AN ACT establishing that certain SCHOOL BUS CAMERA RECORDED IMAGES Are PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE DEMONSTRATING A FAILURE TO STOP FOR A sCHOOL BUS and extending the maximum length for automated school bus safety camera service contracts with private vendors.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 20‑217 reads as rewritten:

§ 20‑217.  Motor vehicles to stop for properly marked and designated school buses in certain instances; evidence of identity of driver.

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(h)        Automated school bus safety cameras, as defined in G.S. 115C‑242.1, may be used to detect and prosecute violations of this section. Any photograph or video recorded by an automated school bus safety camera shall, if consistent with the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, be admissible as evidence in any proceeding alleging a violation of subsection (a) of this section. Recorded images from a school bus safety camera showing that a school bus was stopped and was displaying its mechanical stop signal or flashing red lights shall be prima facie evidence that (i) the school bus was stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging passengers and (ii) the school bus was equipped and marked in compliance with this section. Failure to produce a photograph or video recorded by an automated school bus safety camera shall not preclude prosecution under this section.

SECTION 1.(b)  This section becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 115C‑242.1 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑242.1.  Installation and operation of automated school bus safety camera.

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(b)        Installation and Operation. – Automated school bus safety cameras may be installed and operated on any school bus operated by a local board of education within a county that has adopted an ordinance under G.S. 153A 246 as follows:

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(2)        A local board of education may enter into a service contract to install and operate automated school bus safety cameras with a private vendor. Contracts shall be let in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 143 129 applicable to purchases of apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment. The maximum length of any contract entered into under this subdivision shall be three five years. A contract entered into under this subdivision may contain an option to renew or extend the contract for only one additional term not to exceed three five years.

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SECTION 2.(b)  This section becomes effective July 1, 2025, and applies to contracts issued, renewed, or amended on or after that date.

SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.