Tougher penalties for boat operators impaired by alcohol or drugs who unintentionally kill or injure someone are among all or parts of a dozen new laws now in effect in North Carolina.
Provisions enacted during this year’s General Assembly and enforceable starting Thursday include the boating law, which was named in memory of a Concord teenager killed on Lake Norman in 2015.
Other actions by the legislature create a new criminal offense designed to address when parents transfer their child’s custody to someone else without legal justification like a formal adoption. It’s also now a misdemeanor to run small-time “beach bingo” operations without a license.
Gov. Pat McCrory highlighted Thursday in a news release a new farm law he says will help the state better respond to agricultural emergencies.