A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT authorizing the court to assess a fee for the costs of the services of a municipal crime laboratory.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 7A‑304(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(8)	For the services of any municipal police laboratory facility, the district or superior court judge shall, upon conviction, order payment of the sum of three hundred dollars ($300.00) to be remitted to the general fund of the laboratory's municipality to be used for law enforcement purposes. The cost shall be assessed only in cases in which, as part of the investigation leading to the defendant's conviction, the municipal laboratory has performed DNA analysis of the crime, test of bodily fluids of the defendant for the presence of alcohol or controlled substances, or analysis of any controlled substance possessed by the defendant or the defendant's agent. The court may waive or reduce the amount of the payment required by this subdivision upon a finding of just cause to grant such a waiver or reduction."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2005, and applies to court costs assessed or collected on or after that date.