H 206

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
  SESSION 2025
  SESSION LAW 2026-53
  HOUSE BILL 206
AN ACT TO ENACT MODIFICATIONS AS RECOMMENDED BY THE NORTH
  CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, TO AUTHORIZE TRIBAL POLICE
  CHIEFS TO ENTER INTO MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER LAW
  ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AND TO MODIFY THE LAW RELATED TO THE
  CONFIRMATION OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
AIRPORT LEASE AUTHORITY
  SECTION 1.(a) The North Carolina Department of Public Safety and North Carolina
Air National Guard are granted independent signature authority to accept an additional 50-year
land use license from the United States Air Force for the approximately 114.19 acres at the Stanly
County Airport that extends current License No. DACA21-3-94-0983 through calendar year
2093.
  SECTION 1.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.
ALLOW DONATION OF CERTAIN VEHICLES
  SECTION 3.(a) The Division of Emergency Management at the Department of
Public Safety is authorized to transfer ownership of travel trailers and utility terrain vehicles that
were donated to or purchased by the State during disaster operations to any of the following:
local governments, nonprofit organizations working in emergency response or disaster relief, or
to survivors with a need for long-term housing support.
  SECTION 3.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.
VICTIM COMPENSATION CHANGES
  SECTION 5.(a) G.S. 15B-2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15B-2. Definitions.
    As used in this Article, the following definitions apply, unless the context requires otherwise:
  …
  (7)      Dependent's economic loss. – Loss after a victim's death of contributions of
  things of economic value to his dependents, not including services they would
  have received from the victim if he had not suffered the fatal injury, less
  expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of the victim's death.
  Dependent's economic loss will be limited to a 26-week period commencing
  from the date of the injury, and compensation shall not exceed three four
  hundred dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week.
  …
  (10a) Household support loss. – The loss of support that a victim would have
  received from the victim's spouse for the purpose of maintaining a home or
  residence for the victim and the victim's dependents. A victim may be
  compensated fifty one hundred dollars ($50.00) ($100.00) per week for each
  dependent child. Compensation for household support loss shall not exceed
  *H206-v-6*
  three four hundred dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week and shall be limited
  to 26 weeks commencing from the date of the injury. A victim may receive
  only one compensation for household support loss. Household support loss is
  only available to an unemployed a victim whose spouse is the offender who
  committed the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of the victim's
  claim under this act.
  …
  (14)    Work loss. – Loss of income from work that the injured person would have
  performed if he had not been injured and expenses reasonably incurred by him
  to obtain services in lieu of those he would have performed for income,
  reduced by any income from substitute work actually performed by him, or
  by income he would have earned in available appropriate substitute work that
  he was capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake.
  Compensation for work loss will be limited to 26 weeks commencing from
  the date of the injury, and compensation shall not exceed three four hundred
  dollars ($300.00) ($400.00) per week. A claim for work loss will be paid only
  upon proof that the injured person was gainfully employed at the time of the
  criminally injurious conduct and, by physician's certificate, that the injured
  person was unable to work."
  SECTION 5.(b) G.S. 15B-6(b) reads as rewritten:
   "(b) The Director shall have all of the following authority:
  (1)    With the consent of the district attorney, to request that law enforcement
  officers employed by the State or any political subdivision provide copies of
  any information or data gathered in the investigation of criminally injurious
  conduct that is the basis of any claim to enable the Director or Commission to
  determine whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award
  of compensation.
  (2)    With the consent of the district attorney, to request that prosecuting attorneys,
  law enforcement officers, and State agencies conduct investigations and
  provide information necessary to enable the Director or Commission to
  determine whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award
  of compensation.
  (3)    To require the claimant to supplement the application for an award of
  compensation with any reasonably available medical or psychological reports
  pertaining to the injury for which the award of compensation is claimed.
  (4)    To utilize the sums remaining in the fund in any particular fiscal year to
  promote the mission of the Commission through outreach awareness
  measures.training for crime victim advocates, law enforcement, and service
  providers on the needs of crime victims, grants for agencies to assist victims
  of crime with seeking compensation benefits, provision of referral and claim
  services for crime victims, and analysis of violent crime and victimization in
  North Carolina to better support victim compensation. Up to six hundred
  thousand dollars ($600,000) of accrued funds may be used one time to develop
  and implement an online submission and communication system for crime
  victim service providers.
   Information obtained pursuant to this subsection is subject to the same privilege against
public disclosure that may be asserted by the providing source."
  SECTION 5.(c) G.S. 15B-10(a) reads as rewritten:
   "(a) The Director Director, or the Director's designee, shall decide the award of
compensation for an initial claim or follow-up claim when the claim does not exceed twelve
Page 2  Session Law 2026-53  House Bill 206
thousand five hundred dollars ($12,500) and does not include future economic loss. The Director
shall report all awards under this subsection to the Commission."
  SECTION 5.(d) G.S. 15B-11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15B-11. Grounds for denial of claim or reduction of award.
    (a)     An award of compensation shall be denied if any of the following apply:
  (1)     The claimant fails to file an application for an award within two years after
  the date of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for
  which the claimant seeks the award.
