GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2025

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 967

 

 

Short Title:      Disorderly Conduct at Voting Places.

(Public)

Sponsors:

Representative Cotham.

For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.

Referred to:

Election Law, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

April 14, 2025

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to clarify that public buildings include voting places for purposes of the crime of disorderly conduct in or near public buildings.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑132 reads as rewritten:

"§ 14‑132.  Disorderly conduct in and injuries to public buildings and facilities.

(a)        It is a misdemeanor if for any person shall:to do any of the following:

(1)        Make any rude or riotous noise, or be guilty of engage in any disorderly conduct, in or near any public building or facility; orfacility.

(2)        Unlawfully write or scribble on, mark, deface, besmear, or injure the walls of any public building or facility, or any statue or monument situated in any public place; orplace.

(3)        Commit any nuisance in or near any public building or facility.

(b)        Any person in charge of any public building or facility owned or controlled by the State, any subdivision of the State, or any other public agency shall have authority to arrest summarily and without warrant for a violation of this section.

(c)        The term "public building or facility" as used in this section includes any building or facility together with the surrounding grounds and premises used in connection with the operation or functioning of such public building or facility which is:is any of the following:

(1)        One to which the public or a portion of the public has access and is owned or controlled by the State, any subdivision of the State, any other public agency, or any private institution or agency of a charitable, educational, or eleemosynary nature; orphilanthropic nature.

(2)        Dedicated to the use of the general public for a purpose which is primarily concerned with public recreation, cultural activities, and other events of a public nature or character.

(3)        Designated by the Director of the State Bureau of Investigation in accordance with G.S. 143B‑987.

(4)        One temporarily in use as a voting place under Chapter 163 of the General Statutes during the hours for voting.

The term "building or facility" as used in this section also includes the surrounding grounds and premises of any building or facility used in connection with the operation or functioning of such building or facility.

(d)       Unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑166.4(b) reads as rewritten:

"(b)      Area for Election‑Related Activity. – Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the county board of elections shall also provide an area adjacent to the buffer zone for each voting place in which persons or groups of persons may distribute campaign literature, place political advertising, solicit votes, or otherwise engage in election‑related activity. It shall be a Class 3 misdemeanor for a person to steal, deface, vandalize, or unlawfully remove political advertising that is lawfully placed under this subsection."

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.