NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-307 (2026)

Duty of director to report evidence of abuse, neglect; investigation by local law enforcement; notification to appropriate military authority; notification of Department of Health and Human Services

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NCLEGncleg.gov (official) JustiaChapter 7B CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) If the director finds evidence that a juvenile may have been abused as defined by G.S. 7B-101, the director shall make an immediate oral and subsequent written report of the findings to the district attorney or the district attorney's designee and the appropriate local law enforcement agency, including notifying the appropriate military authority that there is evidence of abuse or neglect of a juvenile by a parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker with that military affiliation, within 48 hours after receipt of the report. The local law enforcement agency shall immediately, but no later than 48 hours after receipt of the information, initiate and coordinate a criminal investigation with the protective services assessment being conducted by the county department of social services. Upon completion of the investigation, the district attorney shall determine whether criminal prosecution is appropriate and may request the director or the director's designee to appear before a magistrate.

If the director receives information that a juvenile may have been physically harmed in violation of any criminal statute by any person other than the juvenile's parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker, the director shall make an immediate oral and subsequent written report of that information to the district attorney or the district attorney's designee and to the appropriate local law enforcement agency within 48 hours after receipt of the information. The local law enforcement agency shall immediately, but no later than 48 hours after receipt of the information, initiate a criminal investigation. Upon completion of the investigation, the district attorney shall determine whether criminal prosecution is appropriate.

If the report received pursuant to G.S. 7B-301 involves abuse or neglect of a juvenile or child maltreatment, as defined in G.S. 110-105.3, in child care, the director shall notify the Department of Health and Human Services within 24 hours or on the next working day of receipt of the report.

The director of the department of social services shall submit a report of alleged abuse, neglect, or dependency cases or child fatalities that are the result of alleged maltreatment to the central registry under the policies adopted by the Social Services Commission.

(b), (c) Repealed by Session Laws 2015-123, s. 5, effective January 1, 2016. (1979, c. 815, s. 1; 1983, c. 199; 1985, c. 757, s. 156(s)-(u); 1991, c. 593, s. 2; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 923, s. 4; 1993, c. 516, s. 8; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 1997-506, s. 33; 1998-202, s. 6; 1999-456, s. 60; 2005-55, s. 7; 2015-123, s. 5; 2019-201, s. 3(b).)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2001–2021 · leading case: In Re Stumbo, 582 S.E.2d 255 (N.C. 2003).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

In Re Stumbo, 582 S.E.2d 255 (N.C. 2003). · cites it 6× “It is important to resolve this issue in light of the statutory obligation of directors to "make an immediate oral and subsequent written report" of their findings of abuse or neglect to the district attorney and the "appropriate local law enforcement agency.”

In re A.P., 812 S.E.2d 840 (N.C. 2018). “§ 7B-307 (2017) *844 (requiring " the director " to report findings of abuse, neglect, or dependency to "the district attorney" and "the appropriate local law enforcement agency" (emphasis added) ), id.”

State v. Martin, 671 S.E.2d 53 (N.C. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 2× “Although defendant is correct that DSS is required to report evidence of abuse to the district attorney, see N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-307(a) (2007), both our general statutes and case law make it clear that DSS is not a law enforcement agency nor does it prosecute criminal cases.”

In Re Stumbo, 547 S.E.2d 451 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 6× “Likewise, governmental interest in protecting the safety and well being of children is substantial and is well served by mandating a timely section 7B-302 investigation of reports of child abuse/neglect. This substantial governmental interest must, however, be weighed in the…”

Rios v. City of Raleigh (E.D.N.C. 2021). “§ 7B-307, the RPD is required to initiate a child abuse investigation within forty-eight hours of a referral from CPS.”

— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-307(a) — 3 cases

In Re Stumbo, 582 S.E.2d 255 (N.C. 2003). “It is important to resolve this issue in light of the statutory obligation of directors to "make an immediate oral and subsequent written report" of their findings of abuse or neglect to the district attorney and the "appropriate local law enforcement agency.”

State v. Martin, 671 S.E.2d 53 (N.C. Ct. App. 2009). “Although defendant is correct that DSS is required to report evidence of abuse to the district attorney, see N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-307(a) (2007), both our general statutes and case law make it clear that DSS is not a law enforcement agency nor does it prosecute criminal cases.”

In Re Stumbo, 547 S.E.2d 451 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001). “Likewise, governmental interest in protecting the safety and well being of children is substantial and is well served by mandating a timely section 7B-302 investigation of reports of child abuse/neglect. This substantial governmental interest must, however, be weighed in the…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.