RALEIGH — The House has passed a bill that will increase criminal penalties for threatening elected or appointed state officials.
House Bill 95 elevates punishment for assaulting state officials from a Class I felony to a Class G felony, with harsher penalties if weapons are used, going from a Class F to a Class D felony. If serious bodily injury occurs the penalty is increased from a Class E to a Class C felony.
The bill’s primary sponsor is Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) and the bill has garnered sponsor support from two Democrats; Reps. Nasif Majeed (Mecklenburg) and Rodney Pierce (Halifax).
The bill also increases the penalty for threats against officials which is currently a Class I felony and raising it to a Class H felony. The same penalty increase is included in the bill for threats received through the mail.
Additionally, the bill requires that pretrial release conditions for anyone charged with these offenses be determined by a judge rather than a magistrate. Judges are then allowed to consider the relevant criminal history of an individual and impose specific conditions like requiring defendants to stay away from victims or specific locations.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 113-2. The two members who voted against passage were Reps. Pricey Harrison (D-Guildford) and Marcia Morey (D-Durham).
During floor debate on the bill, Kidwell spoke about how the bill came to be drafted, referring to an incident during early voting where an individual approached him and threatened three times to shoot Kidwell. That individual also threatened to shoot people working at the Democratic Party volunteer tent as well.
After discussions with officials present, Kidwell learned it was only a misdemeanor to threaten elected officials on the county or local levels. Kidwell wanted to change that to provide the same protection that other elected officials receive.
“And that’s basically what this bill seeks to do, is if you threaten any elected official at any level in the state of North Carolina, it would make it a felony,” Kidwell said. “So it would put them on the equal ground with us as members of the General Assembly, Council of State, and the governor.”
Harrison asked Kidwell if the Sentencing Policy Advisory Commission had been consulted, to which Kidwell responded no but indicated the Administrative Office of the Courts had.
“The only thing that I had in the bill that I changed would be the requirement that a judge actually decide what the bail is,” Kidwell said. “In this particular case, the gentleman that threatened myself and the Democrats on the other side of the parking lot was literally out on bail with just $1,000 bail, which meant $100. He was out on bail before I could get a restraining warrant on him.”
Harrison also characterized the bill as, “putting ourselves above law enforcement by classifications of crime.”
The bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
