THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509300286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Girls under 16 who want abortions must get permission from their parents or a judge under one of the new laws that takes effect Sunday.
The ``parental consent'' law is one of 111 new statutes enforceable beginning Oct. 1. The list includes all of 92 new laws passed this year, parts of 17 others passed during this year's legislative session and portions of two other laws passed by the 1993 General Assembly.
The new laws also include new rules for divorce cases and a requirement that corpses be permanently tagged when they are buried.
Beginning Sunday, abortions for minors require that a girl's parent or legal guardian sign a consent form. If a girl does not want to get the consent of a parent or guardian, she must petition a judge for permission.
The law requires such requests to be heard quickly and allows a judge to grant permission for the procedure. The judge would have to determine whether the girl is mature enough to make the decision on her own, that it would be in her best interests not to require parental consent or that she is the victim of incest.
The change, which had been previously approved several times by the House but not the Senate, also makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion on a minor without the consent of the parents or a judge.
The new laws also include several that affect property distribution during divorce cases.
Judges may now approve division of property while divorces are proceeding and penalize a spouse who refuses to split the assets.
Supporters of the measure had argued that in some cases a spouse who controlled marital property, usually a husband, would refuse to agree to a division while the divorce proceeded. That left the wife without any funds or property, and could be used to force an unfair divorce settlement.
Judges in domestic violence cases can order an abusive spouse not to purchase any firearms for a set period. The judge also can order the spouse to surrender any firearms or other weapons that he owns in order to protect the abused spouse or children in the house.
Under a new law approved this year, bodies must have permanent identification so they can be identified if their graves are disturbed.
When the Mississippi River flooded in 1993 and washed away some older cemeteries, local officials had a difficult time identifying bodies that were later recovered.
Other new laws taking effect include:
Requiring people receiving unemployment benefits to report monthly on their efforts to find work. Another law also allows the state to cut off unemployment benefits if a person fails a drug test required for a job.
Protecting landowners who invite people to use their land for education or recreational purposes, provided they charge no fee and inform them of any artificial or unusual hazards they know about.
Requiring government agencies to respond promptly to requests for copies of public records and to charge only reasonable fees for those copies.
Allowing law officers to pick up 16- or 17-year-old runaways at the request of parents.
Requiring social services directors to reveal to a person who has reported child abuse or neglect what action the department is taking.
Barring hog farms with more than 250 pigs from locating within 1,500 feet of an occupied home; 2,500 feet of a church, school or hospital; or 100 feet of a property line.
Requiring mediation for farm nuisance complaints before a lawsuit can be filed.
Providing for faster eviction of people involved in drug activities on rental property.
Allowing criminal background checks for employees or volunteers of organizations that care for children, the elderly or disabled people.
Allowing criminal charges against anyone under 16 who commits indecent acts with a child at least three years younger.
Requiring the parents of a dependent child who also is a parent to help support their grandchild.
Limiting property tax values for antique cars to $500 or less.
KEYWORDS: NEW LAWS NORTH CAROLINA by CNB