GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1983 SESSION

CHAPTER 705 
SENATE BILL 473 

AN ACT TO MAKE SHOPPING CART THEFT UNLAWFUL. 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Chapter 14 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read: 
"§ 14-72.3.  Removal of shopping cart from shopping premises. – (a) As used in this section: 
(1)	'shopping cart' means the type of push cart commonly provided by grocery stores, drugstores, and other retail stores for customers to transport commodities within the store and from the store to their motor vehicles outside the store. 
(2)	'premises' includes the motor vehicle parking area set aside for customers of the store. 
(b)	It is unlawful for any person to remove a shopping cart from the premises of a store without the consent, given at the time of the removal, of the store owner, manager, agent or employee. 
(c)	Violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both." 
Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1983. 
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 7th day of July, 1983.