Issue Position: Promoting Public Safety

Issue Position

To live our lives to the fullest, we must first be safe and secure at home and in our communities. The Attorney General protects families from crime by prosecuting cases, overseeing criminal appeals, operating the State Crime Lab, and assisting local law enforcement.

Promoting public safety has been a priority for Josh Stein during his time as a State Senator. Josh has worked tirelessly to keep kids safe at school, use DNA to take violent criminals off the street, protect victims of domestic violence and stalking from their abusers, and ban video poker and Internet sweepstakes gambling.

Stein was the primary Senate sponsor of the School Safety Act of 2013. This comprehensive bill called for more school resource officers, guidance counselors and school counselors. It also mandated school safety plans and training.

Josh authored legislation to expand the DNA database so that all violent felony arrestees must provide a DNA sample. When that DNA sample matches one in the database, law enforcement can get criminals off the street to pay for past crimes and prevent future ones from being committed. He introduced legislation to strengthen domestic violence laws, ban stalking by use of GPS tracking devices, and spearheaded the legislative effort to outlaw Internet sweepstakes strip mall casinos across the state.

Stein has also championed successful prisoner reentry initiatives in order to reduce the number of repeat criminal offenders and help reformed offenders become productive members of society.

As a primary sponsor of Grey's Law, a law to require ignition interlocks for all drunk driving convictions, Josh was praised for his work to keep North Carolina families safe:

"This is a step that should be taken, and it has bipartisan support among lawmakers. Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh, a Democrat, is a lawyer and moderate who also happens to be known for taking time to contemplate all sides of an issue." - NC lawmakers should approve ignition interlock for all DWIs, Raleigh News and Observer


Before joining the Senate, Stein co-chaired the $5 million capital campaign for Interact, Wake County's domestic violence organization that helps families live in peace rather than violence. For his work, Interact awarded Josh its volunteer of the year for 2008 and the Mutual of America Foundation presented Josh an award in 2010.

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