GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2025

HOUSE BILL 206

RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT to enact modifications as recommended by the north carolina department of public safety, to authorize tribal police chiefs to enter into mutual aid agreements with other law enforcement agencies, and to modify the law related to the confirmation of the adjutant general.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

AIRPORT LEASE AUTHORITY

SECTION 1.(a)  The North Carolina Department of Public Safety and North Carolina Air National Guard are granted independent signature authority to accept an additional 50‑year land use license from the United States Air Force for the approximately 114.19 acres at the Stanly County Airport that extends current License No. DACA21‑3‑94‑0983 through calendar year 2093.

SECTION 1.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law.

ALLOW DONATION OF CERTAIN VEHICLES

SECTION 3.(a)  The Division of Emergency Management at the Department of Public Safety is authorized to transfer ownership of travel trailers and utility terrain vehicles that were donated to or purchased by the State during disaster operations to any of the following: local governments, nonprofit organizations working in emergency response or disaster relief, or to survivors with a need for long‑term housing support.

SECTION 3.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law.

VICTIM COMPENSATION CHANGES

SECTION 5.(a)  G.S. 15B‑2 reads as rewritten:

§ 15B‑2.  Definitions.

As used in this Article, the following definitions apply, unless the context requires otherwise:

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(7)        Dependent's economic loss. – Loss after a victim's death of contributions of things of economic value to his dependents, not including services they would have received from the victim if he had not suffered the fatal injury, less expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of the victim's death. Dependent's economic loss will be limited to a 26‑week period commencing from the date of the injury, and compensation shall not exceed three four hundred dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week.

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(10a)    Household support loss. – The loss of support that a victim would have received from the victim's spouse for the purpose of maintaining a home or residence for the victim and the victim's dependents. A victim may be compensated fifty one hundred dollars ($50.00) ($100.00) per week for each dependent child. Compensation for household support loss shall not exceed three four hundred dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week and shall be limited to 26 weeks commencing from the date of the injury. A victim may receive only one compensation for household support loss. Household support loss is only available to an unemployed a victim whose spouse is the offender who committed the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of the victim's claim under this act.

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(14)      Work loss. – Loss of income from work that the injured person would have performed if he had not been injured and expenses reasonably incurred by him to obtain services in lieu of those he would have performed for income, reduced by any income from substitute work actually performed by him, or by income he would have earned in available appropriate substitute work that he was capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake.

Compensation for work loss will be limited to 26 weeks commencing from the date of the injury, and compensation shall not exceed three four hundred dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week. A claim for work loss will be paid only upon proof that the injured person was gainfully employed at the time of the criminally injurious conduct and, by physician's certificate, that the injured person was unable to work.

SECTION 5.(b)  G.S. 15B‑6(b) reads as rewritten:

(b)      The Director shall have all of the following authority:

(1)        With the consent of the district attorney, to request that law enforcement officers employed by the State or any political subdivision provide copies of any information or data gathered in the investigation of criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of any claim to enable the Director or Commission to determine whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award of compensation.

(2)        With the consent of the district attorney, to request that prosecuting attorneys, law enforcement officers, and State agencies conduct investigations and provide information necessary to enable the Director or Commission to determine whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award of compensation.

(3)        To require the claimant to supplement the application for an award of compensation with any reasonably available medical or psychological reports pertaining to the injury for which the award of compensation is claimed.

(4)        To utilize the sums remaining in the fund in any particular fiscal year to promote the mission of the Commission through outreach awareness measures.training for crime victim advocates, law enforcement, and service providers on the needs of crime victims, grants for agencies to assist victims of crime with seeking compensation benefits, provision of referral and claim services for crime victims, and analysis of violent crime and victimization in North Carolina to better support victim compensation. Up to six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) of accrued funds may be used one time to develop and implement an online submission and communication system for crime victim service providers.

Information obtained pursuant to this subsection is subject to the same privilege against public disclosure that may be asserted by the providing source.

SECTION 5.(c)  G.S. 15B‑10(a) reads as rewritten:

(a)      The Director Director, or the Director's designee, shall decide the award of compensation for an initial claim or follow‑up claim when the claim does not exceed twelve thousand five hundred dollars ($12,500) and does not include future economic loss. The Director shall report all awards under this subsection to the Commission.

SECTION 5.(d)  G.S. 15B‑11 reads as rewritten:

§ 15B‑11.  Grounds for denial of claim or reduction of award.

(a)        An award of compensation shall be denied if any of the following apply:

(1)        The claimant fails to file an application for an award within two years after the date of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which the claimant seeks the award.

