AN ACT to make it a crime to threaten to inflict serious bodily harm upon or to kill a law enforcement officer, probation or parole officer, detention facility employee, or another person as retaliation against the officer for performing the officer's official duties.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Article 35 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

§ 14‑277.7A.  Threats against law enforcement officers; others.

(a)        Any person who knowingly and willfully makes any threat to inflict serious bodily injury upon or to kill an officer because of the exercise of that officer's duties, when that threat is received and reasonably believed by the officer, is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor.

(b)        Any person who knowingly and willfully makes any threat to inflict serious bodily injury upon or kill any other person as retaliation against an officer because of the exercise of that officer's duties, when the threat is received and reasonably believed by either the officer or the person being threatened, is guilty of a Class I felony.

(c)        For purposes of this section, the term officer means any law enforcement officer, probation officer, parole officer, or a person who is employed at a detention facility operated under the jurisdiction of the State or a local government.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2021, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.