GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 2
SENATE BILL 311
Judiciary Committee Substitute Adopted 3/25/25
Short Title: Utility Worker Protection Act. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 18, 2025
*S311 -v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO INCREASE T HE PUNISHMENT FOR CO MMITTING AN ASSAULT 2
AGAINST A UTILITY OR COMMUNICATIONS WORK ER. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 14-33(b) reads as rewritten: 5
"(b) Unless his the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater 6
punishment, any person who commits any assault, assault and battery, or affray is guilty of a 7
Class 1 misdemeanor if, in the course of the assault, assault and battery, or affray, he:he or she 8
does any of the following: 9
… 10
(9) Commits an assault and battery against a sports official when the sports 11
official is discharging or attempting to discharge official duties at a sports 12
event, or immediately after the sports event at which the sports official 13
discharged official duties. A "sports official" is a person at a sports event who 14
enforces the rules of the event, such as an umpire or referee, or a person who 15
supervises the participants, such as a coach. A "sports event" includes any 16
interscholastic or intramural athletic activity in a primary, middle, junior high, 17
or high school, college, or university, any organized athletic activity 18
sponsored by a community, business, or nonprofit organization, any athletic 19
activity that is a professional or semiprofessional event, and any other 20
organized athletic activity in the State. 21
(10) Assaults a utility or communications worker while the worker is (i) readily 22
identifiable as a worker and (ii) discharging or attempting to discharge his or 23
her duties. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "utility or 24
communications worker" means an employee of, agent of, or under contract 25
with an organization, entity, or company, whether State-created or privately, 26
municipally, county, or cooperatively owned, that provides electricity, natural 27
gas, liquid petroleum, water, wastewater, telecommunications services, or 28
internet access services. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "readily 29
identifiable as a worker" shall be construed to include the worker wearing, at 30
the time of the assault, a uniform, hat, or other outerwear bearing the logo of 31
the utility or communications company for which the worker is an employee 32
of, agent of, or under contract with." 33
SECTION 2. Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this 34
act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act 35
remain applicable to those prosecutions. 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 311-Second Edition
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses 1
committed on or after that date. 2