Fix Republican Failures on Public Safety Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 995

Short Title: Fix Republican Failures on Public Safety Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Grafstein and Batch (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
May 4, 2026
*S995-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE PA Y INCREASES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND 2
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER S, TO ESTABLISH MENT AL HEALTH SERVICES F OR 3
PUBLIC SAFETY PERSON NEL, AND TO ADDRESS THE STAFFING AND 4
RETENTION CRISIS CRE ATED BY REPUBLICAN F AILURES TO FUND PUBLIC 5
SAFETY. 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
8
LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS 9
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that: 10
(1) For years, North Carolina Republicans have controlled the General Assembly 11
and had every opportunity to invest in the men and women who keep our 12
communities safe and they have failed to do so. 13
(2) As a direct result of Republican inaction, North Carolina is experiencing a 14
severe public safety staffing crisis. Law enforcement agencies across North 15
Carolina are struggli ng to recruit and retain qualified officers due to 16
non-competitive pay, leading to dangerous understaffing in communities 17
statewide. 18
(3) North Carolina law enforcement officers and correctional officers are among 19
the lowest -paid in the region, lagging behi nd neighboring states, including 20
Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. 21
(4) High turnover and chronic understaffing compromise public safety and place 22
enormous strain on the officers who remain, contributing to burnout, mental 23
health challenges, and increased risk of on-the-job injury. 24
(5) The General Assembly has a responsibility to correct these Republican 25
failures, to invest in public safety, and to ensure North Carolina can recruit. 26
27
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER PAY INCREASES 28
SECTION 2.(a) Effective July 1, 2026, the annual salary of each sworn law 29
enforcement officer employed by the State of North Carolina shall be increased by seven 30
thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). 31
SECTION 2.(b) The Office of State Human Resources shall establish a competitive 32
salary schedule for law enforcement officers that accounts for years of service, rank, and regional 33
cost-of-living and shall update this schedule not less than every two years. At minimum, the 34
entry-level salary for a State Highway Patrol trooper shall be no less than sixty-two thousand five 35
hundred dollars ($62,500) per year. 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 995-First Edition
SECTION 2.(c) The Department of State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office 1
of State Budget and Management, shall make available to counties and municipalities a grant 2
program to assist local governments in providing comparable pay increases to locally employed 3
law enforcement officers. 4
SECTION 2.(d) For purposes of this section, "law enforcement officer" has the same 5
meaning as "criminal justice officer," as defined in G .S. 17C-2, and includes sheriffs' deputies 6
and municipal police officers. 7
8
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER PAY INCREASES 9
SECTION 3.(a) Effective July 1, 2026, the minimum starting salary for a 10
correctional officer employed by the Department of Adult Correction shall be forty-five thousand 11
dollars ($45,000) per year. All currently employed correctional officers shall receive an annual 12
salary increase of eight thousand dollars ($8,000), effective July 1, 2026. 13
SECTION 3.(b) The Secretary of Adult Correction shall deve lop a retention 14
incentive program that provides: 15
(1) A retention bonus of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each 16
correctional officer who completes five years of service. 17
(2) A retention bonus of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each correct ional 18
officer who completes 10 years of service. 19
(3) Enhanced hazard pay of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year for officers 20
assigned to facilities operating at or below seventy percent (70%) of 21
authorized staffing levels. 22
SECTION 3.(c) The Departmen t of Adult Correction shall report to the Joint 23
Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety on vacancy rates and staffing 24
levels quarterly, beginning October 1, 2026. 25
26
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL 27
SECTION 4.(a) The General Assembly finds that: 28
(1) Law enforcement officers and correctional officers experience 29
disproportionately high rates of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and 30
suicide compared to the general population. 31
(2) Stigma and lack of access t o confidential services remain significant barriers 32
to officers seeking mental health treatment. 33
(3) Addressing officer mental health is inseparable from addressing officer 34
retention and public safety outcomes. 35
SECTION 4.(b) The State Health Plan, in coor dination with the Department of 36
Health and Human Services and the Department of Adult Correction, shall: 37
(1) Ensure that all law enforcement officers and correctional officers covered 38
under the State Health Plan have access to a minimum of 12 confidential 39
mental health visits per year at no cost to the officer, with confidentiality 40
protections that prevent disclosure to supervisors or employing agencies. 41
(2) Maintain a dedicated, 24 -hour mental health crisis line staffed by clinicians 42
with training specific to public safety personnel. 43
SECTION 4.(c) The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Adult 44
Correction shall each establish a peer support program that does the following: 45
(1) Trains and certifies peer support officers in evidence-based mental health first 46
aid and crisis intervention; 47
(2) Provides peer support officers with appropriate protected leave to perform 48
peer support duties; and 49
(3) Partners with The University of North Carolina System and the Community 50
College System to develop and deliver peer support training curricula. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 995-First Edition Page 3
SECTION 4.(d) Beginning January 1, 2028, and then annually thereafter, the 1
Department of Public Safety and the Department of Adult Correction shall each report annually 2
to the General Assembly on: 3
(1) The number of officers utilizing mental health services; 4
(2) Officer suicide rates and trends; 5
(3) Retention and vacancy data correlated with mental health programs; and 6
(4) Recommendations for program improvements. 7
8
APPROPRIATIONS 9
SECTION 5. To fund the compensation incr eases awarded in this act and to carry 10
out the other purposes of this act, the following funds are appropriated, effective July 1, 2026: 11
(1) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of State Budget and 12
Management the sum of thirty -three mi llion one hundred thousand dollars 13
($33,100,000) in recurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to fund a State 14
law enforcement officer pay raise of seven thousand five hundred dollars 15
($7,500). 16
(2) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Depa rtment of Adult 17
Correction the sum of ninety -three million one hundred thousand dollars 18
($93,100,000) in recurring funds for the 2026 -2027 fiscal year to fund 19
correctional officer pay raises of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) and other 20
compression adjustments. 21
(3) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public 22
Safety the sum of eight million nine hundred thousand dollars ($8,900,000) in 23
recurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to fund correctional officer pay 24
raises of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) and other compression adjustments. 25
(4) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Adult 26
Correction the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) 27
in recurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to fund retention bonuses. 28
(5) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Adult 29
Correction the sum of nine million one hundred thousand dollars ($9,100,000) 30
for the 2026-2027 fiscal year for hazard pay. 31
(6) There is appropriated f rom the General Fund to the Department of the State 32
Treasurer the sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in the 33
2026-2027 fiscal year for the LEO Local Government Grant Program. 34
(7) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Health Plan the sum 35
of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) in the 2026-2027 fiscal year to fund the 36
mental health services expansion of 12 visits per year as provided by this act. 37
(8) There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public 38
Safety the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in the 2026 -2027 fiscal 39
year for peer support programs as provided by this act. 40
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EFFECTIVE DATE 42
SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective July 1, 2026. 43