NC S855

Creates a nine-member bipartisan Bipartisan Legislative Working Group on Criminal Law Recodification with equal representation from both chambers and both parties, plus one chair with at least six years of General Assembly service.

Working Group shall solicit feedback from the public and major criminal justice entities including the Attorney General, District Attorneys, judges, sheriffs, police chiefs, and indigent defense services.

Appropriates $338,771 in nonrecurring funds to the University of North Carolina School of Government's Criminal Justice Innovation Lab (CJIL) to support the Working Group with a director, project manager, and three criminal law attorneys.

CJIL shall create comprehensive databases of statutory, common law, ordinance, and regulatory crimes in North Carolina, then draft legislation consolidating and reforming the criminal code according to eight core principles including consistent terminology, elimination of redundancies, and constitutional compliance.

Working Group terminates August 15, 2021, and shall report recommendations to the 2021 General Assembly for a streamlined criminal code consolidated into Chapter 14 of the General Statutes.