GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999

SENATE BILL 1011
RATIFIED BILL

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT AN ENHANCED CRIMINAL PENALTY SHALL BE IMPOSED ON A PERSON WHO HAS IN HIS OR HER IMMEDIATE POSSESSION OR IS WEARING A BULLET-PROOF VEST WHILE COMMITTING A FELONY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Part 2 of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 15A-1340.16C.  Enhanced sentence if defendant is convicted of a felony and the defendant was wearing or had in his or her immediate possession a bullet-proof vest during the commission of the felony.
(a)	If a person is convicted of a felony and the court finds that the  person was wearing or had in his or her immediate possession a bullet-proof vest at the time of the felony, then the person is guilty of a felony that is one class higher than the underlying felony for which the person was convicted.
(b)	This section does not apply if the evidence that the person possessed a bullet-proof vest is needed to prove an element of the underlying felony for which the person was convicted. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers."
Section 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 1999, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28th day of June, 1999.

	─────────────────── 
	Dennis A. Wicker
	President of the Senate

	─────────────────── 
	James B. Black
	Speaker of the House of Representatives

	─────────────────── 
	James B. Hunt, Jr.
	Governor

Approved 	.m. this 	 day of 	, 19