GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2025

SESSION LAW 2025-73

SENATE BILL 375

AN ACT to enact Harrison's Law to revise the criminal offense of hazing and to publish total compensation and position information for central office employees.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  This section shall be known and may be cited as Harrison's Law.

SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 14‑35 reads as rewritten:

§ 14‑35.  Hazing; definition and punishment.

(a)        It is unlawful for any student in attendance at any university, college, or school in this State to engage in hazing, or to aid or abet any other student in the commission of this offense. For the purposes of this section hazing is defined as follows: to subject another student to physical injury as part of an initiation, or as a prerequisite to membership, into any organized school group, including any society, athletic team, fraternity or sorority, or other similar group. Any violation of this section subsection shall constitute a Class 2 A1 misdemeanor.

(b)        It is unlawful for any school personnel, including, but not limited to, a teacher, school administrator, student teacher, school safety officer, or coach, at any university, college, or school in this State to engage in hazing or to aid or abet any other person in the commission of this offense. Any violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class I felony.

(c)        For the purposes of this section, hazing is defined as subjecting a student to physical or serious psychological injury as part of an initiation, or as a prerequisite to membership, into any organized school group, including any society, athletic team, fraternity or sorority, or other similar group.

SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 115C‑320 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑320.  Certain records open to inspection.Publication and inspection of certain records.

(a)        Each local board of education shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each employee:

(1)        Name.

(2)        Age.

(3)        Date of original employment or appointment.

(4)        The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the board has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.

(5)        Current position.

(6)        Title.

(7)        Current salary.total compensation, as defined in sub‑subdivision a. of subdivision (1) of subsection (b1) of this section.

(8)        Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary total compensation, as defined in sub‑subdivision a. of subdivision (1) of subsection (b1) of this section, with that local board of education.

(9)        Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that local board of education.

(10)      Date and general description of the reasons for each promotion with that local board of education.

(11)      Date and type of each dismissal, suspension, or demotion for disciplinary reasons taken by the local board of education. If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the local board education setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.

(12)      The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned.

(b)        For the purposes of this section, the term central office employees refers to superintendents, assistant superintendents, associate superintendents, directors/coordinators, supervisors, finance officers, all personnel categorized as central office employees by the Department of Public Instruction or the local school administrative unit, and any permanent employee of the local school administrative unit or employee of a third‑party contractor with the local school administrative unit that is not assigned to a school campus. The term salary includes pay, benefits, incentives, supplements, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity.

(b1)      No later than August 15, 2025, and annually thereafter, each local board of education shall publish and maintain on its website all of the following information:

(1)        For each central office employee:

a.         Total compensation from all funding sources, including at least the following:

1.         Salary.

2.         Reimbursements and allowances, including reimbursements and allowances related to travel.

b.         Position title.

c.         Position description.

d.         The date the position was created.

e.         The department, unit, or office of the local school administrative unit in which the position is located.

(2)        The title of each central office employee position in the local school administrative unit and the number of positions associated with that title.

(3)        For each department, unit, or office of the local school administrative unit:

a.         The number of central office employees located in that department, unit, or office.

b.         The number of central office employees for each position title.

(c)        Subject only to rules and regulations for the safekeeping of records adopted by the local board of education, every person having custody of the records shall permit them to be inspected and examined and copies made by any person during regular business hours. The name of a participant in the Address Confidentiality Program established pursuant to Chapter 15C of the General Statutes shall not be open to inspection and shall be redacted from any record released pursuant to this section. Any person who is denied access to any record for the purpose of inspecting, examining or copying the record shall have a right to compel compliance with the provisions of this section by application to a court of competent jurisdiction for a writ of mandamus or other appropriate relief.

SECTION 2.(b)  The title of Article 21A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:

Article 21A.

Privacy of Employee Personnel Records.

SECTION 3.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 30th day of June, 2025.

                                                                    s/  Phil Berger

                                                                         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Donna McDowell White

                                                                         Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Josh Stein

                                                                         Governor

Approved 10:02 a.m. this 9th day of July, 2025