Address Confidentiality/Study & DL.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 4
SENATE BILL 801
Judiciary Committee Substitute Adopted 6/17/26
Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 6/23/26
Fourth Edition Engrossed 7/1/26

Short Title: Address Confidentiality/Study & DL. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
April 22, 2026
*S801-v-4*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT REQUIRING A S TUDY PROGRAM TO EXPA ND THE ADDRESS 2
CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM TO INCLUDE CERTAIN MILITARY AND SPECIAL 3
OPERATIONS PERSONNEL AND ALLOWING CERTAIN MILITARY AND SPECIAL 4
OPERATIONS PERSONNEL TO BE ISSUED A SUBSTITUTE DRIVERS LICENSE OR 5
SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION CARD. 6
Whereas, the Department of Defense personnel assigned to or supporting United 7
States Special Operations Command organizations in North Carolina, including military 8
members, civilian employees, and their dependents, perform among the most critical, most 9
effective, and most dangerous operations in defense of our nation's freedom; and 10
Whereas, the General Assembly is committed to ensuring the safety and protection of 11
Department of Defense personnel assigned to or supporting United States Special Operations 12
Command organizations in North Carolina; and 13
Whereas, the General Assembly recognizes that allowing continued public access to 14
the personal identifying information, including location information, of Depart ment of Defense 15
personnel assigned to or supporting United States Special Operations Command organizations in 16
North Carolina jeopardizes the safety of these personnel and their families; and 17
Whereas, the General Assembly seeks ways in which to protect the personal 18
identifying information of Department of Defense personnel assigned to or supporting United 19
States Special Operations Command organizations in North Carolina that is particularly 20
susceptible to doxing or swatting from appearing on public-facing websites across State and local 21
agencies, whether by removing or shielding the personal identifying information; and 22
Whereas, the General Assembly is committed to exempting from the public records 23
of this State the personal identifying information of Departm ent of Defense personnel assigned 24
to or supporting United States Special Operations Command organizations in North Carolina so 25
as to protect the safety of those personnel and their family; Now, therefore 26
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 27
SECTION 1.(a) The Department of Justice, the Administrative Office of the Courts, 28
the Division of Motor Vehicles, the State Board of Elections, and the Department of Military and 29
Veterans Affairs shall convene a Task Force to explore how to protect military personnel, special 30
operations forces, elected officials, and others particularly susceptible to doxing or swatting. The 31
Task Force may consult with the Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, 32
or their designee, The University of North Caro lina System, the Register of Deeds Association, 33
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 801-Fourth Edition
the Real Estate Commission, the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association, and any other affected 1
group or groups in conducting this study. 2
SECTION 1.(b) As part of the study, the Task Force shall consider the fo llowing 3
items: 4
(1) Which individuals are particularly susceptible to doxing or swatting, including 5
military personnel, special operations personnel, elected officials, and others. 6
(2) What personal identifying information is susceptible to doxing or swatting. 7
(3) Options to prevent harm, harassment, and abuse of individuals particularly 8
susceptible to doxing or swatting. 9
(4) How to develop and implement a uniform protocol across State and local 10
agencies for susceptible individuals to access protection of pe rsonal 11
identifying information, whether by removal or shielding or other method. 12
(5) How to implement effective security protocols for protecting personal 13
identifying information. 14
(6) Which State and local agencies should have access to such personal 15
identifying information, if removed or shielded from the public record. 16
(7) How to provide law enforcement, emergency services, and other vital 17
government services to participants in any removal or shielding program 18
while maintaining all security protocols. 19
(8) The feasibility of, and barriers to, expanding the Address Confidentiality 20
Program under Chapter 15C of the General Statutes to cover susceptible 21
individuals. 22
(9) Whether spouses, dependents, and other family members of susceptible 23
individuals should be c overed by any programs protecting susceptible 24
individuals. 25
(10) If expansion of the Address Confidentiality Program is not found to be 26
feasible, recommendations for a separate program leveraging the existing 27
Address Confidentiality Program as the model to incorporate all best practices 28
from that program where appropriate. 29
(11) Recommendations for standard operating procedures for any protective 30
program, including eligibility verification, recertification of eligibility, 31
command validation for military perso nnel, and other criteria for reviewing 32
applications for certification of participation in any protective program. 33
(12) Recommendations for further study. 34
(13) Recommendations for legislative action, including potential enhancement of 35
criminal laws and civil liability, if any. 36
(14) Any other information necessary. 37
SECTION 1.(c) Not later than April 1, 2027, the Task Force shall report its findings 38
and recommendations to the General Assembly. The report, findings and recommendations, 39
records, data, analyses, and materials prepared or collected by the Task Force in connection with 40
the study authorized by this section shall be treated as sensitive public security information under 41
G.S. 132-1.7 and shall not be a public record. 42
SECTION 2.(a) Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 43
a new section to read: 44
"§ 20-37.03. Special forces substitute drivers license. 45
(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 20-7 or any other provision of this Chapter, upon the request of 46
a major military installation as defined by G.S. 143-151.71 and for use overseas only , the 47
Division shall issue a drivers license or special identification card with a substitute address in 48
lieu of the license holder 's residence address for any special operations force mem ber, upon 49
payment of the fee for a duplicate license. The application for a substitute drivers license or 50
special identification card shall be submitted on a form as designated by the Division, which shall 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 801-Fourth Edition Page 3
include a certification from the Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, 1
or the Commander's designee, as to the status of the special operations force member. 2
(b) The substitute address under this section shall be the address of the license holder 3
shall be the permanent duty station of the license holder as certified by the license holder's 4
Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, or the Commander's designee. 5
All documents related to the issuance of a substitute drivers license or special identification card 6
under this section shall be treated as sensitive public security information in accordance with 7
G.S. 132-1.7. 8
(c) For purposes of this section, a "special operations force member " shall be any 9
member, whether active or reserve component forces, of the United States military services, 10
designated by the Secretary of War or Secretary of Defense, and specifically organized, trained, 11
and equipped to conduct and support special operations , as certified by the Commander of the 12
United States Special Operations Command, or the Commander's designee." 13
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 132-1.7(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 14
"(6) Information containing specific details of personal identifying information of 15
special operations force members as described in G.S. 20-37.03." 16
SECTION 3. Chapter 132 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new 17
section to read: 18
"§ 132-1.15. Personally Identifiable Information of Special Operations Forces Members. 19
(a) To the extent the agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions determines 20
it is operationally feasible, the custodian of any public record containing personal identifying 21
information of a special operations force member as described in G.S. 20-37.03 shall redact or 22
remove that public record from any public-facing web-based database or application upon written 23
request of the special operations force member , as certified by the Commander of the United 24
States Special Operations Command, or the Commander's designee. 25
(b) Any written request submitted under this section shall not be a public record." 26
SECTION 4. The Task Force established by Section 2 of this act may create a pilot 27
program for eligible active -duty Department of Defense certified Special Operations Force s 28
personnel in an effort to evaluate the overall implementation of any program recommended under 29
Section 2 of this act to exempt personal identifying information from the public record. 30
SECTION 5. Sections 2 and 3 of this act become effective January 1, 2 027. The 31
remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law. 32