AN ACT to treat hospital police officers as a distinct category of company police officers and to provide certain authority and information access to these officers.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Chapter 74E of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:

Chapter 74E.

Company Police Act.

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§ 74E‑6.  Oaths, powers, and authority of company police officers.

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(b)        Categories. – The following three distinct classifications of company police officers are established:

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(1a)      Hospital Police Officers. – Those company police officers who are employed by a hospital as that term is defined under G.S. 131E‑76(3).

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(d1)     Hospital Police. – Hospital police officers have the powers contained in subsection (c) of this section and also have the powers in that subsection upon that portion of any public road or highway passing through or immediately adjoining the property described in that subsection, wherever located. The governing body of a hospital as defined by G.S. 131E‑76(2) may enter into a mutual aid agreement with the governing board of a municipality or, with the consent of the county sheriff, a county to the same extent as a municipal police department pursuant to Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.

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(f1)      Hospital Police CJLEADS Access. – Unless contrary to any federal law, regulation, or requirement, a hospital police agency certified pursuant to this Chapter shall be granted access to the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data System (CJLEADS) upon (i) request of the agency and (ii) compliance with the requirements established by the Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC) for access to that system, including the execution of a license and usage agreement.

(f2)      Hospital Police DCIN Access. – Pursuant to all laws, rules, and regulations not inconsistent with this subsection, hospital police agencies shall be granted access to and deemed participating agencies of the Division of Criminal Information Network (DCIN) created under G.S. 143B‑905 in a manner equivalent, at a minimum, to campus police certified by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74G of the General Statutes.

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SECTION 2.  G.S. 115D‑5(b) reads as rewritten:

(b)      In order to make instruction as accessible as possible to all citizens, the teaching of curricular courses and of noncurricular extension courses at convenient locations away from institution campuses as well as on campuses is authorized and shall be encouraged. A pro rata portion of the established regular tuition rate charged a full‑time student shall be charged a part‑time student taking any curriculum course. In lieu of any tuition charge, the State Board of Community Colleges shall establish a uniform registration fee, or a schedule of uniform registration fees, to be charged students enrolling in extension courses for which instruction is financed primarily from State funds. The State Board of Community Colleges may provide by general and uniform regulations for waiver of tuition and registration fees for the following:

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(2)        Courses requested by the following entities that support the organizations' training needs and are on a specialized course list approved by the State Board of Community Colleges:

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f.          Municipal, county, or State law enforcement agencies.

f1.        Campus police agencies of private institutions of higher education certified by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74G of the General Statutes.

f2.        Hospital police agencies certified by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74E of the General Statutes.

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SECTION 3.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there shall be no impediment to the use of the Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER) system by hospital police agencies certified by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74E of the General Statutes, so long as those agencies choose to acquire the necessary equipment and utilize the VIPER system.

SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.