---
type: "Bill"
title: "Amend Child Welfare Laws.-AB"
description: "Amend Child Welfare Laws.-AB"
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2003"
identifier: "SB 421"
citation: "North Carolina SB 421 (2003)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILD ABUSE", "CHILD CUSTODY", "COUNTIES", "COURTS", "CRIMES", "DATA SYSTEMS", "DEATH & DYING", "DHHS", "FOSTER CARE", "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT", "MINORS", "PRESENTED", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "SOCIAL SERVICES", "SOCIAL SERVICES DEPTS.", "SEN. METCALF", "SEN. RAND", "SEN. THOMAS", "RECORDS", "CHAPTERED"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 7
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2003-03-13"
last_action: "2003-07-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7582a5c1-9f7d-4389-93e8-759b7bd7a340"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2003&BillID=S421&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "1f49bae8f39012c57a35f6b77bbe1f230735b0e320d1b0a453bc054f27290b8c"
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 421 (2003) — Amend Child Welfare Laws.-AB

## Version chain

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

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v0.pdf)
2. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v1.pdf)
3. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v2.pdf)
4. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v3.pdf)
5. **Edition 4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v4.pdf)
6. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v5.pdf)
7. **SL 2003-304** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/PDF/S421v6.pdf)

## Votes

- Motion 8\To Concur — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- Second Reading — **109–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Metcalf — cosponsor (person)
- Rand — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2003-07-07** Ch. SL 2003-304 `became-law`
- **2003-07-07** Signed By Gov. 7/4/2003 `executive-signature`
- **2003-06-27** Pres. To Gov. 6/26/2003 `executive-receipt`
- **2003-06-25** Ratified
- **2003-06-24** Concurred In H/com Sub `amendment-passage`
- **2003-06-23** Placed On Cal For 6/24/2003
- **2003-06-23** Rec To Concur H Com Sub
- **2003-06-19** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2003-06-19** Amend Adopted #1 `amendment-passage`
- **2003-06-17** Postponed To 6/19/2003
- **2003-06-11** Postponed To 6/17/2003
- **2003-06-09** Placed On Cal For 6/10/2003
- **2003-06-05** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2003-06-05** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2003-04-17** Ref To Com On Judiciary IV `referral-committee`
- **2003-04-17** Rec From Senate
- **2003-04-15** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2003-04-14** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2003-04-14** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2003-03-17** Ref To Com On Judiciary II `referral-committee`
- **2003-03-13** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7582a5c1-9f7d-4389-93e8-759b7bd7a340`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).