(2)        The economic loss is incurred after one year from the date of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which the victim seeks the award, except in the case where the victim for whom compensation is sought was 10 18 years old or younger at the time the injury occurred. In that case an award of compensation will be denied if the economic loss is incurred after two years from the date of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which the victim seeks the award.award, unless the minor victim has new medical or counseling expenses directly attributable to the crime.

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(c1)      A claim may be denied upon a finding that the claimant has been convicted of any felony classified as a Class A, B1, B2, C, D, or E felony under the laws of the State of North Carolina and that such felony was committed within 3 years of the time the victim's injury occurred.occurred and that such felony could reasonably be associated with the violent incident.

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SECTION 5.(e)  G.S. 15B‑15 reads as rewritten:

§ 15B‑15.  Clerks of court to be notified.

The Director shall notify in writing or by electronic means the clerk of superior court of the county in which the offense occurred of any award made from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund to the victim. The clerk shall place the notice in the case file of any defendant charged with the offense that gave rise to the award to the victim.

SECTION 5.(f)  G.S. 15B‑26(c) reads as rewritten:

(c)      A When a creditor has been notified by a victim that an application for a victim compensation claim is pending, the creditor may request monthly verification from the Commission that the application or appeal is still pending, and the Commission shall provide this verification.

SECTION 5.(g)  This section is effective when it becomes law.

AUTHORIZE TRIBAL POLICE CHIEFS TO ENTER INTO MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

SECTION 7.(a)  G.S. 160A‑288 reads as rewritten:

§ 160A‑288.  Cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

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(b)        As used in this section:

(1)        Head means any director or chief officer of a law enforcement agency including the chief of police of a local department, chief of police of a county police department, and the sheriff of a county, county, and chief of a tribal police department, or an officer of one of the above named agencies to whom the head of that agency has delegated authority to make or grant requests under this section, but only one officer in the agency shall have this delegated authority at any time.

(2)        Law enforcement agency or agency means a municipal police department, a county police department, or a sheriff's office of this State. State, or any tribal police department described in G.S. 1E‑11. Subject to G.S. 15A‑403, it also includes a municipal police department, a county police department, or a sheriff's office of another state if the laws of the other state allow for the provision of mutual aid with out‑of‑state law enforcement officers. All other State and local agencies are exempted from the provisions of this section.

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SECTION 7.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law.

ADJUTANT GENERAL CONFIRMATION

SECTION 8.(a)  G.S. 127A‑19 reads as rewritten:

§ 127A‑19.  Adjutant General.

(a)        The military head of the militia shall be the Adjutant General who shall hold the rank of major general with federal recognition at time of appointment or attain the rank of major general pursuant to this section. The Adjutant General shall be appointed by the Governor in the Governor's capacity as commander in chief of the militia, in consultation with the Secretary of Public Safety, and shall be subject to confirmation by the General Assembly by joint resolution.

The Governor shall submit the name of the person to be appointed, for confirmation by the General Assembly, to the General Assembly by May 1 of the year in which the Adjutant General is to be appointed. If the Governor does not submit the name by that date, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall submit a name to the General Assembly on or before May 15 of the same year. The appointment shall then be made by enactment of a bill. The bill shall state the name of the person being appointed, the office to which the appointment is being made, the residence of the appointee, and that the appointment is being made upon the joint recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. If there is no vacancy in the office of the Adjutant General and a bill that would confirm the appointment of the person as Adjutant General fails a reading in either chamber of the General Assembly, then the Governor shall submit a new name within 30 days.

Following appointment pursuant to this section, the Adjutant General shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The Adjutant General, while holding this office, shall be a member of the active North Carolina National Guard. If an appointed Adjutant General does not attain the rank of major general with federal recognition within a reasonable period of time from the date of appointment, the Governor shall replace the Adjutant General with an appointee who meets the criteria in in, and is appointed in accordance with, this section. A reasonable period of time shall take into account time in grade requirements for promotion or promotions and administrative periods necessary to complete the promotion process.

(a1)      In case of a vacancy in the office of the Adjutant General, the name of the Adjutant General's successor shall be submitted by the Governor to the General Assembly not later than 60 days after the vacancy arises. If a vacancy arises in the office when the General Assembly is not in session, an acting Adjutant General shall be appointed by the Governor to serve pending confirmation by the General Assembly. However, in no event shall an acting Adjutant General serve (i) for more than 12 months without General Assembly confirmation or (ii) after a bill that would confirm the appointment of the person as Adjutant General fails a reading in either chamber of the General Assembly.

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SECTION 8.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 9.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 2026.

                                                                    s/  Rachel Hunt

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Destin Hall

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                        _____________________________________

                                                                         Josh Stein

                                                                         Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2026