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Bill

HB 258

State funded capital construction.

2025 Regular Session

The bill strengthens penalties for assaults on utility/communications workers and creates a new Class I felony for assaults on public transit operators or TNC drivers while perform

S:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to SR 5-4
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Bill Summary · HB 258

HB 258 — Utility Worker Protection Act (North Carolina) — Summary

Status: Regular message sent to the Senate (passed House); effective date (if enacted): December 1, 2025
Primary sponsor: Rep. K. Hall (with Rep. Miller, Crawford, Jeffers and others)

Purpose

To strengthen criminal penalties for assaults committed against certain public-facing workers — specifically utility and communications workers — and to expand enhanced penalties for assaults on transportation workers (public transit operators and transportation network company drivers). The bill is intended to protect workers who are identifiable on the job while performing official duties.

Key provisions

  • Adds/rewrites statutory language in G.S. 14‑33(c) to make it a Class A1 misdemeanor for a person to commit an assault, assault and battery, or affray in specified circumstances, including:
    • Assaulting a utility or communications worker while the worker is (i) readily identifiable as a worker and (ii) discharging or attempting to discharge duties.
  • Defines "utility or communications worker" to include employees, agents, or contractors of entities (public or private, including municipal, county, cooperative) that provide:
    • electricity, natural gas, liquid petroleum, water, wastewater, telecommunications services, or internet access services.
  • Specifies "readily identifiable as a worker" to include wearing a uniform, hat, or outerwear bearing the employer’s logo at the time of the assault.
  • Creates a new felony provision (G.S. 14‑32.6):
    • Assault, assault and battery, or affray against a public transit operator (public employee or private contractor) or a transportation network company (TNC) driver while the operator/driver is discharging or attempting to discharge duties is a Class I felony.
    • The bill uses existing statutory definitions for TNC driver and TNC service (G.S. 20‑280.1) where applicable.
  • Savings clause: prosecutions for offenses committed before the bill’s effective date are not abated; existing statutes remain applicable to those prosecutions.

Who is affected

  • Utility and communications workers (as defined), when they are identifiable and performing job duties.
  • Public transit operators and TNC drivers (subject to elevated felony penalty).
  • Offenders committing physical assaults, batteries, or affrays under the covered circumstances.
  • Law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and correctional systems (through changes in prosecutable offenses and potential sentencing outcomes).

Penalties and legal effect

  • Assaults against utility/communications workers (meeting identification and duty conditions) are elevated to a Class A1 misdemeanor (unless a greater penalty already applies).
  • Assaults against public transit operators and TNC drivers (under the new §14‑32.6) are Class I felonies.
  • The bill preserves existing, more severe statutory penalties where applicable.

Effective date and applicability

  • Becomes effective December 1, 2025.
  • Applies to offenses committed on or after that date; earlier prosecutions are not affected.

Procedural/timeline notes

  • Originated in the House; referred to Energy & Public Utilities, then Judiciary, then Rules.
  • Committee substitutes and subsequent editions expanded scope (e.g., adding water/wastewater, liquid petroleum; adding felony section for transit/TNC operators).
  • As of the provided status, the House has passed the bill and it has been transmitted to the Senate (Regular Message Sent to Senate).

Potential impacts

  • Legal: raises criminal exposure for persons who assault covered workers; introduces a new felony category for assaults on transit and TNC drivers.
  • Operational: may increase arrests, prosecutions, and potential incarceration for qualifying offenses; courts and corrections systems could see modest workload/expense impacts (no fiscal analysis provided in the bill text).
  • Workplace/public safety: intended to deter violence against frontline utility, communications, and transportation workers and to reinforce protections when workers are identifiable and performing duties.

If you want, I can:
- Extract and display the exact statutory language the bill would add or amend;
- Compare the bill’s penalties to current statutory penalties;
- Draft a short one‑page explainer for affected employers and unions. Which would be most useful?

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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