GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999

SESSION LAW 1999-68
HOUSE BILL 477

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMPUS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Article 2 of Chapter 115D is amended by adding the following new section to read:
"§ 115D-21.1.  Campus law enforcement agencies.
(a)	The board of trustees of any community college may establish a campus law enforcement agency and employ campus police officers. These officers shall meet the requirements of Chapter 17C of the General Statutes, shall take the oath of office prescribed by Article VI, Section 7 of the Constitution, and shall have all the powers of law enforcement officers generally. The territorial jurisdiction of a campus police officer shall include all property owned or leased to the community college employing the officer and that portion of any public road or highway passing through the property and immediately adjoining it, wherever located.
(b)	The board of trustees of any community college that establishes a campus law enforcement agency under subsection (a) of this section may enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any municipality to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into the municipality's jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances under which this extension of authority may be granted.
(c)	The board of trustees of any community college that establishes a campus law enforcement agency under subsection (a) of this section may enter into joint agreements with the governing board of any county, with the consent of the sheriff, to extend the law enforcement authority of campus police officers into the county's jurisdiction and to determine the circumstances under which this extension of authority may be granted."
Section 2.  G.S. 15A-402(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Campus Police Officers, Immediate and Continuous Flight. – A campus police officer: (i) appointed by a campus law-enforcement agency established pursuant to G.S. 116-40.5(a); (ii) appointed by a campus law enforcement agency established under G.S. 115D-21.1(a); or (iii) commissioned by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74E and employed by a college or university which is licensed, or exempted from licensure, by G.S. 116-15 may arrest a person outside his territorial jurisdiction when the person arrested has committed a criminal offense within the territorial jurisdiction, for which the officer could have arrested the person within that territory, and the arrest is made during such person's immediate and continuous flight from that territory."
Section 3.  G.S. 74E-6(f)	reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Campus Option. – Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Chapter, the Board of Trustees of any constituent institution of The University of North Carolina may elect to have its officers certified under Chapter 17C and Chapter 116 of the General Statutes and the board of trustees of any community college may elect to have its officers certified under Chapter 17C and Chapter 115D of the General Statutes rather than requesting certification as a company police agency and company police commission pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter."
Section 4.  G.S. 160A-288(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	For purposes of this section, the following shall be considered the equivalent of a municipal police department:
(1)	Campus law-enforcement agencies established pursuant to G.S. 115D-21.1(a) or G.S. 116-40.5(a); and
(2)	Colleges or universities which are licensed, or exempted from licensure, by G.S. 116-15 and which employ company police officers commissioned by the Attorney General pursuant to Chapter 74E; and
(3)	Law enforcement agencies operated or eligible to be operated by a municipality pursuant to G.S. 63-53(2)."
Section 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of May, 1999.

s/	Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate

s/	James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives

s/	James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor

Approved 11:00 a.m. this 20th day of May, 1999