Civil Rights Helpline.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 1064

Short Title: Civil Rights Helpline. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Clark, Harrison, Morey, and Greenfield (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 29, 2026
*H1064-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A CIVIL RIGHTS HELPLINE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF 2
JUSTICE TO RECEIVE, DOCUMENT, AND INVEST IGATE CIVIL RIGHTS 3
COMPLAINTS. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. Article 1 of Chapter 114 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 6
the following new sections to read: 7
"§ 114-8.8A. Civil rights helpline. 8
The Attorney General shall protect the civil rights of individuals in North Carolina by 9
performing all of the following: 10
(1) Establish and maintain, on a 24 -hour basis, a toll -free telephone helpline to 11
assist individuals who have been harmed, or whose family members have been 12
harmed, in actions arising from the deployment of federal troops or federal 13
law enforcement officers to this State, including federal immigration 14
enforcement actions. 15
(2) Establish and maintain an associated website where individuals who have 16
been harmed, or whose family members have been harmed, can submit online 17
civil rights violation claims. 18
(3) Provide resources to impacted individuals on how to access local and state 19
government assistance programs and information regarding available legal 20
and social assistance . Resources related to school emergency response s, 21
school crisis interventions, and other student support programs may also be 22
provided. 23
(4) Ensure the helpline referenced in this section has voicemail capabilities. 24
(5) Make translation and disability access services available for individuals using 25
the helpline. 26
(6) Advertise the helpline and make materials available to the public to encourage 27
reporting by those experiencing or witnessing civil rights violations. 28
"§ 114-8.8B. Reporting. 29
(a) The Attorney General shall maintain a secure database of all reports received from 30
the helpline and generate an annual public report that includes information the helpline acquires 31
from reporting individuals . The report shall redact all personally identifiable information and 32
publish the report for public viewing. 33
(b) The report shall include all of the following information: 34
(1) The total number of reports received. 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 1064-First Edition
(2) The federal law enforcement agency involved. 1
(3) The number of arrests made, including underlying offense, initial charge, final 2
disposition, if available, and amount of time between arrest and disposition. 3
(4) Any patterns or trends observed regarding the federal law enforcement agency 4
misconduct, including excessive use of force, racial profiling , or any other 5
violations of civil rights under State or federal law. 6
(5) Recommendations for policy or training improvement in response to the 7
findings. 8
(c) All communications received b y the helpline or associated website shall remain 9
confidential and are not a public record as defined in G.S. 132-1. 10
(d) If a civil rights violation is reported, the Attorney General shall investigate the 11
incident and determine if additional actions are warranted. 12
"§ 114-8.8C. Annual hearings. 13
The Attorney General shall convene at least one public hearing each calendar year to present 14
aggregate data and findings from the annual public report as referenced in this Article . The 15
Attorney General shall provide public notice of each hearing." 16
SECTION 2. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, the 17
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this act that can be given effect 18
without the invalid provisions or application and, to this end, the provisions of this a ct are 19
severable. 20
SECTION 3. The Department of Justice shall establish the helpline as required under 21
Section 1 of this act no later than 60 days after the effective date of this act. The first report 22
submitted by the Attorney General as required by Section 1 of this act shall occur no later than 23
one year from the date the helpline is established. 24
SECTION 4. The Department of Justice shall adopt rules, or amend their rules, 25
consistent with the provisions of this act. The Department may use the procedure set forth in 26
G.S. 150B-21.1 to adopt or amend any rules as required under this act. 27
SECTION 5. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of 28
Justice the sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000) in recurring funds beginning in the 29
2026-2027 fiscal year to be used to implement the provisions of Section 1 of this act. 30
SECTION 6. This act becomes effective July 1, 2026. 31