GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2005
SESSION LAW 2005-137
HOUSE BILL 821
AN ACT relating to the admissibility of the results of speed-measuring instruments.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 8-50.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 8-50.2. Results of speed-measuring instruments; admissibility.
(a) The results of the use of radio microwave, laser, or other speed-measuring instruments shall be admissible as evidence of the speed of an object in any criminal or civil proceeding for the purpose of corroborating the opinion of a person as to the speed of an object based upon the visual observation of the object by such person.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the results of a radio microwave, laser, or other electronic speed-measuring instrument are not admissible in any proceeding unless it is found that:
(1) The operator of the instrument held, at the time the results of the speed-measuring instrument were obtained, a certificate from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) authorizing him to operate the speed-measuring instrument from which the results were obtained.
(2) The operator of the instrument operated the speed-measuring instrument in accordance with the procedures established by the Commission for the operation of such instrument.
(3) The instrument employed was approved for use by the Commission and the Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety pursuant to G.S. 17C-6.
(4) The speed-measuring instrument had been calibrated and tested for accuracy in accordance with the standards established by the Commission for that particular instrument.
(c) All radio microwave
microwave, laser, and other electronic speed-measuring instruments
shall be tested for accuracy within a 12-month period prior to the alleged
violation by a technician possessing at least a second-class or general
radiotelephone license from the Federal Communications Commission or a
certification issued by organizations or committees endorsed by the Federal
Communications Commission within a period of 12 months prior to the alleged
violation. General Radiotelephone Operator License from the Federal
Communications Commissions or possessing a Certified Electronics Technician
certificate issued by a Federal Communications Commission Commercial Operators
License Examination Manager or by a laboratory established by the International
Association of Chiefs of Police. A written certificate by such the
technician or laboratory showing that the test was made within the
required period and that the instrument was accurate shall be competent and
prima facie evidence of those facts in any proceeding referred to in subsection
(a) of this section.
All laser radio microwave, laser, and other speed
enforcement instruments shall be tested in accordance with standards
established by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training
Standards Commission. The Commission shall provide for certification of laser
all radio microwave, laser, and other speed enforcement instruments.
A written certificate by a technician certified by the Commission showing
that a test was made within the required testing period and that the instrument
was accurate shall be competent and prima facie evidence of those facts in any
proceeding referred to in subsection (a) of this section.
(d) In every proceeding
where the results of a radio microwave, laser, or other speed-measuring
instrument is sought to be admitted, judicial notice shall be taken of the
rules approving the use of the models and types of radio microwave microwave,
laser, and other speed-measuring instruments and the procedures for
operation and calibration or measuring accuracy of such instruments."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 2005.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 23rd day of June, 2005.
s/ Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Michael F. Easley
Governor
Approved 2:43 p.m. this 29th day of June, 2005