AN ACT to allow county appeal in juvenile "pay order" cases.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 7B‑2604 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7B‑2604.  Proper parties for appeal.
(a)	An appeal may be taken by the juvenile, the juvenile's parent, guardian, or custodian, a county, or the State.
(b)	The State's appeal is limited to the following orders in delinquency or undisciplined cases:
(1)	An order finding a State statute to be unconstitutional; and
(2)	Any order which terminates the prosecution of a petition by upholding the defense of double jeopardy, by holding that a cause of action is not stated under a statute, or by granting a motion to suppress.
(c)	A county's appeal is limited to orders in which the county has been ordered to pay for medical, surgical, psychiatric, psychological, or other evaluation or treatment of a juvenile pursuant to G.S. 7B-2502, or other medical, psychiatric, psychological, or other evaluation or treatment of a parent pursuant to G.S. 7B-2702."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2003, and applies to petitions for appeal filed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 5th day of June, 2003.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 10:02 a.m. this 12th day of June, 2003