GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

S	1 

SENATE BILL 431

Short Title:  Law Enforcement Training Improvements. 	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Sands.
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Referred to:  Veteran and Military Affairs, Law Enforcement, and Senior Citizens.
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April 1, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPROVE REQUIRED AND ADVANCED TRAINING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The General Statutes are amended by adding a new Chapter to read:
“Chapter 17F.
"North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Fund.
"§ 17F-1.  Title.
This Chapter may be cited as the ‘North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Fund Act'.
"§ 17F-2.  Findings and policy.
The General Assembly finds that units of local government have widely varied tax bases and budgetary commitments to law enforcement.  The purpose of this act is to make training and education available for State and local law enforcement officers, and to assure an equitable and uniform level of law enforcement officer training throughout the State.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that this act shall not reduce the existing commitment of State and local agencies to provide for adequate law enforcement training.  Monies allocated under this act shall not be used to supplant existing appropriations for law enforcement training.
"§ 17F-3.  Definitions.
As used in this Chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1)	‘Criminal Justice Commission' means the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, as established by Chapter 17C of the General Statutes.
(2)	‘Sheriffs' Commission' means the North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission, as established by Chapter 17E of the General Statutes.
(3)	‘Law enforcement agencies' means those State and local agencies employing or appointing sworn law enforcement personnel having arrest powers and enforcing the general criminal laws of the State.
(4)	‘Fund' means the North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Fund.
"§ 17F-4.  North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Fund established.
There is established the North Carolina Law Enforcement Training Fund in the Department of Justice.  The Fund shall be kept on deposit with the State Treasurer, as in the case of other State funds, and may be invested by the State Treasurer in any lawful security for the investment of State money.  The income or other earnings from the investments shall be paid to the Fund.  The Fund is subject to the oversight of the State Auditor pursuant to Article 5A of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes. Surplus monies in the Fund shall not revert to the State treasury at the end of the fiscal year.
In addition to monies deposited in the Fund pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 20-183.7, the Attorney General may accept into the Fund donations of real and personal property, and grants of money, from any person, firm, corporation, institution, governmental unit, or public agency.  The Attorney General shall include in the annual report required by G.S. 17F-7 a summary of the donations or grants, the identity of the donor or grantor, the nature of the transaction, and any conditions of the donations or grants.
"§ 17F-5.  Functions of the Department of Justice.
(a)	The Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission shall adopt rules under the Administrative Procedures Act, Chapter 150B of the General Statutes, to provide for the administration of the Fund.  In consultation with the Attorney General, and by adoption of administrative rules, the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission shall:
(1)	Establish reasonable and equitable procedures to disburse funds to law enforcement agencies and to other governmental or commission-approved organizations;
(2)	Promote the most efficient and economical program of law enforcement training and the maximum use of existing facilities, including the Department of Community Colleges and the North Carolina Justice Academy, to avoid duplication; and
(3)	Establish a system of reimbursement designed to prevent budgetary supplanting by the State and political subdivisions with respect to law enforcement training programs.
(b)	The Attorney General shall provide the staff necessary to administer the programs of the Fund.  The Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission may allocate to the Department of Justice for the administrative expenses of the Fund a maximum of ten percent (10%) of the annual receipts of the Fund, not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per year.  The Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission may allocate a maximum of fifteen percent (15%) of the annual receipts of the Fund to provide additional staffing for the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission to implement the provisions of G.S. 17F-6; these monies shall be apportioned between the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission on a per capita basis, based upon the number of officers certified by each Commission.
(c)	The Attorney General shall have legal custody of all books, papers, documents, or other records and property of the Fund.
(d)	The Department of Justice shall form a coordinating committee to establish long-range plans for Fund disbursements and to address matters of coordination between the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission.  The coordinating committee shall consist of five members, two from the Criminal Justice Commission, two from the Sheriffs' Commission, and the Attorney General or his designee, who shall serve as its Chair.
"§ 17F-6.  Authorized expenditures.
