S.L. 1979-561

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 561

SENATE BILL 171

AN ACT TO PROVIDE REMEDIES FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1. A new Chapter 50A is added to the General Statutes to read as follows:

"CHAPTER 50A.

"Domestic Violence.

"§ 50A-1. Domestic violence, definition. — Domestic violence means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between past or present spouses or between persons of the opposite sex who are living together or have lived together as if married:

(1) attempting to cause bodily injury, or intentionally causing bodily injury; or

(2) placing another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury by the threat of force.

"§ 50A-2. Procedure. — (a) A party residing in this State may seek relief under this Chapter by filing a civil action alleging acts of domestic violence. The district court division of the General Court of Justice shall have original jurisdiction over actions instituted under this Chapter.

(b) A party may move the court for emergency relief if he or she believes there is a danger of serious and immediate injury to himself or herself. A hearing shall be held within 10 days of the filing of the motion.

(c) Prior to the hearing and upon a finding of good cause, the court shall enter such temporary orders as it deems necessary to protect the victim or minor children from acts of domestic violence. Immediate and present danger of such acts against the victim or minor children shall constitute good cause.

"§ 50A-3. Relief. — (a) The court may grant any protective order or approve any consent agreement to bring about a cessation of acts of domestic violence. The orders or agreements may:

(1) direct a party to refrain from such acts;

(2) grant to a spouse possession of the residence or household of the parties and exclude the other spouse from the residence or household;

(3) require a party to provide a spouse and his or her children suitable alternate housing;

(4) award temporary custody of minor children and establish temporary visitation rights;

(5) order the eviction of a party from the residence or household and assistance to the victim in returning to it;

(6) order either party to make payments for the support of a minor child as required by law;

(7) order either party to make payments for the support of a spouse as required by law;

(8) provide for possession of personal property of the parties;

(9) order a party to refrain from harassing or interfering with the other; and

(10) award costs and attorney's fees to either party.

(b) Protective orders entered or consent orders approved pursuant to this Chapter shall be for a fixed period of time not to exceed one year.

(c) A copy of any order entered and filed under this Article shall be issued to each party. In addition, a copy of the order shall be issued to and retained by the police department of the city of the victim's residence. If the victim does not reside in a city, or resides in a city with no police department, the copy shall be issued to and retained by the sheriff of the county in which the victim resides.

"§ 50A-4. Enforcement. — (a) A party may file a motion for contempt for violation of any order entered pursuant to this Chapter.

(b) A law enforcement officer shall arrest and take a person into custody if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has violated a court order excluding the person from the residence or household occupied by a victim of domestic violence or directing the person to refrain from harassing or interfering with the victim, and if the victim presents the law enforcement officer with a copy of the order or the officer determines that such an order exists through phone, radio or other communication with appropriate authorities. The person arrested shall be brought before the appropriate district court judge at the earliest time possible to show cause why he or she should not be held in civil contempt for violation of the order. The person arrested shall be entitled to be released under the provisions of Article 26, Bail, of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.

"§ 50A-5. Emergency assistance. — (a) A person who alleges that he or she has been the victim of domestic violence may request the assistance of a local law enforcement agency. The local law enforcement agency shall respond to the request for assistance as soon as practicable; provided, however, a local law enforcement agency shall not be required to respond in instances of multiple complaints from the same complainant if the multiple complaints are made within a 48-hour period and the local law enforcement agency has reasonable cause to believe that immediate assistance is not needed. The local law enforcement officer responding to the request for assistance is authorized to take whatever steps are reasonably necessary to protect the complainant from harm and is authorized to advise the complainant of sources of shelter, medical care, counseling and other services. Upon request by the complainant and where feasible, the law enforcement officer is authorized to transport the complainant to appropriate facilities such as hospitals, magistrates' offices, or public or private facilities for shelter and accompany the complainant to his or her residence, within the jurisdiction in which the request for assistance was made, so that the complainant may remove food, clothing, medication and such other personal property as is reasonably necessary to enable the complainant and any minor children who are presently in the care of the complainant to remain elsewhere pending further proceedings.

