PUBLISHED

N.C.G.S. § 17F-20

Badges and service side arms of deceased or retiring members of State, city, and county law enforcement agencies; weapons of active members.

Effective date: 2026-08-08
Last verified: 2026-08-09
Source: official source
Revision history: view all versions

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(a) Surviving spouses or, if unsurvived by a spouse, surviving children of members of North Carolina State, city, and county law enforcement agencies who are killed in the line of duty or are members of these agencies at the time of their deaths and retiring members of these agencies shall receive, upon request and at no cost to them, the badge worn or carried by the deceased or retiring member. Upon determining that a person requesting a service side arm is not ineligible to own, possess, or receive a firearm under State or federal law or that the service side arm has been rendered incapable of being fired, the governing body of a law enforcement agency may, in its discretion, also award to a surviving spouse or child or to a retiring member, upon request, the service side arm of the deceased or retiring member at a price determined by the governing body. As used in this subsection, "governing body" means the following: (1) For county and local alcohol beverage control officers, the county or local board of alcoholic beverage control. (2) For all other law enforcement officers with jurisdiction limited to a municipality or town, the city or town council. (3) For all other law enforcement officers with countywide jurisdiction, the board of county commissioners. (4) For all State law enforcement officers, the head of the department. (b) Active members of North Carolina State, city, and county law enforcement agencies, upon change of type of weapons, may purchase the weapon they wore or carried prior to the change at a price equal to the average yield to the State, city, or county from the sale of similar weapons during the preceding year. (c) For purposes of this section, certified probation and parole officers are considered members of a North Carolina State law enforcement agency. (1971, c. 669; 1973, c. 1424; 1975, c. 44; 1977, c. 548; 1979, c. 882; 1987, c. 122; 2013-369, s. 19; 2016-77, s. 9(b); 2021-116, s. 1.3; recodified from N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-187.2 by 2023-46, s. 4.)