Senate Approves Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform Bill

Legislation Expands Mandatory Training and Reporting

Sen. Britt: Reforms Benefit Both Law Enforcement and the Public

Raleigh, N.C. — Today, the North Carolina State Senate sent a sweeping criminal justice reform bill to Gov. Cooper. Senate Bill 300 expands mandatory training and creates a duty for a law enforcement officer to intervene and report any excessive use of force by another officer.

The bill also prohibits certain local ordinance violations, like failing to annually register a mobile home, from carrying a criminal penalty.

“Since coming to Raleigh I’ve worked tirelessly to correct the decades of overcriminalization implemented by previous legislatures,” bill sponsor Sen. Danny Earl Britt, Jr. said “This bill squarely takes aim at that and implements reforms that benefit both our law enforcement community and the public they’re sworn to protect. I hope Gov. Cooper sees the value in this bill and immediately signs it into law.”

Senate Bill 300 includes several bipartisan reforms, including new mental health and wellness strategies training, psychological screenings, and an “early warning” system to track and document the use of force.

Over the past several years, the Republican-led legislature has enacted historic criminal justice reforms, including Raise the Age, the Second Chance Act, and the First Step Act, which overturned the mandatory minimum sentences imposed by then-Sen. Roy Cooper.

Senate Bill 300 also includes provisions to:

• Create a public database of law enforcement officer certification suspensions and revocations.
• Require all law enforcement officer fingerprints to be entered in state and federal databases.
• Authorize law enforcement agencies to participate in the FBI’s criminal background check systems.
• Create a database for law enforcement agencies of “critical incident information” which includes death or serious bodily injury.
• Require that written notification of Giglio material (credibility issues that would make an officer open to impeachment by the defense in a criminal trial) be reported.
• Allow health care providers to transport the respondent in an involuntary commitment.
• Provide in-person instruction by mental health professionals and develop policies to encourage officers to utilize available mental health resources.
• Require the creation of a best practices recruitment guide to encourage diversity.
• Expand mandatory in-service training for officers to include mental health topics, community policing, minority sensitivity, use of force, and the duty to intervene and report.
• Increase penalties for those who resist or obstruct an arrest and while doing so injure a law enforcement officer.

Senate Bill 300 lays out a timeline for the release of police-worn body camera footage that depicts a death or serious injury, including when a court can reconsider a denial of release because of an ongoing investigation.

Gov. Cooper has 10 days to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.