(b) In providing the assistance authorized by subsection (a), no officer may be held criminally or civilly liable on account of reasonable measures taken under authority of subsection (a).

"§ 50A-6. This act shall not be construed as granting a status to any person for any purpose other than those expressly stated herein.

"§ 50A-7. The remedies provided by this Chapter are not exclusive but are additional to remedies provided under Chapter 50 and elsewhere in the General Statutes."

Sec. 2. A new section is added to Chapter 14 of the General Statutes as follows:

"§ 14-134.3. Domestic criminal trespass. — Any person who enters after being forbidden to do so or remains after being ordered to leave by the lawful occupant, upon the premises occupied by a present or former spouse or by a person with whom the person charged has lived as if married, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if the complainant and the person charged are living apart provided, however, that no person shall be guilty if said person enters upon the premises pursuant to a judicial order or written separation agreement which gives the person the right to enter upon said premises for the purpose of visiting with minor children. Evidence that the parties are living apart shall include but is not necessarily limited to:

(1) a judicial order of separation;

(2) a court order directing the person charged to stay away from the premises occupied by the complainant;

(3) an agreement, whether verbal or written, between the complainant and the person charged that they shall live separate and apart, and such parties are in fact living separate and apart; or

(4) separate places of residence for the complainant and the person charged. On conviction, said person may be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), imprisonment for not more than six months, or both."

Sec. 3. A new subdivision is added to G.S. 15A-401(b) as follows:

"(3) Subdivisions (1) and (2) shall apply to arrest for assault, for communicating a threat, or for domestic criminal trespass, already committed or being committed by a person who is the spouse or former spouse of the alleged victim or by a person with whom the alleged victim is living or has lived as if married."

Sec. 4. A new section is added to Chapter 15A as follows:

"§ 15A-534.1. Crimes of domestic violence; bail and pretrial release. — In all cases in which the defendant is charged with assault on or communicating a threat to a spouse or former spouse or a person with whom the defendant lives or has lived as if married, with domestic criminal trespass, or with violation of an order entered pursuant to Chapter 50A, Domestic Violence, of the General Statutes, the following provisions shall apply in addition to the provisions of G.S. 15A-534:

(1) Upon a determination by the judicial official that the immediate release of the defendant will pose a danger of injury to the alleged victim or to any other person or is likely to result in intimidation of the alleged victim and upon a determination that the execution of an appearance bond as required by G.S. 15A-534 will not reasonably assure that such injury or intimidation will not occur, a judicial official may retain the defendant in custody for a reasonable period of time while determining the conditions of pretrial release.

(2) A judicial official may impose the following conditions on pretrial release:

(a) that the defendant stay away from the home, school, business or place of employment of the alleged victim;

(b) that the defendant refrain from assaulting, beating, molesting, or wounding the alleged victim;

(d) that the defendant may visit his or her child or children at times and places provided by the terms of any existing order entered by a judge. The conditions set forth above may be imposed in addition to requiring that the defendant execute a secured appearance bond.

(3) Should the defendant be an inebriate, mentally ill or imminently dangerous to himself or others the provisions of Article 5A of Chapter 122 'Involuntary Commitment' shall apply."

Sec. 5. Subdivision (3) of G.S. 50-7 is rewritten as follows:

"(3) By cruel or barbarous treatment endangers the life of the other. In addition, the court may grant the victim of such treatment the remedies available under G.S. 50A-1, et —seq."

Sec. 6. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to obligate the General Assembly to appropriate any additional funds.

Sec. 7. The granting of a protective order, approval of a consent agreement, prosecution for violation of this act, or the granting of any other relief or the institution of any other enforcement proceedings under this act shall not be construed to afford a defense to any person or persons charged with fornication and adultery under G.S. 14-184 or charged with any other offense against the public morals; and prosecution, conviction, or prosecution and conviction for violation of any provision of this act shall not be a bar to prosecution for violation of G.S. 14-184 or of any other statute defining an offense or offenses against the public morals.

Sec. 8. This act shall become effective October 1, 1979, and shall apply to all occurrences involving the acts enumerated above occurring on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of May, 1979.