AN ACT to appropriate funds for law enforcement, Detention, and corrections recruitment and other needs.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety, Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in nonrecurring funds for each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to be used to lease additional office space.

SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety, Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, seven hundred sixteen thousand twenty‑three dollars ($716,023) in recurring funds for each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to be used to hire nine full‑time administrative support positions.

SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety, Alcohol Law Enforcement Division, two hundred thirty‑three thousand forty dollars ($233,040) in recurring funds for each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to be used to hire two full‑time sworn law enforcement officer positions.

SECTION 4.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Governor's Crime Commission within the Department of Public Safety the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to provide competitive grants to the State Highway Patrol, county law enforcement agencies, and municipal law enforcement agencies that have at least a ten percent (10%) vacancy rate in sworn law enforcement officer positions. The grants shall be used to provide signing bonuses of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to newly hired law enforcement officers that sign a contract to work for three years with the law enforcement agency. In its contract, a law enforcement agency shall require the repayment of the signing bonus at the time of a law enforcement officer's voluntary departure from the agency, prorated based upon the percentage of time remaining in the three‑year contract. No repayment shall be required when a law enforcement officer's employment is terminated.

SECTION 4.(b)  Guidelines. – The Governor's Crime Commission shall develop guidelines and procedures for the administration and distribution of grants under this section that shall at a minimum include the following:

(1)        No law enforcement agency shall receive grant funds in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

(2)        No law enforcement agency shall use grant funds to add more law enforcement officer positions to the law enforcement agency but shall use grant funds to fill vacant law enforcement officer positions existing at the law enforcement agency.

SECTION 5.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Governor's Crime Commission within the Department of Public Safety the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to provide competitive grants to local confinement facilities as defined by G.S. 153A‑217 that have at least a ten percent (10%) vacancy rate in certified detention officer positions. The grants shall be used to provide signing bonuses of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to newly hired certified detention officers that sign a contract to work for three years with the local confinement facility. In its contract, a local confinement facility shall require the repayment of the signing bonus at the time of a certified detention officer's voluntary departure from the agency, prorated based upon the percentage of time remaining in the three‑year contract. No repayment shall be required when a certified detention officer's employment is terminated.

SECTION 5.(b)  Guidelines. – The Governor's Crime Commission shall develop guidelines and procedures for the administration and distribution of grants under this section that shall at a minimum include the following:

(1)        No local confinement facility shall receive grant funds in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

(2)        No local confinement facility shall use grant funds to add more certified detention officer positions to the local confinement facility but shall use grant funds to fill vacant certified detention officer positions existing at the local confinement facility.

SECTION 6.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Governor's Crime Commission the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to be used to implement and manage the grants distributed pursuant to Sections 4 and 5 of this act.

SECTION 7.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to be used to provide signing bonuses of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to newly hired certified correctional officers that sign a contract to work for three years within the State prison system. In its contract, the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice shall require the repayment of the signing bonus at the time of a certified correctional officer's voluntary departure from the State prison system, prorated based upon the percentage of time remaining in the three‑year contract. No repayment shall be required when a certified correctional officer's employment is terminated.

SECTION 8.  If House Bill 607, 2021 Regular Session, becomes law, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Bureau of Investigation the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to be used to implement the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Record of Arrest and Prosecution Background (Rap Back) Service.

SECTION 9.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.