AN ACT to prohibit the release of Booking photographs.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 132‑1.4 reads as rewritten:

§ 132‑1.4.  Criminal investigations; intelligence information records; Innocence Inquiry Commission records.

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(b)        As used in this section:

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(6)        Booking photograph means an image of an individual taken by an arresting public law enforcement agency for the purpose of identification or taken when the individual was processed into a jail.

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(m)       Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except as otherwise provided in this subsection, booking photographs are confidential, are not public records as defined in G.S. 132‑1, and public law enforcement agencies are prohibited from publishing, distributing, or releasing booking photographs. A public law enforcement agency may release a booking photograph only when the booking photograph is a record of criminal investigation related to a missing person report. A court of competent jurisdiction may order the release of a booking photograph upon a showing by the person requesting disclosure that the disclosure is actually necessary for immediate law enforcement needs.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2021.