A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to strengthen the criminal laws regarding arson and to appropriate funds to the conference of district attorneys to establish and support a position for a resource prosecutor.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 15 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 14‑67.2.  Burning caused during commission of another felony.
If any person shall, during the commission of a felony, by means of fire or explosive, knowingly damage or knowingly cause, aid, abet, advise, encourage, hire, counsel, or procure another to damage any dwelling, structure, building, or conveyance referenced in this Article, the person shall be punished as a Class D felon."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑69.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14‑69.3.  Arson or other unlawful burning that results in serious injury to a firefighter, law enforcement officer, fire investigator, or emergency medical technician.
(a)	The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Emergency medical technician. – The term includes an emergency medical technician, an emergency medical technician‑intermediate, and an emergency medical technician‑paramedic, as those terms are defined in G.S. 131E‑155.
(2)	Fire investigator. – The term includes any person who, individually or as part of an investigative team, has the responsibility and authority to determine the origin, cause, or development of a fire or explosion.
(b)	A person is guilty of a Class E felony if the person commits a felony under Article 15 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes and a firefighter, law enforcement officer, fire investigator, or emergency medical technician suffers serious bodily injury while discharging or attempting to discharge official duties on the property, or proximate to the property, that is the subject of the firefighter's, law enforcement officer's, fire investigator's, or emergency medical technician's discharge or attempt to discharge his or her respective duties."
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Conference of District Attorneys the sum of one hundred fifteen thousand six hundred three dollars ($115,603) in recurring funds and the sum of three thousand eight hundred sixty‑five dollars ($3,865) in nonrecurring funds for the 2017‑2018 fiscal year to establish and support a position for a resource prosecutor. The resource prosecutor will serve as a resource for prosecutors, law enforcement, firefighters, fire marshals, arson investigators, medical professionals, and other allied professionals in the State on arson and homicide cases and also develop and provide training programs for prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and other allied professionals that will improve the ability to effectively prosecute arson and homicide cases.
SECTION 4.  Sections 3 and 4 of this act become effective July 1, 2017. The remainder of this act becomes effective December 1, 2017, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.