GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1997 SESSION

S.L. 1997-144
SENATE BILL 673

AN ACT TO AMEND THE DEFINITION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOR PURPOSES OF ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 128-21(11b) reads as rewritten:
"(11b)	'Law Enforcement Officer' means a full-time paid employee of an employer, who possesses the power of arrest, who has taken the law enforcement oath administered under the authority of the State as prescribed by G.S. 11-11, and who is certified as a law enforcement officer  under the provisions of Chapter 17C of the General Statutes or certified as a deputy sheriff under the provisions of Chapter 17E of the General Statutes.  'Law enforcement officer' also means the sheriff of the county.  The number of paid personnel employed as law enforcement officers by a law enforcement agency may not exceed the number of law enforcement positions approved by the applicable local governing board."
Section 2.  G.S. 143-166.50(a)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	'Law-enforcement officer' means a full-time paid employee of an employer, who possesses the power of arrest, who has taken the law enforcement oath administered under the authority of the State as prescribed by G.S. 11-11, and who is certified as a law enforcement officer  under the provisions of Chapter 17C of the General Statutes or certified as a deputy sheriff under the provisions of Chapter 17E of the General Statutes.  'Law enforcement officer' also means the sheriff of the county.  The number of paid personnel employed as law enforcement officers by a law enforcement agency may not exceed the number of law enforcement positions approved by the applicable local governing board."
Section 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1997, and applies to all persons enrolled in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 27th day of May, 1997.
s/	Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

s/	Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives

s/	James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor

Approved 3:36 p.m. this 4th day of June, 1997