GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H D
HOUSE DRH70089-MA-171 (02/28)
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Short Title: Checking Stations Unlawful. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representative Bradley. |
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Referred to: |
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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make all checking stations unlawful unless they are established to capture a particular named offender in a manhunt.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 20-16.3A reads as rewritten:
"§
20-16.3A. Checking stations and roadblocks.roadblocks unlawful.
(a) A
law-enforcement agency may conduct checking stations to determine compliance
with the provisions of this Chapter. If the agency is conducting a checking
station for the purposes of determining compliance with this Chapter, it must:
(1) Repealed
by Session Laws 2006-253, s. 4, effective December 1, 2006, and applicable to
offenses committed on or after that date.
(2) Designate
in advance the pattern both for stopping vehicles and for requesting drivers
that are stopped to produce drivers license, registration, or insurance
information.
(2a) Operate under a
written policy that provides guidelines for the pattern, which need not be in
writing. The policy may be either the agency's own policy, or if the agency
does not have a written policy, it may be the policy of another law enforcement
agency, and may include contingency provisions for altering either pattern if
actual traffic conditions are different from those anticipated, but no
individual officer may be given discretion as to which vehicle is stopped or,
of the vehicles stopped, which driver is requested to produce drivers license,
registration, or insurance information. If officers of a law enforcement agency
are operating under another agency's policy, it must be stated in writing.
(3) Advise
the public that an authorized checking station is being operated by having, at
a minimum, one law enforcement vehicle with its blue light in operation during
the conducting of the checking station.
(b) An
officer who determines there is a reasonable suspicion that an occupant has
violated a provision of this Chapter, or any other provision of law, may detain
the driver to further investigate in accordance with law. The operator of any
vehicle stopped at a checking station established under this subsection may be
requested to submit to an alcohol screening test under G.S. 20-16.3 if
during the course of the stop the officer determines the driver had previously
consumed alcohol or has an open container of alcoholic beverage in the vehicle.
The officer so requesting shall consider the results of any alcohol screening
test or the driver's refusal in determining if there is reasonable suspicion to
investigate further.
(c) Law
enforcement agencies may conduct any type of checking station or roadblock as
long as it is established and operated in accordance with the provisions of the
United States Constitution and the Constitution of North Carolina.
(d) The
placement of checkpoints should be random or statistically indicated, and
agencies shall avoid placing checkpoints repeatedly in the same location or
proximity. This subsection shall not be grounds for a motion to suppress or a
defense to any offense arising out of the operation of a checking station.
It shall be unlawful for any law enforcement agency or officer to conduct a checking station or roadblock unless the establishment of a checking station or roadblock is to cordon off an area to locate an offender specifically named in an arrest warrant. Any other person passing through the checking station or roadblock shall not be subject to arrest for any reason except when:
(1) The person has an outstanding warrant for arrest.
(2) The person has committed an implied consent offense and has been warned by a law enforcement officer at a checking station or roadblock not to proceed and the person continues through the checking station in contradiction to the warning."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective December 1, 2011, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.