---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tort Reform for Citizens and Businesses."
description: "Tort Reform for Citizens and Businesses."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2011"
identifier: "HB 542"
citation: "North Carolina HB 542 (2011)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COMMERCE", "COURTS", "CRIMES", "LANDOWNERS", "MALPRACTICE", "MANUFACTURING", "PRESENTED", "PROPERTY", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "SESSION LAWS", "TORTS", "TRESPASSING", "REP. CRAWFORD", "REP. MCCOMAS", "LIABILITY", "CHAPTERED", "REP. BRISSON", "CIVIL ACTIONS", "REP. RHYNE"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brisson", "McComas", "Rhyne"]
version_count: 14
action_count: 42
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2011-03-30"
last_action: "2011-06-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c4aae9eb-4f00-4a0d-aad4-5142c281e857"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=H542&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "129cf68a01eb900ab0e2731c64c09330026981811559296b65dcda3bc119346e"
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 HB 542 (2011) — Tort Reform for Citizens and Businesses.

## 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/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v0.pdf)
2. **A1: ATG-154-V-4** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/761/0/H542-ATG-154-V-4)
3. **A1: ATG-188-V-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/1154/0/H542-ATG-188-V-1)
4. **A2: ATG-89-V-4** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/762/0/H542-ATG-89-V-4)
5. **A3: ATG-133-V-3** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/763/0/H542-ATG-133-V-3)
6. **A5: ATG-140-V-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/765/0/H542-ATG-140-V-1)
7. **A7: ATG-144-V-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2011/767/0/H542-ATG-144-V-1)
8. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v1.pdf)
9. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v2.pdf)
10. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v3.pdf)
11. **Edition 4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v4.pdf)
12. **Edition 5** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v5.pdf)
13. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v6.pdf)
14. **SL2011-283** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H542v7.pdf)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **42–8** (pass) · upper
- M11 Concur — **80–32** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brisson — primary (person)
- McComas — primary (person)
- Rhyne — primary (person)
- Bradley — cosponsor (person)
- Cook — cosponsor (person)
- Crawford — cosponsor (person)
- Folwell — cosponsor (person)
- Moffitt — cosponsor (person)
- Murry — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-06-24** Ch. SL 2011-283 `became-law`
- **2011-06-24** Signed By Gov. 6/24/2011 `executive-signature`
- **2011-06-20** Pres. To Gov. 6/20/2011 `executive-receipt`
- **2011-06-17** Ratified
- **2011-06-16** Concurred In S/Com Sub `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-15** Placed On Cal For 6/16/2011
- **2011-06-15** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2011-06-15** Rec To Concur S Com Sub
- **2011-06-15** Engrossed
- **2011-06-15** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2011-06-14** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2011-06-14** Amend Adopted 1 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-13** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2011-06-13** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-06-06** Ref To Com On Judiciary I `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-06** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2011-06-06** Rec From House
- **2011-06-01** Ordered Engrossed
- **2011-06-01** Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading `passage, reading-2, reading-3`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Failed 10 `amendment-failure`
- **2011-06-01** Amendment Withdrawn 9 `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2011-06-01** Amend 9 Offered
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 8 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 7 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Failed 6 `amendment-failure`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 5 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 4 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 3 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 2 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-06-01** Amend Adopted 1 `amendment-passage`
- **2011-05-26** Placed On Cal For 6/1/2011
- **2011-05-26** Withdrawn From Cal
- **2011-05-18** Postponed To 5/31/2011
- **2011-05-11** Postponed To 5/18/2011
- **2011-05-10** Placed On Cal For 5/11/2011
- **2011-05-10** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2011-05-10** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-03-31** Re-ref Com On House Select Committee on Tort Reform `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-31** Withdrawn From Com
- **2011-03-31** Ref To Com On Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-31** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2011-03-30** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c4aae9eb-4f00-4a0d-aad4-5142c281e857`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).