For some time, under North Carolina law, violations of city and county ordinances have been treated as misdemeanors or infractions unless the ordinance explicitly said that they were not.  Starting in 2018, the General Assembly embarked on a project to decriminalize local government ordinances. Some of you may remember the call for a list of your ordinances that were criminally enforceable to be sent to two join legislative committees. This was no small feat, as described  here and here.  The law at the time (GS 153A-123, counties; 160A-175, cities) held that unless the city or county provided otherwise, a violation of an ordinance was a misdemeanor or infraction as provided by G.S. 14-4. So, by default, if city or county didn’t take action otherwise, ordinances were enforced criminally. The result for some units, is that the majority of ordinances were criminally enforced. This year the legislature removed the default criminal penalty, and modified local governments’ authority to enforce ordinances criminally. This blog post summarizes the changes. These provisions become effective on December 1, 2021. 

The changes were part of an omnibus law focusing on law enforcement and policing issues. This part is at [Part XIII] of the law.

The first part of the provision is a rewrite of the authority under GS 153A-123 and 160A- 175 regarding ordinance enforcement. These parallel sections now read:

Except for the types of ordinances listed in subsection (b1) of this section, violation of a [county/city] ordinance may be a misdemeanor or infraction as provided by G.S. 14-4 only if the [county/city] specifies such in the ordinance. An ordinance may provide by express statement that the maximum fine, term of imprisonment, or infraction penalty to be imposed for a violation is some amount of money or number of days less than the maximum imposed by G.S. 14-4. Notwithstanding G.S. 153A-45, no ordinance specifying a criminal penalty may be enacted at the meeting in which it is first introduced.

The law also adds a new subsection (b1) to the statutes, which  lists types of ordinances that local governments are prohibited to enforce criminally. These lists are set out at the bottom this blog.

To implement these changes, cities and counties will have to review each ordinance and make any changes, specifically those that they want to continue as enforced criminally, and to comply with the prohibitions listed under (b1). These changes must specified and modified in each ordinance, and these amendments must be done by ordinance. See this blog post for more about amending ordinances.

Finally, the legislature revised GS 14-4, by adding a new subsection (c)  provision as set out below.

Ҥ 14-4. Violation of local ordinances misdemeanor.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of this section, if any person shall violate an ordinance of a county, city, town, or metropolitan sewerage district created under Article 5 of Chapter 162A, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). No fine shall exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) unless the ordinance expressly states that the maximum fine is greater than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(b) If any person shall violate an ordinance of a county, city, or town regulating the operation or parking of vehicles, he shall be responsible for an infraction and shall be required to pay a penalty of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(c) A person may not be found responsible or guilty of a local ordinance violation punishable pursuant to subsection (a) of this section if, when tried for that violation, the person produces proof of compliance with the local ordinance through any of the following:

(1) No new alleged violations of the local ordinance within 30 days from the date of the initial alleged violation.

(2) The person provides proof of a good-faith effort to seek assistance to address any underlying factors related to unemployment, homelessness, mental health, or substance abuse that might relate to the person’s ability to comply with the local ordinance.

Here are the Lists of ordinances that may not be enforced criminally

For Counties:

153A-12 (b1): No ordinance of the following types may impose a criminal penalty:

(1) Any ordinance adopted under Article 18 of this Chapter, Planning and Regulation of Development or, its successor, Chapter 160D of the General Statutes, except for those ordinances related to unsafe buildings;

(2) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 153A-134, Regulating and licensing businesses, trades, etc.;

(3) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 153A-138, Registration of mobile homes, house trailers, etc.;

 (4) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S.153A-140.1, Stream-clearing programs

(5) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 153A-143, Regulation of outdoor advertising or, its successor, G.S. 160D-912, Outdoor advertising;

(6)  Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 153A-144, Limitations on regulating solar collectors or, its successor, G.S. 160D-914, Solar collectors;

(7)  Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 153A-145, Limitations on regulating cisterns and rain barrels;

(8)  Any ordinance regulating trees.

For Cities:

GS 160A-175(b1): No ordinance of the following types may impose a criminal penalty:(

1) Any ordinance adopted under Article 19 of this Chapter, Planning and Regulation of Development, or its successor, Chapter 160D of the General Statutes, except for those ordinances related to unsafe buildings;

(2) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S.160A-193.1, Stream-clearing programs;

(3) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-194, Regulating and licensing businesses, trades, etc;

4) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-199, Regulation of outdoor advertising or, its successor, G.S. 160D-912, Outdoor advertising;

(5) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-201, Limitations on regulating solar collectors or, its successor, G.S. 160D-914, Solar collectors;

(6) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-202, Limitations on regulating cisterns and rain barrels;

(7) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-304, Regulation of taxis;

(8) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-306, Building setback lines;

(9) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to G.S. 160A-307, Curb cut regulations