Legislative Amendment to the Affirmative Defense against Some Local Ordinance Violations

Following the Senate, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted to override Governor Cooper’s veto on Session Law 2024-57 (Senate Bill 382) last week. The legislation effects sweeping change to the executive and judicial branches and elections law. It marks the third round of public support for Hurricane Helene disaster relief. Subpart II-D (“Justice and Public Safety”) of the bill also modifies an affirmative defense available to individuals charged with violating certain local ordinances. This post explains the statutory amendment and its potential impacts. G.S. 160A-175 and G.S. 153A-123 empower cities and counties, respectively, to impose fines and penalties for violations of their ordinances. Sub-section(b) of each statute provides that violation of a local ordinance only constitutes a misdemeanor or infraction if the jurisdiction specifies as much in the ordinance. The same provisions also prohibit any ordinance specifying a criminal penalty from being enacted at the meeting in which it is introduced. (School of Government faculty members Frayda Bluestein and Jeff Welty have written about the General Assembly’s decriminalization of most local ordinance violations in 2021.) G.S. 14-4 establishes violations of certain local ordinances as Class 3 misdemeanors, with fines no greater than $500.00. Sub-section(c) provides for an affirmative defense to an ordinance violation. Under the provision, “[a] person may not be found responsible or guilty of” a misdemeanor for violating a local ordinance, “if, when tried for that violation, the person produces proof of compliance with the local ordinance” in one of two ways. The provision, as amended, follows: Under [...]