A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT increasing the criminal penalty and dot reward for damaging or removing street sign offenses.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑33 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑33.  Damaging or removing signs; rewards.
(a)	No person shall willfully deface, damage, knock down or remove any traffic sign and other traffic control device as provided in G.S. 136‑26 or G.S. 136‑30.
(b)	No person, without just cause or excuse, shall have in his possession any traffic sign and other traffic control device as provided in G.S. 136‑26 or G.S. 136‑30.
(b1)	Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and shall pay a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(c)	The Department of Transportation is authorized to offer a reward not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons who violate the provisions of this section, such reward to be paid from funds of the Department of Transportation.
(d)	The enforcement of this section shall be the specific responsibility and duty of the State Highway Patrol in addition to all other law‑enforcement agencies and officers within this State."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2017, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.