A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to limit the civil liability of domestic violence shelters and persons associated with those shelters.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 1 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 51.
"Limited Civil Liability of Domestic Violence Shelters and Persons Associated With the Shelters.
"§ 1‑610.  Definitions.
As used in this Article, the following terms mean:
(1)	Client. – A person who is the victim of domestic violence, as defined in Chapter 50B of the General Statutes, or of nonconsensual sexual conduct or stalking, as defined in Chapter 50C of the General Statutes, and is using services or facilities of a shelter.
(2)	Conduct. – One or more actions or omissions.
(3)	Domestic violence. – As defined in G.S. 50B‑1(a).
(4)	Harm. – Injury, death, or loss to person or property.
(5)	Perpetrator. – A person who has committed domestic violence and who bears one of the personal relationships specified in G.S. 50B‑1(b) to the victim of domestic violence, or a person who has committed nonconsensual sexual conduct or stalking as defined in Chapter 50C of the General Statutes.
(6)	Person associated with the shelter. – A person who is a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer connected with the shelter.
(7)	Shelter. – A facility that meets the criteria set forth in G.S. 50B‑9 and is funded through the Domestic Violence Center Fund providing shelter to victims of domestic violence, nonconsensual sexual conduct, or stalking.
(8)	Victim advocate. – A person from a crime victim service organization who provides support and assistance for a victim of a crime during court proceedings and recovery efforts related to the crime.
(9)	Volunteer. – An individual who provides any service at a shelter without expectation of receiving and without receiving any compensation or other form of remuneration, directly or indirectly, for the provision of the service.
"§ 1‑611.  Immunity of a domestic violence shelter and any person associated with the shelter concerning torts committed on the shelter's premises.
(a)	Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no shelter and no person associated with the shelter is liable in damages in a tort action for any harm that a client or other person who is on the premises of the shelter sustains as a result of tortious conduct of a perpetrator that is committed on the premises of the shelter if the perpetrator is not a person associated with the shelter and if any of the following situations apply:
(1)	The perpetrator illegally entered and illegally remained on the premises of the shelter at the time the perpetrator's tortious conduct caused the harm sustained by a client or other person who was also on the premises.
(2)	The perpetrator legally entered the premises of the shelter and a person associated with the shelter instructed the perpetrator to leave the premises before the perpetrator caused the harm sustained by a client or other person who was also on the premises and, despite those reasonable steps, the perpetrator remained on the premises and committed the tortious conduct that caused the harm sustained by a client or other person who was on the premises.
(3)	The perpetrator legally entered the premises of the shelter and a person associated with the shelter granted the perpetrator permission to remain on the premises after the person associated with the shelter in exercising the reasonable judgment and discretion of a prudent person under similar circumstances, determined that granting the person permission to remain on the premises did not appear to pose a threat of harm to a client or other person who was on the premises. 
(b)	The immunity established by this section does not extend to gross negligence, wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing that would otherwise be actionable."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2009, and applies to offenses committed and causes of action arising on or after that date.