Bill Text: NC H375 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Checking Stations Unlawful
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-17 - Ref To Com On Judiciary [H375 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-H375-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 1
HOUSE BILL 375
Short Title: Checking Stations Unlawful. |
(Public) |
|
Sponsors: |
Representative Bradley (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, see Bill Information on the NCGA Web Site. |
|
Referred to: |
Judiciary. |
|
March 17, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make all checking stations unlawful unless they are established to capture a particular named offender in a manhunt.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 20‑16.3A reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑16.3A.
Checking stations and roadblocks.roadblocks unlawful.
(a) A law‑enforcement agency may
conduct checking stations to determine compliance with the provisions of this
Chapter. If the agency is conducting a checking station for the purposes of
determining compliance with this Chapter, it must:
(1) Repealed by Session Laws 2006‑253,
s. 4, effective December 1, 2006, and applicable to offenses committed on or
after that date.
(2) Designate in advance the pattern both for
stopping vehicles and for requesting drivers that are stopped to produce
drivers license, registration, or insurance information.
(2a) Operate under a written policy that
provides guidelines for the pattern, which need not be in writing. The policy
may be either the agency's own policy, or if the agency does not have a written
policy, it may be the policy of another law enforcement agency, and may include
contingency provisions for altering either pattern if actual traffic conditions
are different from those anticipated, but no individual officer may be given
discretion as to which vehicle is stopped or, of the vehicles stopped, which
driver is requested to produce drivers license, registration, or insurance
information. If officers of a law enforcement agency are operating under
another agency's policy, it must be stated in writing.
(3) Advise the public that an authorized
checking station is being operated by having, at a minimum, one law enforcement
vehicle with its blue light in operation during the conducting of the checking
station.
(b) An officer who determines there is a
reasonable suspicion that an occupant has violated a provision of this Chapter,
or any other provision of law, may detain the driver to further investigate in
accordance with law. The operator of any vehicle stopped at a checking station
established under this subsection may be requested to submit to an alcohol
screening test under G.S. 20‑16.3 if during the course of the stop
the officer determines the driver had previously consumed alcohol or has an
open container of alcoholic beverage in the vehicle. The officer so requesting
shall consider the results of any alcohol screening test or the driver's
refusal in determining if there is reasonable suspicion to investigate further.
(c) Law enforcement agencies may conduct any
type of checking station or roadblock as long as it is established and operated
in accordance with the provisions of the United States Constitution and the
Constitution of North Carolina.
(d) The placement of checkpoints should be
random or statistically indicated, and agencies shall avoid placing checkpoints
repeatedly in the same location or proximity. This subsection shall not be
grounds for a motion to suppress or a defense to any offense arising out of the
operation of a checking station.
It shall be unlawful for any law enforcement agency or officer to conduct a checking station or roadblock unless the establishment of a checking station or roadblock is to cordon off an area to locate an offender specifically named in an arrest warrant. Any other person passing through the checking station or roadblock shall not be subject to arrest for any reason except when:
(1) The person has an outstanding warrant for arrest.
(2) The person has committed an implied consent offense and has been warned by a law enforcement officer at a checking station or roadblock not to proceed and the person continues through the checking station in contradiction to the warning."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective December 1, 2011, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.