The North Carolina General Assembly has been quite busy this session. This year’s legislative updates span a range of topics within the world of criminal and motor vehicle law. Summaries of those enactments will be published on the School of Government website once the General Assembly adjourns for the session. For now, I’ll use this post to highlight the laws taking effect tomorrow, October 1, 2025.
Pretrial release
Section 2 of S.L. 2025-85 (H 318) creates a new pretrial release procedure that requires judicial officials to determine legal residency for defendants charged with certain offenses. The following categories of offenses trigger the inquiry:
- any felony;
- a Class A1 misdemeanor under Article 6A (unborn victims), Article 7B (rape and other sex offenses), or Article 8 (assaults) of G.S. Chapter 14;
- any violation of G.S. 50B-4.1 (violation of a domestic violence protective order); and
- any offense involving impaired driving as defined in G.S. 20-4.01.
For defendants charged with these offenses, a judicial official must “attempt to determine if the defendant is a legal resident or citizen of the United States by an inquiry of the defendant, or by examination of any relevant documents, or both.” Note that the inquiry is whether the person is a legal resident of the United States, not only North Carolina. The law also modifies some of the provisions enacted by section 9 of S.L. 2024-55 (H 10). I wrote more about the new law in this earlier blog post.
Firearms
Section 23 of S.L. 2025-70 (S 429) enacts new G.S. 14-409.44 to allow law enforcement agencies that have online crime reporting systems to receive online reports from individuals regarding lost or stolen firearms, though the statute does not require an agency to acquire and implement such an online system. A person who willfully makes or causes to be made a false, deliberately misleading, or unfounded report of a lost or stolen firearm is to be punished in accordance with G.S. 14-225 (false reports to law enforcement agencies or officers).
Section 7 of S.L. 2025-72 (S 118) amends G.S. 14-415.14 (handgun permit form to be provided by the sheriff) to add subsection (a1), requiring a handgun permit application to provide the permittee an option to consent for email communications related to the permit. The State Bureau of Investigation must also provide a paper form that a permit holder can submit to the sheriff to provide or revoke their consent for electronic communications. The act similarly amends G.S. 14-415.16(a) (renewal of permit) to clarify that the permit expiration notice must be sent, with consent of the permittee, by email.
Section 3 of S.L. 2025-51 (S 710) amends G.S. 14-415.12 (criteria to qualify for issuance of a permit) to add courses certified or sponsored by the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board and the Secretary of Public Safety to the list of approved courses for purposes of a concealed handgun permit application. The act also modifies G.S. 15A-151 to allow the Administrative Office of the Courts, upon request of the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board or the North Carolina Security Systems Licensing Board, to disclose information about expunction orders for licensure or registration purposes only.
Motor vehicle
UPDATE: This provision was repealed by Section 3 of S.L. 2025-91 (S 245), effective September 30, 2025. Section 5 of S.L. 2025-72 (S 118) amends G.S. 20-7 (issuance and renewal of drivers licenses) to allow an active duty member of the Armed Forces stationed outside of North Carolina, their spouse, and dependent children to remotely renew a license a second consecutive time if the license is not a REAL ID, or, if it is a REAL ID, it is being converted to a non-REAL ID compliant license for purposes of the renewal.
Section 4.(b) of S.L. 2025-65 (S 664) amends G.S. 20-138.7(a) to clarify that the open container offense applies when (1) there is an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area other than the unopened manufacturer’s original container; and (2) the driver is consuming alcohol or while alcohol remains in the body. The amendment does not change the elements of the offense. Rather, to the extent that there have been any arguments to the contrary, it makes clear that both conditions are required for a driver to be properly charged under the statute.
Other provisions
Section 2.(a) of S.L. 2025-70 (S 429) expands the law related to the disclosure and release of autopsy information prepared by the chief medical examiner. Any person who discloses or releases records in violation of the provisions or who willfully and knowingly possesses those records is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. More than one occurrence of disclosure, release, possession, or dissemination of the same item by the same person is not a separate offense.
Section 1 of S.L. 2025-15 (H 183) prohibits wake surfing within 200 feet of the shoreline or any structure, moored vessel, kayak, canoe, paddleboard, or swimmer on Lake Glenville in Jackson County. If you are like me and are unfamiliar with wake surfing, you might find these photos (with credit to Rolling Stone) somewhat helpful:
The act defines wake surfing as “operating a motorboat with weight added in the stern via water-filled tanks or other ballasts for the purpose of creating an artificially enlarged wake that is or is intended to be surfed by another person towed behind the boat.” A violation of this local restriction is a Class 1 misdemeanor and carries a minimum fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00), in addition to any other applicable penalties.
If you have questions about these and other enactments affecting criminal law and procedure, feel free to email me at bwilliams@sog.unc.edu.