NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Gov. Roy Cooper’s office announced Thursday the signing of 11 new bills into law.
Cooper signed the following bills:
- House Bill 219: Amend Environmental Laws
- House Bill 768: 2022 ABC Omnibus
- Senate Bill 388: Qualifying Farmer Zoo Sales Tax Exemption
- Senate Bill 496: DOI Omnibus Bill
- House Bill 607: Various Court Changes
- House Bill 615: Jordan’s Law
- House Bill 674: Require DNA Various Convictions/Other Matters
- House Bill 211: Social District/Common Area Clarifications
- Senate Bill 470: ABC Technical and Other Changes
- House Bill 791: Licensed Counselors Compact/DHHS Contracting
- Senate Bill 265: Bond Info Transparency/LGC Toolkit II
Cooper specifically noted House Bill 674, which is an act that makes changes to the law governing the assistance program for victims of rape and sex offenses.
“Victims of sexual assault deserve access to a rape kit without being further victimized by being charged for it. This new law will also strengthen the state’s DNA database used to catch criminals by including domestic violence and assault crimes,” Cooper said.
According to the North Carolina General Assembly, House Bill 219 is an act to make changes to the environmental laws of the state.
The act outlines technical adjustments to environmental laws and specifies the authorization of funds.
An act to make various changes to the alcoholic beverage laws of the state.
The act gets rid of winery permits and purchase transportation permits. It also lets businesses transport alcoholic beverages for wholesalers and suppliers.
According to the North Carolina General Assembly, it eliminates laws governing how much alcohol you can buy and transport, allows sale of alcoholic beverages at professional sporting events held at community colleges, and creates a new legal definition for a “bar”.
The act lets distilleries obtain mixed beverage catering permits.
Cooper also signed Senate Bill 388 into law, which is an act to expand the exemption for farmers to include certain sales to a qualifying farmer for a zoo, to exempt qualifying items from sales tax if purchased by a wildlife manager for wildlife management activities and makes changes to the property tax of wildlife conservation land.
The act creates tax exemptions for farmers operating a "zoo" in addition to their farming activities.
Senate Bill 496 is an act to amend and make clarifying changes to different insurance laws, as recommended by the Department of Insurance.
The act also amends laws related to broker and insurance producer licenses, to allow self-insurance to serve as proof of financial responsibility.
An act to make various changes affecting the North Carolina Court System.
Under Section 1a of the act, dismissed charges and not guilty verdicts shall not be expunged by operation of law and the Administrative Office of the Courts shall immediately end all procedures related to the automatic expunction of dismissed charges, not guilty verdicts, and findings of not responsible.
House Bill 615 is an act to allow judges to temporarily renew a domestic violence protective order upon the “timely filing” of a motion to renew a domestic violence protective order.
Under the act, judges can temporarily renew domestic violence protective orders if certain stipulations are met.
The act also is to amend the requirements for custody mediation.
An act to require DNA samples from people found not guilty of assault or violation of protective order by reason of insanity.
The act also makes changes to the law governing the assistance program for victims of rape and sex offenses.
Under the act, facilities cannot bill victims in a forensic medical examination. Changes also include increases in the amount the program can spend in medical examinations and expanding the definition of "sexual assault" with regards to the program.
Attorney General Stein released a statement about his influence in making improvements to North Carolina’s DNA collection laws since 2020.
“I’m grateful to the legislature for passing HB 674 and to Gov. Cooper for signing it into law. We know that many people who commit sexual assault have previously committed other violent crimes against women. This bill improves our current DNA collection laws by adding the DNA of thousands of people convicted of certain crimes to our database, including assault on a female and assault on a child. This will help law enforcement solve more sexual assault cases and prevent future crimes, and I am proud of my office's role in drafting and championing this law. I especially want to thank Ms. Linda and other advocates for their commitment to helping victims of sexual assault and improving North Carolina’s response to these crimes.
The act clarifies rules around social districts.
An act to make to changes to alcohol laws and to make a correction to the name of the Propane Trade Association.
House Bill 791 is an act to implement procedures for contract reform within the Department of Health and Human Services.
The act also implements technical adjustments to DHHS contracting regulations.
Under Senate Bill 265, local governments must say what total estimated interest is over the term of the bond, what the increase in property tax rate is if any, and how much of the 2/3 bond capacity the local government has in current fiscal year, if any.
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