| 13 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES 2 |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | TO PREVENT AND DETER DEED AND TITLE FRAUD. 3 |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4 |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-5-2, there is appropriated from the 5 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | General Fund to the Department of the Secretary of State the sum of one million eight hundred 6 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | thousand dollars ($1,800,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to be used in 7 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | collaboration with the North Carolina Association of Registers of Deeds to provide antifraud 8 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | training for employees of county register of deeds offices. The Department of the Secretary of 9 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | State, in conjunction with the North Carolina Association of Registers of Deeds, may use an 10 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | amount not exceeding ten percent (10%) of the funds appropriated in this section for 11 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | administrative costs. 12 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 2. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-5-2, there is appropriated from the 13 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | General Fund to the Department of Justice the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) 14 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to be used to create and launch a statewide 15 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | public awareness campaign on fraud relating to real property. 16 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 3. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-5-2, there is appropriated from the 17 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | General Fund to the Department of Information Technology the sum of thirty million dollars 18 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | ($30,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to be used to provide 19 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | need-based grants to the county register of deeds offices, said grants to be used in accordance 20 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | with this section. The Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county 21 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | register of deeds offices for a total amount not exceeding forty percent (40%) of the funds 22 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | appropriated in this section to be used by the county register of deeds offices to purchase scanning 23 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | equipment and provide for the digitization and storing of records kept by that office, including, 24 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | but not limited to, identification cards, passports, and other forms of identification. The 25 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of deeds offices 26 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | for a total amount not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) of the funds appropriated in this section 27 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | to be used by the county register of deeds offices for the purchase of software upgrades. The 28 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of deeds offices 29 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | for a total amount not exceeding ten percent (10%) of the funds appropriated in this section to be 30 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | used by the county register of deeds offices to procure cloud storage and backup. The Department 31 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of deeds offices for a total 32 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | amount not exceeding ten percent (10%) of the funds appropriated in this section to be used by 33 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | the county register of deeds offices for the purpose of enhancing the digital security of those 34 |
|---|
| 47 | | - | offices. The Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of 35 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
|---|
| 48 | | - | Page 2 House Bill 361-First Edition |
|---|
| 49 | | - | deeds offices for a total amount not exceeding eight percent (8%) of the funds appropriated in 1 |
|---|
| 50 | | - | this section to be used by the county register of deeds offices for the purpose of training staff. 2 |
|---|
| 51 | | - | The Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of deeds 3 |
|---|
| 52 | | - | offices for a total amount not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) of the funds appropriated in this 4 |
|---|
| 53 | | - | section to be used by the county register of deeds offices for network and hardware 5 |
|---|
| 54 | | - | improvements, including network improvements that would allow for better communication or 6 |
|---|
| 55 | | - | integration with the networks and systems maintained by the Secretary of State's Office and 7 |
|---|
| 56 | | - | municipal tax offices. The Department of Information Technology may use an amount not 8 |
|---|
| 57 | | - | exceeding two percent (2%) of the funds appropriated in this section for administrative costs. 9 |
|---|
| 58 | | - | The Department of Information Technology shall develop criteria and an application process for 10 |
|---|
| 59 | | - | the grants funded by this section. 11 |
|---|
| 60 | | - | SECTION 4. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-5-2, there is appropriated from the 12 |
|---|
| 61 | | - | General Fund to the Department of Information Technology the sum of one million dollars 13 |
|---|
| 62 | | - | ($1,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to be used to provide 14 |
|---|
| 63 | | - | need-based grants to county register of deeds offices that do not have a fraud detection alert 15 |
|---|
| 64 | | - | system in place as of the effective date of this section. The Department of Information 16 |
|---|
| 65 | | - | Technology shall develop a process by which county register of deeds offices may apply for the 17 |
|---|
| 66 | | - | grants funded by this section. 18 |
|---|
| 67 | | - | SECTION 5. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 19 |
|---|
| 47 | + | offices. The Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of 35 |
|---|
| 48 | + | deeds offices for a total amount not exceeding eight percent (8%) of the funds appropriated in 36 |
|---|
| 49 | + | H.B. 361 |
|---|
| 50 | + | Mar 10, 2025 |
|---|
| 51 | + | HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025 |
|---|
| 52 | + | Page 2 DRH30173-NOa-4 |
|---|
| 53 | + | this section to be used by the county register of deeds offices for the purpose of training staff. 1 |
|---|
| 54 | + | The Department of Information Technology may award grants to the county register of deeds 2 |
|---|
| 55 | + | offices for a total amount not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) of the funds appropriated in this 3 |
|---|
| 56 | + | section to be used by the county register of deeds offices for network and hardware 4 |
|---|
| 57 | + | improvements, including network improvements that would allow for better communication or 5 |
|---|
| 58 | + | integration with the networks and systems maintained by the Secretary of State's Office and 6 |
|---|
| 59 | + | municipal tax offices. The Department of Information Technology may use an amount not 7 |
|---|
| 60 | + | exceeding two percent (2%) of the funds appropriated in this section for administrative costs. 8 |
|---|
| 61 | + | The Department of Information Technology shall develop criteria and an application process for 9 |
|---|
| 62 | + | the grants funded by this section. 10 |
|---|
| 63 | + | SECTION 4. Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-5-2, there is appropriated from the 11 |
|---|
| 64 | + | General Fund to the Department of Information Technology the sum of one million dollars 12 |
|---|
| 65 | + | ($1,000,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to be used to provide 13 |
|---|
| 66 | + | need-based grants to county register of deeds offices that do not have a fraud detection alert 14 |
|---|
| 67 | + | system in place as of the effective date of this section. The Department of Information 15 |
|---|
| 68 | + | Technology shall develop a process by which county register of deeds offices may apply for the 16 |
|---|
| 69 | + | grants funded by this section. 17 |
|---|
| 70 | + | SECTION 5. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 18 |
|---|