North Carolina SB 94: Regional Firing Range/Alamance CC.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 94

Short Title: Repeal Death Penalty. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Mayfield, Meyer, and Murdock (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
February 17, 2025
*S94-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REPEAL THE DEATH PENALTY AND TO PROVIDE THAT ALL CURRENT 2
PRISONERS SENTENCED TO DEATH SHALL BE RESENTENCED TO LIFE 3
IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 7A-450(b1) is repealed. 6
SECTION 2. G.S. 7A-498.8(b)(5) reads as rewritten: 7
"(b) The appellate defender shall perform such duties as may be directed by the Office of 8
Indigent Defense Services, including: 9
... 10
(5) Recruiting qualified members of the private bar who are willing to provide 11
representation in State and federal death penalty postconviction proceedings." 12
SECTION 3. G.S. 14-7.2 reads as rewritten: 13
"§ 14-7.2. Punishment. 14
When any person is charged by indictment with the commission of a felony under the laws 15
of the State of North Carolina and is also charged with being an habitual felon as defined in 16
G.S. 14-7.1, he must, upon conviction, be sentenced and punished as an habitual felon, as in this 17
Chapter provided, except in those cases where the death penalty or a life sentence is imposed." 18
SECTION 4. G.S. 14-7.8 reads as rewritten: 19
"§ 14-7.8. Punishment. 20
When a person is charged by indictment with the commission of a violent felony and is also 21
charged with being a violent habitual felon as defined in G.S. 14-7.7, the person must, upon 22
conviction, be sentenced in accordance with this Article, except in those cases where the death 23
penalty is imposed.Article." 24
SECTION 5. G.S. 14-7.12 reads as rewritten: 25
"§ 14-7.12. Sentencing of violent habitual felons. 26
A person who is convicted of a violent felony and of being a violent habitual felon must, 27
upon conviction (except where the death penalty is imposed), conviction, be sentenced to life 28
imprisonment without parole. Life imprisonment without parole means that the person will spend 29
the remainder of the person's natural life in prison. The sentencing judge may not suspend the 30
sentence and may not place the person sentenced on probation. Sentences for violent habitual 31
felons imposed under this Article shall run consecutively with and shall commence at the 32
expiration of any other sentence being served by the person." 33
SECTION 6. G.S. 14-17(a) reads as rewritten: 34
"(a) A murder which shall be perpetrated by means of a nuclear, biological, or chemical 35
weapon of mass destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.21, poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 94-First Edition
starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which 1
shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex 2
offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a 3
deadly weapon shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree, a Class A felony, and any person 4
who commits such murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for 5
life without parole as the court shall determine pursuant to G.S. 15A-2000, except that any such 6
person who was under 18 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished in accordance 7
with Part 2A of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes." 8
SECTION 7. G.S. 15-176.1 is repealed. 9
SECTION 8. Article 17A and Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes are 10
repealed. 11
SECTION 9. G.S. 15A-268(a6) reads as rewritten: 12
"(a6) The evidence described by subsection (a1) of this section shall be preserved for the 13
following period: 14
(1) For conviction resulting in a sentence of death, until execution. 15
(2) For conviction resulting in a sentence of life without parole, until the death of 16
the convicted person. 17
(3) For conviction of any homicide, sex offense, assault, kidnapping, burglary, 18
robbery, arson or burning, for which a Class B1-E felony punishment is 19
imposed, the evidence shall be preserved during the period of incarceration 20
and mandatory supervised release, including sex offender registration 21
pursuant to Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, except in cases 22
where the person convicted entered and was convicted on a plea of guilty, in 23
which case the evidence shall be preserved for the earlier of three years from 24
the date of conviction or until released. 25
(4) Biological evidence collected as part of a criminal investigation of any 26
homicide or rape, in which no charges are filed, shall be preserved for the 27
period of time that the crime remains unsolved. 28
(5) A custodial agency in custody of biological evidence unrelated to a criminal 29
investigation or prosecution referenced b