AN ACT to provide pay increases for law enforcement officers and correctional officers, to establish mental health services for public safety personnel, and to address the staffing and retention crisis created by republican failures to fund public safety.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS

SECTION 1.  The General Assembly finds that:

(1)        For years, North Carolina Republicans have controlled the General Assembly and had every opportunity to invest in the men and women who keep our communities safe and they have failed to do so.

(2)        As a direct result of Republican inaction, North Carolina is experiencing a severe public safety staffing crisis. Law enforcement agencies across North Carolina are struggling to recruit and retain qualified officers due to non‑competitive pay, leading to dangerous understaffing in communities statewide.

(3)        North Carolina law enforcement officers and correctional officers are among the lowest‑paid in the region, lagging behind neighboring states, including Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

(4)        High turnover and chronic understaffing compromise public safety and place enormous strain on the officers who remain, contributing to burnout, mental health challenges, and increased risk of on‑the‑job injury.

(5)        The General Assembly has a responsibility to correct these Republican failures, to invest in public safety, and to ensure North Carolina can recruit.

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER PAY INCREASES

SECTION 2.(a)  Effective July 1, 2026, the annual salary of each sworn law enforcement officer employed by the State of North Carolina shall be increased by seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).

SECTION 2.(b)  The Office of State Human Resources shall establish a competitive salary schedule for law enforcement officers that accounts for years of service, rank, and regional cost‑of‑living and shall update this schedule not less than every two years. At minimum, the entry‑level salary for a State Highway Patrol trooper shall be no less than sixty‑two thousand five hundred dollars ($62,500) per year.

SECTION 2.(c)  The Department of State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office of State Budget and Management, shall make available to counties and municipalities a grant program to assist local governments in providing comparable pay increases to locally employed law enforcement officers.

SECTION 2.(d)  For purposes of this section, law enforcement officer has the same meaning as criminal justice officer, as defined in G.S. 17C‑2, and includes sheriffs' deputies and municipal police officers.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER PAY INCREASES

SECTION 3.(a)  Effective July 1, 2026, the minimum starting salary for a correctional officer employed by the Department of Adult Correction shall be forty‑five thousand dollars ($45,000) per year. All currently employed correctional officers shall receive an annual salary increase of eight thousand dollars ($8,000), effective July 1, 2026.

SECTION 3.(b)  The Secretary of Adult Correction shall develop a retention incentive program that provides:

(1)        A retention bonus of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each correctional officer who completes five years of service.

(2)        A retention bonus of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each correctional officer who completes 10 years of service.

(3)        Enhanced hazard pay of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year for officers assigned to facilities operating at or below seventy percent (70%) of authorized staffing levels.

SECTION 3.(c)  The Department of Adult Correction shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety on vacancy rates and staffing levels quarterly, beginning October 1, 2026.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL

SECTION 4.(a)  The General Assembly finds that:

(1)        Law enforcement officers and correctional officers experience disproportionately high rates of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide compared to the general population.

(2)        Stigma and lack of access to confidential services remain significant barriers to officers seeking mental health treatment.

(3)        Addressing officer mental health is inseparable from addressing officer retention and public safety outcomes.

SECTION 4.(b)  The State Health Plan, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Adult Correction, shall:

(1)        Ensure that all law enforcement officers and correctional officers covered under the State Health Plan have access to a minimum of 12 confidential mental health visits per year at no cost to the officer, with confidentiality protections that prevent disclosure to supervisors or employing agencies.

(2)        Maintain a dedicated, 24‑hour mental health crisis line staffed by clinicians with training specific to public safety personnel.

SECTION 4.(c)  The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Adult Correction shall each establish a peer support program that does the following:

(1)        Trains and certifies peer support officers in evidence‑based mental health first aid and crisis intervention;

(2)        Provides peer support officers with appropriate protected leave to perform peer support duties; and

(3)        Partners with The University of North Carolina System and the Community College System to develop and deliver peer support training curricula.

SECTION 4.(d)  Beginning January 1, 2028, and then annually thereafter, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Adult Correction shall each report annually to the General Assembly on:

(1)        The number of officers utilizing mental health services;

(2)        Officer suicide rates and trends;

(3)        Retention and vacancy data correlated with mental health programs; and

(4)        Recommendations for program improvements.

APPROPRIATIONS

SECTION 5.  To fund the compensation increases awarded in this act and to carry out the other purposes of this act, the following funds are appropriated, effective July 1, 2026:

(1)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of State Budget and Management the sum of thirty‑three million one hundred thousand dollars ($33,100,000) in recurring funds for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to fund a State law enforcement officer pay raise of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).

(2)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Adult Correction the sum of ninety‑three million one hundred thousand dollars ($93,100,000) in recurring funds for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to fund correctional officer pay raises of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) and other compression adjustments.

(3)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety the sum of eight million nine hundred thousand dollars ($8,900,000) in recurring funds for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to fund correctional officer pay raises of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) and other compression adjustments.

(4)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Adult Correction the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) in recurring funds for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to fund retention bonuses.

(5)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Adult Correction the sum of nine million one hundred thousand dollars ($9,100,000) for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year for hazard pay.

(6)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of the State Treasurer the sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in the 2026‑2027 fiscal year for the LEO Local Government Grant Program.

(7)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Health Plan the sum of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) in the 2026‑2027 fiscal year to fund the mental health services expansion of 12 visits per year as provided by this act.

(8)        There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in the 2026‑2027 fiscal year for peer support programs as provided by this act.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 6.  Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective July 1, 2026.