AN ACT to provide that a defendant convicted of MISDEMEANOR stalking who is sentenced to a community punishment shall be placed on supervised probation in addition to any other punishment imposed by the court.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑277.3(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Classification. – A violation of this section is a Class A1 misdemeanor. A person convicted of a Class A1 misdemeanor under this section, who is sentenced to a community punishment, shall be placed on supervised probation in addition to any other punishment imposed by the court. A person who commits the offense of stalking when there is a court order in effect prohibiting similar behavior by that person is guilty of a Class H felony. A person who commits the offense of stalking after having been previously convicted of a stalking offense is guilty of a Class F felony."SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2003, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 4th day of June, 2003.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Richard T. Morgan
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 10:09 a.m. this 12th day of June, 2003