AN ACT appropriating funds to the department of public safety for local employing authorities to provide local law enforcement officers with a one‑time appreciation and retention bonus for service during the coronavirus pandemic.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this act:

(1)        Department. – The Department of Public Safety.

(2)        Local employing authority. – A city, county, or other local political subdivision of this State. The term also includes the sheriff of a county.

(3)        Local law enforcement officer. – A full‑time employee hired by the local employing authority and serving as a sheriffs' deputy, police officer, detention officer, or telecommunicator.

SECTION 2.  One‑Time Bonus. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety the sum of fifty million seven hundred forty‑five thousand dollars ($50,745,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year to fund one‑time bonuses in the amount of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), payable to local law enforcement officers who are employed on July 1, 2022, in recognition of their service during the coronavirus pandemic. The Department shall administer the appreciation and retention bonus program with technical assistance from the Office of State Budget and Management.

SECTION 3.  Procedure to Participate. – By August 1, 2022, each local employing authority shall submit to the Department documentation identifying the number of local law enforcement officers eligible for the one‑time appreciation and retention bonus and any supporting information required by the Department. Prior to receiving any funds, the local employing authority shall submit an attestation acknowledging that program funds shall be provided directly to designated eligible local law enforcement officers in accordance with this act. Each local employing authority shall pay the one‑time appreciation and retention bonus to each eligible local law enforcement officer by September 1, 2022.

SECTION 4.  Effective Date. – This act becomes effective July 1, 2022.