2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 15A-502. Photographs and fingerprints.

§ 15A‑502.  Photographs and fingerprints.

(a)       A person charged with the commission of a felony or a misdemeanor may be photographed and his fingerprints may be taken for law‑enforcement records only when he has been:

(1)       Arrested or committed to a detention facility, or

(2)       Committed to imprisonment upon conviction of a crime, or

(3)       Convicted of a felony.

It shall be the duty of the arresting law‑enforcement agency to cause a person charged with the commission of a felony to be fingerprinted and to forward those fingerprints to the State Bureau of Investigation.

(b)       This section does not authorize the taking of photographs or fingerprints when the offense charged is a Class 2 or 3 misdemeanor under Chapter 20 of the General Statutes, "Motor Vehicles."

(c)       This section does not authorize the taking of photographs or fingerprints of a juvenile alleged to be delinquent except under Article 21 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.

(d)       This section does not prevent the taking of photographs, moving pictures, video or sound recordings, fingerprints, or the like to show a condition of intoxication or for other evidentiary use.

(e)       Fingerprints or photographs taken pursuant to subsection (a) may be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or other law‑enforcement agencies. (1973, c. 1286, s. 1; 1977, c. 711, s. 22; 1979, c. 850; 1981, c. 862, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 298; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 18, s. 23.2(b); 1998‑202, s. 13(f).)