AN ACT to increase the criminal penalty for simple assault or battery on a handicapped person.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑32.1(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Any person who commits a simple assault or battery upon a handicapped person is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2006, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 18th day of July, 2006.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

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

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 6:01 p.m. this 1st day of August, 2006