SB 310 North Carolina Senate · 2025-2026 Session

Criminal Law Changes.

SB 310 extends the deadline for property owners to file late applications seeking tax exemption under North Carolina law. It allows applications to cover property taxes levied during the three calendar years immediately preceding the bill's effective date, even if submitted after the usual deadline. If approved, the bill releases taxes for those three years but does not provide refunds for taxes already paid. This applies only to applications filed after the law takes effect.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Jun 2026
Senate Passage
May 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 17, 2025 Last action Jun 3, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 2 Edition 3 · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was completely rewritten to shift from a property tax exemption for religious organizations to a series of criminal law amendments. The new version introduces stricter penalties for discharging weapons into occupied spaces, creates a new felony for preparing to steal from merchants using specific tools, and increases punishments for peeping into rooms occupied by minors.
Scope change
The bill's scope changed entirely from civil tax administration to criminal justice and public safety.
SCOPE

All provisions regarding extending the lookback period for late property tax applications and releasing levied taxes were removed.

A new offense was created for possessing specific tools (like anti-theft devices) with the intent to commit larceny from a merchant, classified as a Class I felony.

ENFORCEMENT

New penalties were added for willfully discharging firearms or barreled weapons into occupied property, elevating certain offenses from misdemeanors to Class D and Class C felonies.

Punishment for secretly peeping into rooms occupied by minors was increased, with new definitions for 'photographic image' and 'private area' added to clarify the law.

Floor votes · Senate May 6, 2025

How they voted

450
Passed · 6 other
Total votes 51
May 6, 2025
D Democratic20
16 Yea 4
80% Yea
R Republican31
29 Yea 2
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
26
Key actions
6
Committee
12
Jun 3, 2026
Committee
Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Jun 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav
lower
Jun 2, 2026
Committee
Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Jun 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reptd Fav Com Substitute
lower
May 5, 2026
Committee
Re-ref to the Com on Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
Jun 10, 2025
Committee
Re-ref to the Com on Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
May 6, 2025
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
lower
May 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed 3rd Reading
upper
May 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reptd Fav
upper
Apr 30, 2025
Committee
Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Com Substitute Adopted
upper
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reptd Fav Com Substitute
upper
Apr 28, 2025
Committee
Re-ref to Finance. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Mar 18, 2025
Committee
Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
upper
Mar 17, 2025
Introduced
Filed
upper
2 primary · 4 co-sponsors

Sponsors