North Carolina HB 789: Enhance Protection of Victims & Witnesses.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 789
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/29/25

Short Title: Mitigating Factor/Pretrial Use of IID. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
April 8, 2025
*H789-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A MITIGATING FACTOR FOR CERTAIN PERSONS CHARGED 2
WITH IMPAIRED DRIVING WHO VOLUNTARILY EQUIP AND OPERATE A MOTOR 3
VEHICLE WITH AN IGNITION INTERLOCK SYSTEM PRIOR TO TRIAL. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to do all of the following: 6
(1) Incentivize certain persons accused of impaired driving to install an ignition 7
interlock system prior to the individual's trial to serve as a potential mitigating 8
factor at sentencing. 9
(2) Encourage responsible behavior and compliance with ignition interlock 10
system requirements. 11
(3) Reduce instances of repeat impaired driving offenses by introducing early 12
intervention measures. 13
SECTION 2. G.S. 20-179(e) reads as rewritten: 14
"(e) Mitigating Factors to Be Weighed. – The judge shall also determine before sentencing 15
under subsection (f) of this section whether any of the mitigating factors listed below apply to 16
the defendant. The judge shall weigh the degree of mitigation of each factor in light of the 17
particular circumstances of the case. The factors are: 18
... 19
(6a) Completion of a substance abuse assessment, compliance with its 20
recommendations, and simultaneously maintaining 60 days of continuous 21
abstinence from alcohol consumption, as proven by a continuous alcohol 22
monitoring system. The continuous alcohol monitoring system shall be of a 23
type approved by the Division of Community Supervision and Reentry of the 24
Department of Adult Correction. 25
(6b) Prior to trial, the defendant voluntarily equipped a designated motor vehicle 26
with a functioning ignition interlock system of a type approved by the 27
Commissioner, operated only the designated vehicle with the ignition 28
interlock system for a minimum of six months, and produced evidence 29
satisfactory to the judge that the defendant did not start the vehicle with an 30
alcohol concentration greater than 0.02 or commit any other acts that would 31
be considered violations of the interlock policies established by the Division 32
for use of an ignition interlock system or a violation of G.S. 20-17.8A. The 33
factor set forth in this subdivision only applies to a defendant who meets all 34
of the following requirements: 35
a. The defendant was charged with an offense under G.S. 20-138.1. 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 789-Second Edition
b. The vehicle being operated by the defendant was not involved at the 1
time of the offense in a crash resulting in the serious injury or death of 2
a person. 3
c. At the time of the offense, the defendant held either a valid driver's 4
license or a license that had been expired for less than one year. 5
d. At the time of the offense, the defendant did not have an additional 6
unresolved pending charge involving impaired driving, or an 7
additional conviction of an offense involving impaired driving within 8
the five years preceding the date of the offense. 9
e. At the time of the offense the person did not have an alcohol 10
concentration of 0.15 or more. 11
f. The defendant equipped the designated motor vehicle with an ignition 12
interlock system no later than 45 days after being charged with the 13
offense. 14
g. The defendant only operated the designated motor vehicle with a 15
limited driving privilege that is valid in this State or during a time 16
when the defendant's driver's license was not revoked or suspended. 17
(7) Any other factor that mitigates the seriousness of the offense. 18
Except for the factors in subdivisions (4), (6), (6a), (6b), and (7) of this subsection, the conduct 19
constituting the mitigating factor shall occur during the same transaction or occurrence as the 20
impaired driving offense." 21
SECTION 3. G.S. 20-179.5 reads as rewritten: 22
"§ 20-179.5. Affordability of ignition interlock system. 23
(a) Payment of Costs. – The costs incurred in order to comply with the ignition interlock 24
requirements imposed by the court or the Division pursuant to this Chapter, including costs for 25
installation and monitoring of the ignition interlock system, shall be paid by the person ordered 26
to install the system. The costs incurred from voluntarily installing an ignition interlock system, 27
including costs for monitoring the ignition interlock system, shall be paid by the person 28
voluntarily installing the system. Costs for installation and monitoring of the ignition interlock 29
system shall be collected under terms agreed upon by the ignition interlock system vendor and 30
the person required to install install, or voluntarily installing, the ignition interlock system. 31
(b) Waiver. – A person who is ordered by a court, or required by statute, to install an 32
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