AN ACT to reenact and increase the funding for The Emergency Pension Fund for Sworn Law Enforcement Officers of Mecklenburg County.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Section 4 of Chapter 446 of the Public‑Local Laws of 1931 as it existed immediately prior to repeal is reenacted and reads as rewritten:

Sec. 4. That in order to provide funds for The Emergency Pension Fund for Sworn Law Enforcement Officers of the County of Mecklenburg Mecklenburg County herein set out, there shall be taxed assessed in the bill of costs in all criminal cases in any Court other than that of Justice of Peace wherein there is a conviction or a plea of guilty, a fee of one ($1.00) dollar two dollars ($2.00) to be known as The Emergency and Pension Fee and the same shall be collected by the Clerk of the City Recorder's Court, the Clerk of the County Recorder's Court and the Clerk of the Superior Court and shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Officers Relief Board of Mecklenburg County Emergency Pension Fund for Sworn Law Enforcement Officers of Mecklenburg County Board, or in cases of appeal from said City Recorder's Court or County Recorder's Court to the Superior Court, the Clerk of the Superior Court shall collect said fees and pay the same to the Treasurer of the Officers Relief Board of Mecklenburg County. Board. All money collected by the Clerk of the City Recorder's Court, Clerk of the County Recorder's Court shall be paid over to the Treasurer of the Officers Relief Board of Mecklenburg County Board once each week and all of said money collected by the Clerk of the Superior Court shall be paid over to the Treasurer of the Officers Relief Board of Mecklenburg County Board on the first day of each and every month and they shall accompany such remittance with a detailed and itemized statement of the cases in which said funds have been collected, the blank forms for said statement shall be furnished by the Officers Relief Board of Mecklenburg County Board herein provided for. In all cases where the defendant is committed to the roads, the fee herein provided shall not be charged against said defendant where said defendant serves the sentence imposed by the Court and it is further provided that the one dollar ($1.00) The two dollar ($2.00) fee hereinbefore set out shall not be collected in cases of conviction or plea of guilty for the violation of the traffic or highway laws by use of a motor vehicle where the punishment provided by the Statute is not in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00) fine or thirty days (30) imprisonment; the said fee shall be collected in all other cases for violation of said laws where the punishment fixed by the Statute is in excess of the penalties herein before mentioned; Provided further, that where the defendant is convicted on more than one charge, the fee hereinbefore provided for shall only be taxed in the cost in one conviction.

SECTION 1.(b)  Section 7 of Chapter 446 of the Public‑Local Laws of 1931 as it existed immediately prior to repeal is reenacted.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2026, and applies to the bills of costs of applicable convictions or guilty pleas occurring on or after that date.