GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2003

SESSION LAW 2003-171

HOUSE BILL 925

AN ACT to allow county appeal in juvenile "pay order" cases.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 7B-2604 reads as rewritten:

"§ 7B-2604.  Proper parties for appeal.

(a)       An appeal may be taken by the juvenile, the juvenile's parent, guardian, or custodian, a county, or the State.

(b)       The State's appeal is limited to the following orders in delinquency or undisciplined cases:

(1)       An order finding a State statute to be unconstitutional; and

(2)       Any order which terminates the prosecution of a petition by upholding the defense of double jeopardy, by holding that a cause of action is not stated under a statute, or by granting a motion to suppress.

(c) A county's appeal is limited to orders in which the county has been ordered to pay for medical, surgical, psychiatric, psychological, or other evaluation or treatment of a juvenile pursuant to G.S. 7B-2502, or other medical, psychiatric, psychological, or other evaluation or treatment of a parent pursuant to G.S. 7B-2702."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2003, and applies to petitions for appeal filed on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 5^th day of June, 2003.

                                                                    s/ Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/ James B. Black

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/ Michael F. Easley

                                                                         Governor

Approved 10:02 a.m. this 12^th day of June, 2003