North Carolina § 115C-457 - 1. Creation of Fund; administration.

§ 115C-457. 1. Creation of Fund; administration.

There is created the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund. The Fund shall consist of the clear proceeds of all civil penalties, civil forfeitures, and civil fines that are collected by a State agency and that the General Assembly is authorized to place in a State fund pursuant to Article IX, Section 7(b) of the Constitution. The Fund shall be administered by the Office of State Budget and Management. The Fund and all interest accruing to the Fund shall be faithfully used exclusively for maintaining free public schools. History (1997-443, s. 8.20; 2000-140, s. 93.1(a); 2001-424, s. 12.2(b); 2003-423, s. 2.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2002-159, s. 91.1, provides: "Nothing in the General Statutes or any local act entitles any charter school, prior to July 1, 2003, to recover retroactively any funds from penalties, fines, and forfeitures or supplemental school taxes." Session Laws 2003-423, which amended subsection (a), in ss. 4 through 6, provides: "The amendment set out in Section 1 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the statewide general election in November of 2004, which election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State. Ballots, voting systems, or both may be used in accordance with Chapter 163 of the General Statutes. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be: "[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST "Constitutional amendment to provide that the General Assembly may place the clear proceeds of civil penalties, civil forfeitures, and civil fines collected by a State agency in a State fund to be used exclusively for maintaining free public schools. "If a majority of votes cast on the question are in favor of the amendment set out in Section 1 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendment to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendment so certified among the permanent records of that office. The amendment set out in Section 1 of this act shall become effective January 1, 2005. "Sections 2 through 3 of this act become effective only if the voters approve the constitutional amendment set out in Section 1 of this act. If the voters approve the constitutional amendment, Sections 2 through 3 of this act shall become effective January 1, 2005." The constitutional amendment was approved November 2004. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2003-423, s. 2, in subsection (a), inserted "civil fines" following "civil forfeitures," substituted "that the General Assembly is authorized to place in a State fund" for "are payable to the County School Fund," substituted "Section 7(b)" for "Section 7" and made minor stylistic and punctuation changes throughout. See editor's note for effective date. Legal Periodicals. - See legislative survey, 21 Campbell L. Rev. 323 (1999).