A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that a county or municipal recreation program take precautions to ensure the safety and well‑being of activity participants, including providing concussion awareness information and a response protocol for certain athletic activities.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑353 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑353.  Powers.
In addition to any other powers it may possess to provide for the general welfare of its citizens, each county and city in this State shall have authority to do all of the following:
(1)	Establish and conduct a system of supervised recreation.
(2)	Set apart lands and buildings for parks, playgrounds, recreational centers, and other recreational programs and facilities.
(3)	Acquire real property, either within or without the corporate limits of the city or the boundaries of the county, including water and air rights, for parks and recreation programs and facilities by gift, grant, purchase, lease, exercise of the power of eminent domain, or any other lawful method.
(4)	Provide, acquire, construct, equip, operate, and maintain parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, and recreation facilities, including all buildings, structures, and equipment necessary or useful in connection therewith.
(4a)	Require precautions to ensure the safety and well‑being of activity participants in county and municipal recreation programs, including, if the activity is a sport in which the participants necessarily come into bodily contact with one another, that those participants are provided with concussion awareness information and a response protocol in the event of a suspected concussion. The concussion awareness information and response protocol shall be consistent with the rules adopted by the State Board of Education for interscholastic athletic activities under G.S. 115C‑12(23).
No program director, employee, or volunteer of a county or municipal recreation program shall be liable in civil damages to any party for any act authorized by this subdivision, or for any omission relating to that act, unless that act or omission amounts to gross negligence, wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing.
(5)	Appropriate funds to carry out the provisions of this Article.
(6)	Accept any gift, grant, lease, loan, or devise of real or personal property for parks and recreation programs. Devises and gifts may be accepted and held subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the grantor or trustor, except that no county or city may accept or administer any terms that require it to discriminate among its citizens on the basis of race, sex, or religion."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2017.