  (2)     The economic loss is incurred after one year from the date of the criminally
  injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which the victim seeks
  the award, except in the case where the victim for whom compensation is
  sought was 10 18 years old or younger at the time the injury occurred. In that
  case an award of compensation will be denied if the economic loss is incurred
  after two years from the date of the criminally injurious conduct that caused
  the injury or death for which the victim seeks the award.award, unless the
  minor victim has new medical or counseling expenses directly attributable to
  the crime.
  …
    (c1) A claim may be denied upon a finding that the claimant has been convicted of any
felony classified as a Class A, B1, B2, C, D, or E felony under the laws of the State of North
Carolina and that such felony was committed within 3 years of the time the victim's injury
occurred.occurred and that such felony could reasonably be associated with the violent incident.
    …."
  SECTION 5.(e) G.S. 15B-15 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15B-15. Clerks of court to be notified.
    The Director shall notify in writing or by electronic means the clerk of superior court of the
county in which the offense occurred of any award made from the Crime Victims Compensation
Fund to the victim. The clerk shall place the notice in the case file of any defendant charged with
the offense that gave rise to the award to the victim."
  SECTION 5.(f) G.S. 15B-26(c) reads as rewritten:
    "(c) A When a creditor has been notified by a victim that an application for a victim
compensation claim is pending, the creditor may request monthly verification from the
Commission that the application or appeal is still pending, and the Commission shall provide this
verification."
  SECTION 5.(g) This section is effective when it becomes law.
AUTHORIZE TRIBAL POLICE CHIEFS TO ENTER INTO MUTUAL AID
AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
  SECTION 7.(a) G.S. 160A-288 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A-288. Cooperation between law enforcement agencies.
    …
    (b)   As used in this section:
  (1)    "Head" means any director or chief officer of a law enforcement agency
  including the chief of police of a local department, chief of police of a county
  police department, and the sheriff of a county, county, and chief of a tribal
  police department, or an officer of one of the above named agencies to whom
  the head of that agency has delegated authority to make or grant requests under
  this section, but only one officer in the agency shall have this delegated
  authority at any time.
  (2)    "Law enforcement agency" or "agency" means a municipal police department,
  a county police department, or a sheriff's office of this State. State, or any
House Bill 206  Session Law 2026-53  Page 3
  tribal police department described in G.S. 1E-11. Subject to G.S. 15A-403, it
  also includes a municipal police department, a county police department, or a
  sheriff's office of another state if the laws of the other state allow for the
  provision of mutual aid with out-of-state law enforcement officers. All other
  State and local agencies are exempted from the provisions of this section.
   …."
  SECTION 7.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.
ADJUTANT GENERAL CONFIRMATION
  SECTION 8.(a) G.S. 127A-19 reads as rewritten:
"§ 127A-19. Adjutant General.
    (a)      The military head of the militia shall be the Adjutant General who shall hold the rank
of major general with federal recognition at time of appointment or attain the rank of major
general pursuant to this section. The Adjutant General shall be appointed by the Governor in the
Governor's capacity as commander in chief of the militia, in consultation with the Secretary of
Public Safety, and shall be subject to confirmation by the General Assembly by joint resolution.
    The Governor shall submit the name of the person to be appointed, for confirmation by the
General Assembly, to the General Assembly by May 1 of the year in which the Adjutant General
is to be appointed. If the Governor does not submit the name by that date, the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall submit a name to
the General Assembly on or before May 15 of the same year. The appointment shall then be made
by enactment of a bill. The bill shall state the name of the person being appointed, the office to
which the appointment is being made, the residence of the appointee, and that the appointment
is being made upon the joint recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. If there is no vacancy in the office of the Adjutant
General and a bill that would confirm the appointment of the person as Adjutant General fails a
reading in either chamber of the General Assembly, then the Governor shall submit a new name
within 30 days.
    Following appointment pursuant to this section, the Adjutant General shall serve at the
pleasure of the Governor. The Adjutant General, while holding this office, shall be a member of
the active North Carolina National Guard. If an appointed Adjutant General does not attain the
rank of major general with federal recognition within a reasonable period of time from the date
of appointment, the Governor shall replace the Adjutant General with an appointee who meets
the criteria in in, and is appointed in accordance with, this section. A "reasonable period of time"
shall take into account time in grade requirements for promotion or promotions and
administrative periods necessary to complete the promotion process.
    (a1) In case of a vacancy in the office of the Adjutant General, the name of the Adjutant
General's successor shall be submitted by the Governor to the General Assembly not later than
60 days after the vacancy arises. If a vacancy arises in the office when the General Assembly is
not in session, an acting Adjutant General shall be appointed by the Governor to serve pending
confirmation by the General Assembly. However, in no event shall an acting Adjutant General
serve (i) for more than 12 months without General Assembly confirmation or (ii) after a bill that
would confirm the appointment of the person as Adjutant General fails a reading in either
chamber of the General Assembly.
    …."
  SECTION 8.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.
Page 4  Session Law 2026-53  House Bill 206
EFFECTIVE DATE
       SECTION 9. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes
law.
       In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 2026.
  s/ Rachel Hunt
  President of the Senate
  s/ Destin Hall
  Speaker of the House of Representatives
  s/ Josh Stein
  Governor
Approved 9:50 a.m. this 7th day of July, 2026
House Bill 206  Session Law 2026-53  Page 5