GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 322
Short Title: Utility Worker Protection Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Britt (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 19, 2025
*S322 -v-1*
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, telecommunications services, or internet access services. For purposes of 28
this subdivision, the term "readily identifiable as a worker" shall be construed 29
to include the worker wearing, at the time of the assault, a uniform, hat, or 30
other outerwear bearing the logo of the utility or communications company 31
for which the worker is an employee of, agent of, or under contract with." 32
SECTION 2. Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this 33
act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act 34
remain applicable to those prosecutions. 35 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 322-First Edition
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses 1
committed on or after that date. 2