A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that certain persons certified by the north carolina criminal justice education and training standards commission and designated by a local board of education or board of directors of a charter school may possess and carry firearms on educational property to provide additional protection to those attending and working in public schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S.  14‑269.2(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The following definitions apply to this section:
(1)	Educational property. – Any school building or bus, school campus, grounds, recreational area, athletic field, or other property owned, used, or operated by any board of education or school board of trustees, or directors for the administration of any school.
(1a)	Employee. – A person employed by a local board of education or school whether the person is an adult or a minor.
(1b)	School. – A public or private school, community college, college, or university.
(1c)	School safety marshal. – A person designated as a school safety marshal by a local board of education pursuant to G.S. 115C‑47 or by the board of directors of a charter school pursuant to G.S. 115C‑238.29E(d).
(2)	Student. – A person enrolled in a school or a person who has been suspended or expelled within the last five years from a school, whether the person is an adult or a minor.
(3)	Switchblade knife. – A knife containing a blade that opens automatically by the release of a spring or a similar contrivance.
(4)	Weapon. – Any device enumerated in subsection (b), (b1), or (d) of this section."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑269.2(g) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(7)	A person who is a school safety marshal, provided the person is acting in the discharge of the person's official duties and is on the premises of the educational property that is owned, used, or operated by the local board of education or the board of directors of a charter school, as appropriate, that designated the person as a school safety marshal."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 17C‑6 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(17)	In conjunction with the State Board of Education, develop a school crisis and emergency management response program to train persons to be school safety marshals as defined in G.S. 115C‑47 and G.S. 115C‑238.29E(d). The Commission shall establish minimum standards and levels of training that must be met in order for a person to be certified as a school safety marshal. Training standards shall include a minimum level of firearms training that involves the actual firing of firearms and that also focuses on the use of firearms in a crisis situation that may involve unarmed bystanders. The Commission may charge a reasonable fee to applicants for the costs incurred to comply with this subdivision."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 17C‑8 reads as rewritten:
"§ 17C‑8.  System established.
The North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training  Standards Commission shall establish a North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training System. The system shall be a cooperative arrangement among criminal justice agencies, both State and local, and criminal justice education and training schools, both public and private, to provide education and training to the officers and employees of the criminal justice agencies of the State of North Carolina and its local governments, and to persons identified as potential school safety marshals pursuant to G.S. 115C‑47 or G.S. 115C‑238.29E(d). Members of the system shall include the North Carolina Justice Academy as well as such other public or private agencies or institutions within the State, that are  engaged in criminal justice education and training, and desire to be affiliated with the system for the purpose of achieving greater coordination of criminal justice education and training efforts in North Carolina."
SECTION 5. G.S. 115C‑47 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(40a)	To Designate School Safety Marshals. – Local boards of education may designate qualified persons to serve as school safety marshals and may adopt rules and policies regarding the duties of a school safety marshal. The board may establish application procedures for persons interested in serving as school safety marshals and may adopt policies regarding the determination of which applicants, if any, to recommend to the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission as potential school safety marshals. A person must be certified by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission pursuant to G.S. 17C‑6(17) before a person may be designated as a school safety marshal. In the discretion of the local board of education, a school safety marshal may be a school volunteer, a school employee, or a person otherwise engaged by the school to carry out the duties of a school marshal."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 115C‑238.29E(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	The board of directors of the charter school shall decide matters related to the operation of the school, including budgeting, curriculum, and operating procedures. The board of directors may designate qualified persons to serve as school safety marshals and may adopt rules and policies regarding the duties of a school safety marshal. The board may establish application procedures for persons interested in serving as school safety marshals and may adopt policies regarding the determination of which applicants, if any, to recommend to the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission as potential school safety marshals. A person must be certified by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission pursuant to G.S. 17C‑6(17) before a person may be designated as a school safety marshal. In the discretion of the board of directors, a school safety marshal may be a school volunteer, a school employee, or a person otherwise engaged by the school to carry out the duties of a school marshal."
SECTION 7.	Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective December 1, 2013. The remainder of this act becomes effective August 1, 2013.