| 12 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 14 | | AN ACT TO INCREASE THE PUNISHMENT FOR COMMITTING AN ASSAULT 2 |
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| 14 | 15 | | AGAINST A UTILITY WORKER . 3 |
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| 15 | 16 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4 |
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| 16 | 17 | | SECTION 1. This act shall be known as "The North Carolina Utility Worker 5 |
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| 17 | 18 | | Protection Act." 6 |
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| 18 | 19 | | SECTION 2. G.S. 14-33 reads as rewritten: 7 |
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| 19 | 20 | | "§ 14-33. Misdemeanor assaults, batteries, and affrays, simple and aggravated; 8 |
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| 20 | 21 | | punishments. 9 |
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| 21 | 22 | | … 10 |
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| 22 | 23 | | (c) Unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater 11 |
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| 23 | 24 | | punishment, any person who commits any assault, assault and battery, or affray is guilty of a 12 |
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| 24 | 25 | | Class A1 misdemeanor if, in the course of the assault, assault and battery, or affray, he or she: 13 |
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| 25 | 26 | | … 14 |
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| 26 | 27 | | (9) Assaults a transportation network company (TNC) driver providing a 15 |
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| 27 | 28 | | transportation network company (TNC) service. For the purposes of this 16 |
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| 28 | 29 | | subdivision, the definitions for "TNC driver" and "TNC service" as defined in 17 |
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| 29 | 30 | | G.S. 20-280.1 shall apply. 18 |
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| 30 | 31 | | (10) Assaults a utility worker not otherwise covered under this subsection, when 19 |
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| 31 | 32 | | the utility worker is discharging or attempting to discharge his or her duties. 20 |
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| 32 | 33 | | For purposes of this subdivision, the term "utility worker" means any 21 |
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| 33 | 34 | | employee of, including any person employed by or under contract with, an 22 |
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| 34 | 35 | | organization, entity, or company, whether State-created or privately, 23 |
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| 35 | 36 | | municipally, county, or cooperatively owned, that provides gas, heat, 24 |
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| 36 | 37 | | electricity, water, telecommunications services, sewer services, cable or video 25 |
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| 37 | 38 | | services, internet services, or railroad services. 26 |
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| 38 | 39 | | … 27 |
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| 39 | 40 | | (d) Any person who, in the course of an assault, assault and battery, or affray, inflicts 28 |
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| 40 | 41 | | serious injury upon another person, or uses a deadly weapon, in violation of subdivision (c)(1) 29 |
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| 41 | 42 | | of this section, on a person with whom the person has a personal relationship, and in the presence 30 |
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| 42 | 43 | | of a minor, is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. A person convicted under this subsection, who 31 |
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| 43 | 44 | | is sentenced to a community punishment, shall be placed on supervised probation in addition to 32 |
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| 44 | 45 | | any other punishment imposed by the court. 33 |
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| 45 | 46 | | A person committing a second or subsequent violation of this subsection shall be sentenced 34 |
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| 46 | 47 | | to an active punishment of no less than 30 days in addition to any other punishment imposed by 35 |
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| 49 | 54 | | The following definitions apply to this subsection: 1 |
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| 50 | 55 | | (1) "Personal relationship" is as defined in G.S. 50B-1(b). 2 |
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| 51 | 56 | | (2)(1) "In the presence of a minor" means In the presence of a minor. – Means that 3 |
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| 52 | 57 | | the minor was in a position to see or hear the assault. 4 |
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| 53 | 58 | | (3)(2) "Minor" is any Minor. – Any person under the age of 18 years who is residing 5 |
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| 54 | 59 | | with or is under the care and supervision of, and who has a personal 6 |
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| 55 | 60 | | relationship with, the person assaulted or the person committing the assault. 7 |
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| 56 | 61 | | (3) Personal relationship. – As defined in G.S. 50B-1." 8 |
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| 57 | 62 | | SECTION 3. G.S. 14-34.2 reads as rewritten: 9 |
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| 58 | 63 | | "§ 14-34.2. Assault with a firearm or other deadly weapon upon governmental officers or 10 |
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| 59 | 64 | | employees, utility workers, company police officers, or campus police officers. 11 |
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| 60 | 65 | | Unless a person's conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater 12 |
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| 61 | 66 | | punishment, any person who commits an assault with a deadly weapon upon an officer or 13 |
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| 62 | 67 | | employee of the State or of any political subdivision of the State, a utility worker as defined in 14 |
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| 63 | 68 | | G.S. 14-33, a company police officer certified pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 74E of the 15 |
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| 64 | 69 | | General Statutes, or a campus police officer certified pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 74G, 16 |
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| 65 | 70 | | Article 1 of Chapter 17C or Chapter 116 of the General Statutes, in the performance of an official 17 |
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| 66 | 71 | | duty when the person is discharging or attempting to discharge his or her duties, is guilty of a 18 |
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| 67 | 72 | | Class E felony." 19 |
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| 68 | 73 | | SECTION 4. Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this 20 |
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| 69 | 74 | | act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act 21 |
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| 70 | 75 | | remain applicable to those prosecutions. 22 |
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| 71 | 76 | | SECTION 5. This act becomes effective December 1, 2025, and applies to offenses 23 |
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| 72 | 77 | | committed on or after that date. 24 |
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