AN ACT to enhance penalties for violations of the child care facilities act.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 110‑103 reads as rewritten:
"§ 110‑103.  Criminal penalty.
(a)	Any person who violates the provisions of G.S. 110‑98 shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Violations of G.S. 110-98(2), 110-99(b), 110‑99(c), and 110-102 are exempted from the provisions of this subsection.
(b)	It shall be a Class I felony for any person who operates a child care facility to:
(1)	Willfully violate the provisions of G.S. 110-99(a), or
(2)	Willfully violate the provisions of this Article while providing child care for three or more children, for more than four hours per day on two consecutive days.
(c)	Any person who violates the provisions of this Article and, as a result of the violation, causes serious injury to a child attending the child care facility, shall be guilty of a Class H felony.
(d)	Any person who violates subsection (a) of this section, and has a prior conviction for violating subsection (a), shall be guilty of a Class H felony."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 110‑99 reads as rewritten:
"§ 110‑99. Possession and display of license.
(a)	It shall be unlawful for a child care facility to operate without a current license authorized for issuance under G.S. 110‑88.
(b)	Each child care facility shall display its current license in a prominent place at all times so that the public may be on notice that the facility is licensed and may observe any rating which may appear on the license. Any license issued to a child care facility under this Article shall remain the property of the State and may be removed by persons employed or designated by the Secretary in the event that the license is revoked or suspended, or in the event that the rating is changed.
(c)	A person who provides only drop‑in or short‑term child care as described in G.S. 110‑86(2)(d), excluding drop‑in or short‑term child care provided in churches, shall notify the Department that the person is providing only drop‑in or short‑term child care. Any person providing only drop‑in or short‑term child care as described in G.S. 110‑86(2)(d), excluding drop‑in or short‑term child care provided in churches, shall display in a prominent place at all times a notice that the child care arrangement is not required to be licensed and regulated by the Department and is not licensed and regulated by the Department."

SECTION 3.  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 2:36 p.m. this 12th day of June, 2003