A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the chancellor of the university of north carolina at chapel hill to move a certain monument on the campus to a permanent indoor location for public viewing and to appropriate funds to Develop Plans for relocation and to move the monument to a new site.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The General Assembly finds that it is necessary to permanently relocate the monument that is an object of remembrance depicting a Confederate soldier facing north, sculpted by John Wilson and dedicated on June 2, 1913, located at the center of McCorkle place on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus to a secure, indoor location on the campus as expeditiously as possible due to recent acts of vandalism to the monument that threaten the preservation and integrity of the monument. To do so, the General Assembly also finds that an exception to State law should be granted to the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to move the monument to a secure, indoor location, consistent with the requirements set forth in Section 2 of this act, notwithstanding the limitations that are generally applicable to the relocation of objects of remembrance pursuant to G.S. 100‑2.1, based on the following:
(1)	The North Carolina Historical Commission is limited in its authority to approve the relocation of the monument to a secure, indoor location pursuant to G.S. 100‑2.1(b).
(2)	The chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill does not have the authority to relocate the monument pursuant to G.S. 100‑2.1.
(3)	Appropriate measures to permanently relocate the monument are required by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to preserve the monument consistent with G.S. 100‑2.1(b)(1). However, the University does not have the option to relocate the monument to an outdoor site similar to where it is currently located and still adequately preserve and protect the monument.
(4)	The relocation site shall be on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, as described in subdivision (3) of this section, due to recent vandalism to the monument, including an individual hammering the face of the monument and other individuals defacing the monument with paint on several occasions, relocation to an indoor site will enable the University to protect the monument from further defacement and damage to ensure that the monument will be preserved for future generations to gain an understanding of the legacy of slavery and the history of the Civil War.
(5)	Furthermore, it is necessary for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to relocate the monument to an indoor location on the campus in order to balance the interest of the public in preserving objects of remembrance to honor the soldiers who fought and sacrificed their lives during the Civil War with the growing awareness of North Carolina citizens that the open display by government entities of any monument that directly or indirectly memorializes racial inequality in a democracy that is based on equality under the law undermines that concept.
SECTION 2.  In accordance with the findings by the General Assembly set forth in Section 1 of this act, notwithstanding G.S. 100‑2.1, the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall identify a new site for the monument described under Section 1 of this act, develop plans for relocation and preservation of the monument, and move the monument to the selected site no later than April 1, 2020. The monument shall only be relocated to an indoor site that is readily accessible to the public for viewing at no cost and on a convenient and regularly scheduled basis.
SECTION 3.  By April 1, 2019, the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the identification of the new site for the monument and the progress on relocating the monument to the selected site, including the process the chancellor followed in identifying the selected site and costs associated with the planning, preservation, and relocation of the monument.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year to be allocated to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to identify a site and develop plans for the preservation and permanent relocation of the monument in accordance with Section 2 of this act to a secure, indoor site on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Any funds that are unexpended for this purpose at the end of the 2018‑2019 fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund but shall remain available until the end of the 2019‑2020 fiscal year. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall use non‑State funds to move the monument to the new site and for any additional associated costs.
SECTION 5.  Section 4 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2018. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.