74C-30. Private Protective Services Education Fund created; payments to Fund; management; use of funds.
(a) There is hereby created and established a special fund to be known as the "Private Protective Services Education Fund" (hereinafter Fund) which shall be set aside and maintained in the Office of the State Treasurer. The Fund shall be used in the manner provided in this Article for the education of licensees and registrants as deemed appropriate by the Board.
(b) Repealed by Session Laws 2009-328, s. 13, effective October 1, 2009.
(c) In addition to the fees provided for elsewhere in this Chapter, the Board shall charge the following fees which shall be deposited into the Fund:
(1) Repealed by Session Laws 2007-511, s. 10.
(2) The Board shall charge each new applicant for a licensee or trainee permit fifty dollars ($50.00), provided that for purposes of this Article a new applicant is hereby defined as an applicant who did not possess a license or trainee permit on July 1, 1983; and
(3) The Board is authorized to charge each licensee and trainee an additional amount, not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00), on July 1 of any year in which the balance of the Fund is less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), provided that any amount so assessed will be only so much as is needed to raise the level of the Fund to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
(d) The State Treasurer shall invest and reinvest the moneys in the Fund in a manner provided by law. The Board, in its discretion, may use the Fund for any of the following purposes:
(1) To advance education and research in the private protective services field for the benefit of those licensed or registered under the provisions of this Chapter and for the improvement of the industry.
(2) To underwrite educational seminars, training centers and other educational projects for the use and benefit generally of licensees, registrants, and trainees.
(3) To sponsor, contract for and to underwrite any and all additional educational training and research projects of a similar nature having to do with the advancement of the private protective services field in North Carolina. The Board shall have the authority to sponsor courses given by private individuals, associations, or corporations. However, the Board shall only grant funds as necessary to offset the actual cost of the educational course. Any individual, association, or corporation receiving grant money from the Board shall make the course available to the industry at large. Any individual, association, or corporation receiving grant money from the Board and advertising the course to the industry is required to include in its advertising the following statement: "The course is being given in whole or in part by a grant from the Private Protective Services Board."
(e) By a unanimous vote of the Board, funds in the Fund in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) may be converted to offset the operating expenses of the Board. However, in converting the funds, the Board shall make findings of fact by a written order or resolution supporting the need to make the conversion.