Each year the School of Government publishes new and revised pattern jury instructions for civil, criminal, and motor vehicle negligence cases. Those instructions are created and compiled by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. The 2025 updates are available for free download here. This year’s changes account for crimes and sentencing enhancements defined and amended by the state legislature in 2024, including the new sentence enhancement for wearing a mask to conceal one’s identity during the commission of an offense (N.C.P.I.—Crim. 204.17), newly created money laundering offenses (N.C.P.I .—Crim. 220.38, -38A), revisions to larceny laws (N.C.P.I.—Crim. 216.52, -.53, -.56, –.57, -.57A, -.57B, -.57C), amendments to the laws prohibiting the sexual exploitation of a minor (N.C.P.I.—Crim. 238.21, -.21A, -.21B, -.21C, -.21D, -.21E, -.22A, -.22B, -.22C, -.25, -.25A), and new sexual extortion offenses (N.C.P.I.—Crim. 227.30, -.32, -.34, -.36). You can find a complete list of updated and new instructions here.
Thanks to the committee and its staff. As previously mentioned, the pattern jury instructions are created and compiled by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. The committee and its staff convene monthly between August and May, typically on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Members of the 2024-25 committee and its staff are listed below.
Allen Baddour, Committee Chair
Civil Subcommittee
Richard S. Gottlieb, Civil Subcommittee Chair
Carla N. Archie, Member, Civil Subcommittee
Robert C. Ervin, Member, Civil Subcommittee
Marvin K. Blount, Member, Civil Subcommittee
Ashley B. Chandler, Attorney Reporter, Civil Subcommittee
Alexandra E. Rivenbark, Research Assistant, UNC School of Law, Civil Subcommittee
Criminal Subcommittee
Thomas H. Lock, Criminal Subcommittee Chair
Gale M. Adams, Member, Criminal Subcommittee
Joseph N. Crosswhite, Member, Criminal Subcommittee
Karen Eady-Williams, Member, Criminal Subcommittee
Edwin G. Wilson, Jr., Member, Criminal Subcommittee
Alan Woodlief, Reporter, Criminal Subcommittee
Madison Gilbert, Research Assistant, Elon University School of Law, Criminal Subcommittee