible in the publish‑for‑pay publication or the publish‑for‑pay website."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 15A‑152 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(f)	Applicability. – This section does not apply to booking photographs, as defined in G.S. 15A‑502.01."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 132‑1.4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 132‑1.4.  Criminal investigations; intelligence information records; Innocence Inquiry Commission records.
(a)	Records of criminal investigations conducted by public law enforcement agencies, records of criminal intelligence information compiled by public law enforcement agencies, records of investigations conducted by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, and booking photographs are not public records as defined by G.S. 132‑1. Records of criminal investigations conducted by public law enforcement agencies or records of criminal intelligence information may be released by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b)	As used in this section:
(1)	Records of criminal investigations. – All records or any information that pertains to a person or group of persons that is compiled by public law enforcement agencies for the purpose of attempting to prevent or solve violations of the law, including information derived from witnesses, laboratory tests, surveillance, investigators, confidential informants, photographs, and measurements. The term also includes any records, worksheets, reports, or analyses prepared or conducted by the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory at the request of any public law enforcement agency in connection with a criminal investigation.
(2)	Records of criminal intelligence information. – Records or information that pertain to a person or group of persons that is compiled by a public law enforcement agency in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor possible violations of the law.
(3)	Public law enforcement agency. – A municipal police department, a county police department, a sheriff's department, a company police agency commissioned by the Attorney General pursuant to G.S. 74E‑1, et seq., and any State or local agency, force, department, or unit responsible for investigating, preventing, or solving violations of the law.
(4)	Violations of the law. – Crimes and offenses that are prosecutable in the criminal courts in this State or the United States and infractions as defined in G.S. 14‑3.1.
(5)	Complaining witness. – An alleged victim or other person who reports a violation or apparent violation of the law to a public law enforcement agency.
(6)	Booking photograph. – As defined in G.S. 15A‑502.01.
(c)	Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, and unless otherwise prohibited by law, the following information shall be public records within the meaning of G.S. 132‑1.
…
(7)	A booking photograph, if any of the following conditions are met:
a.	The person in the booking photograph is convicted of a criminal offense based upon the conduct for which the person was incarcerated at the time the photograph was taken.
b.	A law enforcement agency releases or disseminates the photograph after determining that (i) the individual is a fugitive or an imminent threat to another person or to the public and (ii) releasing or disseminating the photograph will assist in apprehending the person or reducing or eliminating the threat.
c.	A court of competent jurisdiction orders the release or dissemination of the photograph based on a finding that the release or dissemination is in furtherance of a legitimate law enforcement interest.
…."
SECTION 4.  The Revisor of Statutes is authorized to renumber the subdivisions of G.S. 132‑1.4(b), as amended by Section 3 of this act, to ensure that the subdivisions are listed in alphabetical order and in a manner that reduces the current use of alphanumeric designations, to make conforming changes, and to reserve sufficient space to accommodate future additions to the statutory subsection.
SECTION 5.  Subsections (b) and (c) of G.S. 15A‑502.01, as enacted by Section 1 of this act, become effective October 1, 2021, and apply to photographs taken on or after that date. The remainder of this act becomes effective October 1, 2021.