GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1997

S	2 

SENATE BILL 853
Appropriations Committee Substitute Adopted 7/3/97

Short Title:  Revenue Officers' Police Powers.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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April 15, 1997

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO APPOINT EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT AS REVENUE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS TO ENFORCE THE EXCISE TAX ON CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES AND THE CRIMINAL PROVISIONS OF THE REVENUE LAWS AND DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF REVENUE TO NOTIFY AFFECTED INTANGIBLES TAXPAYERS BY MAIL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE OF THE COURT NOTICE IN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT REGARDING REFUNDS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article 9 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 105-236.1.  Enforcement of revenue laws by revenue law enforcement agents.
(a)	General. – The Secretary may appoint employees of the Criminal Investigations Division to serve as revenue law enforcement officers having the responsibility and subject-matter jurisdiction to enforce the felony tax violations in G.S. 105-236 and to enforce any of the following criminal offenses when they involve a tax imposed under Chapter 105 of the General Statutes: G.S. 14-91 (Embezzlement of State Property), G.S. 14-92 (Embezzlement of Funds), G.S. 14-100 (Obtaining Property By False Pretenses), G.S. 14-119 (Forgery), and G.S. 14-120 (Uttering Forged Paper).
The Secretary may appoint employees of the Controlled Substances Tax Division to serve as revenue law enforcement officers having the responsibility and subject-matter jurisdiction to enforce the excise tax on controlled substances imposed by Article 2D of this Chapter.  To serve as a revenue law enforcement officer, an employee must be certified as a criminal justice officer under Chapter 17C of the General Statutes.
(b)	Authority. – A revenue law enforcement officer is a State officer with jurisdiction throughout the State within the officer's subject-matter jurisdiction.  A revenue law enforcement officer may serve and execute notices, orders, warrants, or demands issued by the Secretary or the General Court of Justice in connection with the enforcement of the officer's subject-matter jurisdiction.  A revenue law enforcement officer has the full powers of arrest as provided by G.S. 15A-401 while executing the notices, orders, warrants, or demands."
Section 2.  G.S. 17C-2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 17C-2.  Definitions.
Unless the context clearly otherwise requires, the following definitions apply in this Chapter:
	 "  (1)  Commission. – The North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.
	 "  (2)  Criminal justice agencies. – The State and local law-enforcement agencies, the State correctional agencies, other correctional agencies maintained by local governments, and the juvenile justice agencies, but shall not include deputy sheriffs, special deputy sheriffs, sheriffs' jailers, or other sheriffs' department personnel governed by the provisions of Chapter 17E of these General Statutes.
	 "  (3)  Criminal justice officers. – The administrative and subordinate personnel of all the departments, agencies, units or entities comprising the " criminal justice agencies who are sworn law-enforcement officers, both State and local, with the power of arrest; revenue law enforcement officers; State correctional officers; State probation/parole officers; officers, supervisory and administrative personnel of local confinement facilities; State youth services officers; State probation/parole intake officers; State probation/parole officers-surveillance; State probation/parole intensive officers; and State parole case analysts.
	 "  (4)  Entry level. – The initial appointment or employment of any person by a criminal justice agency, or any appointment or employment of a person previously employed by a criminal justice agency who has not been employed by a criminal justice agency for the 12-month period preceding this appointment or employment, or any appointment or employment of a previously certified criminal justice officer to a position which requires a different type of certification."
Section 3.  G.S. 135-1(11b) reads as rewritten:
"(11b)	'Law-Enforcement Officer' means a full-time paid employee of an employer who is actively serving in a position with assigned primary duties and responsibilities for prevention and detection of crime or the general enforcement of the criminal laws of the State of North Carolina or serving civil processes, and who possesses the power of arrest by virtue of an oath administered under the authority of the State.  The term does not include a revenue law-enforcement officer."
Section 4.  G.S. 143-166.30(a)(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	'Law-enforcement officer' means a full-time paid employee of an employer who is actively serving in a position with assigned primary duties and responsibilities for prevention and detection of crime or the general enforcement of the criminal laws of the State or serving civil processes, and who possesses the power of arrest by virtue of an oath administered under the authority of the State.  The term does not include a revenue law-enforcement officer."
Section 5.  G.S. 143-166.13(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(18)	Sworn State Law-Enforcement Officers with the power of arrest, Department of Revenue."
Section 6.  Of the funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Revenue for operating expenses, the sum of sixty-seven thousand five hundred three dollars ($67,503) shall be used in the 1997-98 fiscal year to implement Sections 1 through 5 of this act.
Section 7.  (a)	The Secretary of Revenue shall, as soon as possible, mail a copy of the Wake County Superior Court's notice in the class action lawsuit Smith v. State to all intangibles taxpayers that she has identified as possibly being affected and for whom she has identified a last known mailing address.  The Secretary of Revenue shall draw the costs of implementing this subsection, up to a maximum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000), from collections under Division II of Article 4 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.  The court's notice requires immediate action by affected taxpayers.  The Secretary of Revenue shall, therefore, make an extraordinary effort to assure that the notices are sent as quickly as possible. 
(b)	It is the intent of the General Assembly that as many affected taxpayers as possible receive actual, complete information before the deadline set by the court for taxpayers to make a decision regarding the class action lawsuit.  The Secretary of Revenue shall supplement the mailing required by this section with circulation of the court's notice to tax professionals and media outlets throughout the State and to any other person she considers appropriate to implement the intent of this section.
Section 8.  This act is effective when it becomes law.