A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to increase the portion of court costs used for the sheriffs' supplemental pension fund and to allow unused sick leave under the local governmental employees' retirement system to be applied as eligible service in the sheriffs' supplemental pension fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 7A‑304(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	In every criminal case in the superior or district court, wherein the defendant is convicted, or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or when costs are assessed against the prosecuting witness, the following costs shall be assessed and collected. No costs may be assessed when a case is dismissed. Only upon entry of a written order, supported by findings of fact and conclusions of law, determining that there is just cause, the court may (i) waive costs assessed under this section or (ii) waive or reduce costs assessed under subdivision (7), (8), (8a), (11), (12), or (13) of this section.
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(3a)	For the supplemental pension benefits of sheriffs, the sum of two dollars fifty cents ($2.50) to be remitted to the Department of Justice and administered under the provisions of Article 12H of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
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SECTION 2.  G.S. 143‑166.84 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c)	For purposes of this Article, the term "eligible service as sheriff" means membership service rendered since the person became sheriff, and if the person has sick leave standing to his or her credit accrued as a member of the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System and, after notification to the Retirement Systems Division by the Department of Justice, elects to have all of that sick leave applied to service under this Article instead of service in that System, one month of credit for each 20 days or portion thereof, but not less than one hour, and subject to all the requirements and restrictions of G.S. 128‑26(e)."
SECTION 3.(a)  Section 1 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies to court costs imposed or collected on or after that date, except that in misdemeanor cases disposed of on or after that date by written appearance, waiver of trial or hearing, and plea of guilty or admission of responsibility pursuant to G.S. 7A‑180(4) or G.S. 7A‑273(2) in which the citation or other criminal process was issued before that date, the cost shall be the lesser of the cost specified in G.S. 7A‑304(a), as amended by this act, or the cost specified in the notice portion of the defendant's or respondent's copy of the citation or other criminal process, if any costs are specified in that notice.
SECTION 3.(b)  Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and expires January 31, 2019.
	SECTION 3.(c)  The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.