(a)	Upon the direction of the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission, the Attorney General shall make disbursements from the Fund for the following purposes:
(1)	To reimburse local law enforcement agencies for employee travel, per diem expenses, and other expenses incurred in attending commission-approved training programs not available locally or on a timely basis;
(2)	To allocate funds to local law enforcement agencies to reimburse expenses incurred in complying with the training requirements of the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission;
(3)	To allocate funds for training, research, and development grants;
(4)	To allocate funds for expenses associated with making available in this State specialized or advanced professional training programs for State and local law enforcement employees; and
(5)	To allocate funds to the Criminal Justice Commission and the Sheriffs' Commission to augment administration of programs of the Commissions, including field monitoring of required training, statistical validation of required examinations, studying the effectiveness of required training, and other programs.
(b)	Upon consultation with law enforcement officers and officials throughout the State, the coordinating committee shall develop an annual plan for disbursements from the Fund.
(c)	An agency shall not receive reimbursements if the agency fails to comply with the applicable selection, training, and certification standards, and other minimum standards, of the Criminal Justice Commission or the Sheriffs' Commission.
"§ 17F-7.  Annual report.
The Attorney General shall file an annual report of the Fund to be presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate on or before December 31 of each year for the preceding fiscal year.  The annual report shall contain a summary of all disbursements made from the Fund by type, level of government, and governmental unit, and shall include any other matters and information included at the direction of the Criminal Justice Commission or the Sheriffs' Commission."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-183.7 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-183.7.  Charges for inspections and certificates; safety equipment inspection station records.
(a)	Every safety equipment inspection station shall charge a fee of five dollars and twenty-five cents ($5.25) effective October 1, 1989; and a fee of six dollars and twenty-five cents ($6.25) effective October 1, 1990 for inspecting a motor vehicle to determine compliance with the safety inspection requirements of this Article and shall give the vehicle operator a dated receipt, indicating the articles and equipment approved and disapproved. At any time within 90 days thereafter, when the receipt is presented to the inspection station which issued it with a request for reinspection, that inspection station shall reinspect the vehicle at no charge.  Whenever any vehicle is approved, the inspection station shall obtain an additional fee of two dollars ($2.00) for a valid inspection certificate, and affix the certificate to that vehicle or otherwise document the issuance of the certificate in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
(a1)	For inspection of vehicles required to be inspected under the inspection/maintenance provisions of G.S. 20-183.3(b), every safety equipment inspection station shall charge a fee of ten dollars and ten cents ($10.10) effective October 1, 1989; and a fee of thirteen dollars ($13.00) effective October 1, 1990, for inspecting a motor vehicle to determine compliance with the safety inspection requirements and the exhaust emission standards pursuant to the inspection/maintenance requirements of this Article and shall give the vehicle operator a dated receipt indicating the articles and equipment approved or disapproved and whether the vehicle met the emission control standards.  If the vehicle is disapproved, at any time within 30 days thereafter when the receipt is presented to the inspection station which issued it with a request for reinspection, that inspection station shall reinspect the vehicle at no charge.  Whenever any vehicle is approved, the inspection station shall obtain an additional fee of three dollars and forty cents ($3.40) for a valid inspection certificate covering both the safety inspection requirements and the emission control inspection/maintenance requirements and affix the certificate to that vehicle or otherwise document the issuance of the certificate in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
(b)	Self-inspector stations licensed under G.S. 20-183.4 are exempt from the inspecting fee provisions of subsection (a) above, but shall pay to the Division of Motor Vehicles the prescribed certificate fee for each inspection certificate issued by it.
(c)	Fees collected for inspection certificates are payable to the Division of Motor Vehicles.  The amount of each fee listed in the table below shall be credited to the Highway Fund, the Volunteer Rescue/EMS Fund established in G.S. 58-87-5, the Rescue Squad Workers' Relief Fund established in G.S. 58-88-5, the Division of Environmental Management of the Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, and the Law Enforcement Training Fund, established by Chapter 17F of the General Statutes:
Fund or Agency	Fee Imposed	Fee Imposed
Under (a)	Under (a1)
Highway Fund	.75	 1.80
Volunteer Rescue/EMS Fund	.18	.18
Rescue Squad Workers' Relief
Fund	.07	.07
Division of Environmental
Management	.00 	.35
Law Enforcement Training Fund	1.00	1.00.
(d)	Each inspection station shall maintain a record of inspections performed, in a form approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles, for a period of 18 months and such records shall be made available for inspection by any law-enforcement officer, upon demand, during normal business hours."
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1991.