Retail theft, gun crimes, DWIs: What's in NC's sweeping criminal justice bill?

North Carolina lawmakers are considering a wide-ranging criminal justice bill that would create new crimes, increase penalties for some offenses and give law enforcement additional tools.

Senate Bill 310 combines more than a dozen criminal law changes into a single package.

One of the bill’s most significant provisions targets organized retail theft. Current law allows prosecutors to charge suspects after merchandise is stolen. The bill would create a new Class I felony for entering a retail store with theft-shielding bags, anti-theft bypass devices or other specialized equipment with intent to steal. The proposal targets a more sophisticated brand of organized theft. 

“These are groups going in with a shopping list of what they need to steal,” said Andy Ellen, president of the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. “They’re coming in with the mechanisms to thwart the security devices that we have in our stores.”

More than half of retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation reported increases in shoplifting and merchandise theft by organized retail crime groups during the 12 months ending in August 2025. 

The proposal follows a Durham case in which deputies arrested two men accused of operating a retail theft ring targeting Home Depot, Target, Lowe’s and Walmart stores across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Under current law, such cases are typically charged after stolen merchandise is recovered. If the bill had been in effect, prosecutors could have pursued charges earlier if suspects were found inside stores with tools intended to facilitate theft.

“It would have given law enforcement another tool to use in how they prosecute those cases,” Ellen said.

Similar provisions exist in Florida, New York, Connecticut, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Delaware.

Damon Chetson, a criminal defense attorney, said the bill doesn’t do enough to reduce crime. “Merely increasing punishments does not, in fact, stop or deter or limit crime,” he said.

Chetson criticized the proposal for not including more resources to help stretch courts and public defense. “It doesn’t provide funding for what it expands,” he said. “More crimes mean more arrests, more work for an overburdened law enforcement and overburdened court system.”

He added: “The legislature has been asleep at the switch when it comes to funding our criminal justice system.” 

Spokespeople for state Senator Phil Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Peeping penalties, guns

The legislation takes on a variety of other changes. It would also: 

• Increase penalties for secret-peeping offenses involving children, elevating some cases from misdemeanors to felonies and adding harsher penalties when the offender holds a position of trust or authority over a child.

• Expand North Carolina’s firearm discharge law. Current law primarily addresses firing into occupied buildings and vehicles. Under the bill, firing a gun on another person’s property without permission, on a public road or in a public place where others are present would be a Class E felony. 

• Increase penalties for firing into occupied homes, vehicles, aircraft or watercraft. Cases resulting in serious bodily injury would be charged as a Class C felony.
• Require wireless carriers to provide cellphone location information without delay when law enforcement believes an emergency involving death or serious bodily harm exists.
• Allow officers to use approved oral-fluid drug screening devices during roadside impaired-driving investigations. Current cases often rely on officer observations, field sobriety tests and blood testing when drug impairment is suspected.

Law enforcement representatives say they’ve been working with lawmakers, pushing many of these reforms, particularly the firearm laws. “It is crucial for public safety in North Carolina, especially for cities with higher gun violence,” said Toby Harrison, president of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police.

Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president and general counsel for the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, said the bill’s cellphone provisions could speed searches for missing children and endangered individuals. Authorities currently often must seek subpoenas to obtain similar data. “This would be very helpful for law enforcement,” he said.