AN ACT to create the joint legislative criminal laws study committee.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  There is established the Joint Legislative Criminal Laws Study Committee (Committee). The purpose of the Committee is to review North Carolina's criminal laws to determine the following:

(1)        Which are duplicative and therefore should be repealed.

(2)        Whether certain lower level offenses, such as traffic offenses, regulatory offenses, and low‑level Schedule IV controlled substance offenses, should be reclassified or decriminalized.

SECTION 1.(b)  The Committee shall consist of eight members as follows:

(1)        Four members of the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, two from the majority party and two from the minority party.

(2)        Four members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, two from the majority party and two from the minority party.

SECTION 1.(c)  The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint a cochair of the Committee. The cochairs shall call the initial meeting of the Committee within 60 days of this act becoming law. A quorum of the Committee is a majority of its members. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies. Any of the following constitutes a vacancy: resignation from the Committee, failure to be reelected to the General Assembly, or resignation or removal from service in the General Assembly.

SECTION 1.(d)  Members of the Committee shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances in accordance with G.S. 120‑3.1.

SECTION 1.(e)  Subject to the approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Committee may meet in the State Legislative Building, the Legislative Office Building, or any other appropriate location within the State. The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign professional staff to assist in the work of the Committee. The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants shall assign clerical staff to the Committee, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Committee. The Committee, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under G.S. 120‑19, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them.

SECTION 1.(f)  The Committee shall submit a final report, including findings and legislative recommendations, to the Joint Legislative Committee on Justice and Public Safety and to the Joint Legislative Committee on Health and Human Services no later than April 1, 2022. The Committee shall terminate upon the earlier of April 1, 2022, or submission of the report.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.