HB 534 appropriates $700,000 from North Carolina's General Fund for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to establish sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) training programs at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and Wake Technical Community College. Each college receives $350,000 to hire a full-time faculty member ($105,000), a clinical coordinator ($105,000), purchase equipment/supplies ($45,000), and cover program development and accreditation costs ($95,000). The bill directly affects these two community colleges and future healthcare professionals seeking SANE certification. It creates a concrete funding mechanism to expand training capacity for nurses specializing in sexual assault victim care.
SB 274 repeals North Carolina’s "crime against nature" law (G.S. 14-177) while creating a new criminal offense for bestiality (G.S. 14-363.4), defined as sexual acts between a person and an animal. The bill directly affects professional educators whose licenses could previously be revoked for "crime against nature" convictions, as it removes that offense from licensing disqualifiers but adds "bestiality" as a new grounds for automatic license revocation. It also updates legal references in statutes related to juvenile offenses and educator licensing to reflect these changes. The new bestiality law carries a Class I felony penalty. The bill takes effect December 1, 2025, for offenses committed on or after that date.
HB 339, the Economic Security Act, raises North Carolina's minimum wage to $22 per hour effective January 2026, with annual inflation adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index. It mandates equal pay for equal work, requires paid sick leave and family medical leave for all employees, and strengthens workplace safety protections. The bill also restores inflation-adjusted unemployment benefits, ends wage theft, removes criminal history questions from job applications ("banning the box"), and expands tax credits for childcare and low-income workers. Additionally, it creates a presumption that essential workers infected with COVID-19 contracted it on the job and appropriates funds for cost-of-living adjustments for public retirees.
HB 923 requires North Carolina counties and cities to remove specific personal information (such as physical addresses and phone numbers, but not names) from public websites when requested by certain legal professionals. Eligible requesters include state judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and federal law enforcement attorneys, who must submit written requests with required details. The bill mandates that local governments remove the information upon valid request, keep requests confidential, and prohibit re-adding the information without a written revocation. It also strengthens protections for law enforcement officers' residence details in personnel files, ensuring such information remains non-public except for safety-related disclosures.
SB 616 creates two pilot programs to provide alternatives to state psychiatric hospitals for individuals needing capacity restoration. The Community-Based Capacity Restoration Program (CBCRP) contracts with local community or regional programs, while the Detention Center Capacity Restoration Program (DCCRP) partners with county detention centers (with sheriff consent). Courts can order patients to participate in these programs instead of state hospitals, aligning with nearby psychiatric facilities. The bill directly affects patients, courts, and local health providers by expanding community-based care options. It does not change existing laws but establishes new contracting mechanisms for mental health services.
HB 620 adds High Point University School of Law to the list of educational institutions receiving five free copies of appellate court reports annually. It establishes a new program within the Administrative Office of the Courts to oversee local accountability and recovery courts, requiring annual reports on their operation and effectiveness. The bill also prohibits modifying court forms without clear notation of changes and removes public notice requirements for name changes when applicants are in address confidentiality programs or victims of domestic violence, sexual offense, or stalking, keeping related records private. These changes directly affect courts, law schools, attorneys, and individuals seeking name changes.
SB 406 would establish a new court process in North Carolina called Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), allowing family members, law enforcement, or health care providers to seek temporary removal of firearms from individuals deemed to pose a significant risk of self-harm or harm to others. Courts could issue emergency orders without the person present if danger is imminent, requiring immediate surrender of firearms and ammunition, with seizure ordered if compliance fails. The bill mandates specific evidence in petitions (e.g., details on firearms and safety risks), includes due process safeguards like verifying existing protection orders, and waives court costs for petitioners. It also requires annual reports to the legislature tracking ERPO usage, including petitions filed, orders issued, and denials.
HB 662 provides $40.48 million over two years for salary increases to North Carolina State Highway Patrol officers based on experience and rank, with starting pay at $56,000 and top ranks reaching $224,612 annually. It requires the Patrol to create policies allowing officers to take secondary jobs (e.g., security work) without conflicts of interest or performance issues, effective July 2025. The bill also allocates $3.25 million for bulletproof glass on all Highway Patrol and Capitol Police vehicles and $643,150 for infrastructure at the Huntersville station. These changes directly affect current and retired Highway Patrol members, aiming to improve recruitment, retention, and officer safety through concrete funding and policy adjustments.
SB 637 amends North Carolina's domestic violence protective order law to ensure same-sex couples in dating relationships can access these protections. Currently, the law required dating relationships to be between people of "opposite sex" for protective orders to apply, excluding same-sex couples. The bill removes this gender requirement from the definition of a dating relationship in the statute. This change applies to all protective orders issued on or after the law's effective date, providing equal access to domestic violence protections regardless of sexual orientation.
HB 78 prohibits North Carolina law enforcement agencies and officers from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with immigration enforcement activities - such as arrests or warrant service - in places of religious worship (churches, synagogues, etc.), elementary/secondary schools, and hospitals. The bill makes any agreements with ICE that violate this prohibition void and could lead to suspension or loss of law enforcement certification for officers who ignore the ban. It explicitly states that state law enforcement may still enforce North Carolina’s laws as usual, but not for immigration enforcement in these protected locations. The bill applies to all current and future law enforcement agreements involving ICE.
