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.
HB 109 reclassifies strangulation-related assaults in North Carolina by increasing penalties based on the severity of injury. It creates three felony tiers: a Class F felony for assaults causing serious bodily injury (like permanent disfigurement or coma), a Class H G felony for strangulation causing physical injury, and a Class H felony for any strangulation assault. The bill defines "serious bodily injury" and "strangulation" to clarify legal standards for prosecutors and courts. It applies to offenses committed on or after June 1, 2025, directly affecting individuals convicted of strangulation assaults.
SB 94 would eliminate the death penalty in North Carolina by repealing all legal provisions allowing it as a sentencing option. It directly affects all current death row inmates, who would be resentenced to life imprisonment without parole, and future defendants convicted of capital offenses, who would receive life without parole instead of the death penalty. Key mechanisms include removing the death penalty from murder statutes (like G.S. 14-7.12), repealing related procedures (such as evidence retention for death penalty cases), and updating sentencing rules to mandate life without parole for violent habitual felons. The bill makes no exceptions for specific crimes or circumstances, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole as the sole alternative. This is a substantive policy change that would end capital punishment in North Carolina if enacted.
HB 216 creates a Continuous Alcohol Monitoring Fund funded by a 5-cent charge on each bottle of alcohol sold in North Carolina. This fund provides court-ordered continuous alcohol monitoring as a sentencing option for individuals unable to pay for the service themselves. The bill amends tax and sentencing laws to direct proceeds from the alcohol tax to the fund, which the court can use to cover monitoring costs for qualifying defendants. It directly affects low-income individuals convicted of alcohol-related offenses who would otherwise face barriers to this monitoring requirement.
HB 230 creates a new felony offense for individuals who commit a domestic violence misdemeanor (under G.S. 14-32.5) and have two or more prior domestic violence convictions within the past 15 years. The first conviction under this law is a Class H felony, with penalties increasing for subsequent offenses (up to Class C felony). The bill also expands police authority to make warrantless arrests for domestic violence misdemeanors when officers have probable cause to believe the crime occurred. This directly affects repeat domestic violence offenders in North Carolina, with the law taking effect December 1, 2025.
HB 86, titled "Citizens' Expungement Clarification of 2025," prohibits non-citizens and non-legal residents of the U.S. from clearing criminal convictions or charges from their records through expungement in North Carolina. The bill requires courts to verify a petitioner’s U.S. residency or citizenship status at least 30 days before granting expungement, including potential queries to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It exempts individuals who lawfully entered the U.S. and have filed or are awaiting an immigrant petition with U.S. immigration authorities. The law takes effect October 1, 2025, applying to all expungement petitions filed after that date.
SB 129, the Booking Photograph Privacy Act, prohibits North Carolina law enforcement agencies from releasing booking photographs - images taken during arrest or jail processing - making them confidential and not public records. The law directly affects individuals arrested and processed by police departments, sheriff's offices, or other law enforcement agencies. It bans publishing, distributing, or releasing these photos except when connected to a missing person report or if a court orders release for immediate law enforcement needs. The law takes effect October 1, 2025.
HB 34 creates a new criminal offense for stealing or misusing someone else's mail, directly affecting individuals who unlawfully take, control, or transfer mail intended for others. The bill defines "mail" broadly to include letters, packages, or valuable items sent to another person and prohibits two specific actions: stealing mail to deprive the owner, or transferring mail to benefit someone not entitled to it. Punishments range from a Class A1 misdemeanor for first-time, low-value thefts (under $200) to a Class D felony for repeat offenses or high-value thefts (over $2,000). This law, effective December 1, 2025, applies to offenses committed after that date.
