---
type: "Bill"
title: "GED and Other Credit for Inmates."
description: "GED and Other Credit for Inmates."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2001"
identifier: "SB 397"
citation: "North Carolina SB 397 (2001)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS", "EDUCATION", "JAILS", "PRESENTED", "PRISONERS", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "SECONDARY EDUCATION", "SEN. BALLANCE", "CHAPTERED"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 5
action_count: 22
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2001-03-08"
last_action: "2001-06-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2c87a00d-af14-4940-9c6e-f1bb6c0a3f96"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2001&BillID=S397&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "daebd5339f27af1d0a0d0649e2cd634d962d25e4ed25b939f1dc0bc165b212be"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nc"]
---

# North Carolina SB 397 (2001) — GED and Other Credit for Inmates.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2001/Bills/Senate/PDF/S397v1.pdf)
2. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2001/Bills/Senate/PDF/S397v2.pdf)
3. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2001/Bills/Senate/PDF/S397v3.pdf)
4. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2001/Bills/Senate/PDF/S397v4.pdf)
5. **SL 2001-200** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2001/Bills/Senate/PDF/S397v5.pdf)

## Votes

- Motion 8\To Concur — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **74–36** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ballance — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2001-06-14** Ch. SL 2001-200 `became-law`
- **2001-06-14** Signed By Gov. 6/14/2001 `executive-signature`
- **2001-06-07** Pres. To Gov. 6/7/2001 `executive-receipt`
- **2001-06-06** Ratified
- **2001-06-05** Concurred In H/com Sub `amendment-passage`
- **2001-06-04** Placed On Cal For 6/5/2001
- **2001-06-04** Withdrawn From Cal
- **2001-05-31** Placed On Cal For 6/4/2001
- **2001-05-31** Rec To Concur H Com Sub
- **2001-05-30** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2001-05-29** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2001-05-24** Postponed To 5/29/2001
- **2001-05-23** Placed On Cal For 5/24/2001
- **2001-05-22** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2001-05-22** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2001-04-02** Ref To Com On Judiciary II `referral-committee`
- **2001-04-02** Rec From Senate
- **2001-03-28** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2001-03-27** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2001-03-27** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2001-03-12** Ref To Com On Judiciary II `referral-committee`
- **2001-03-08** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2c87a00d-af14-4940-9c6e-f1bb6c0a3f96`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).