Whether it is a state-wide law or a local ordinance, there are many odd things that are illegal in North Carolina. Read on so you do not get caught violating one of these oddball laws in the Great North State!
State-wide laws:
- Keep your bingo games short(ish). (N.C.G.L. 14.309.8)
Is your organization planning on hosting a bingo game? Better keep the game short – it is illegal in North Carolina for a bingo session to exceed five hours.
- Unmarried couples should keep their distance. (N.C.G.L. 14-186)
It is a Class 2 Misdemeanor in North Carolina for an unmarried man and woman to share a bedroom in a hotel for any “immoral purpose.”
- Don’t take the pine needles. (N.C.G.L. 14-79.1)
Across the state, taking pine needles or pine straw from someone else’s land, if they have placed a sign up prohibiting their removal, is a Class H felony.
- Don’t borrow your friend’s mule without asking first. (N.C.G.L. 14-82)
If you take and carry away someone else’s mule (or horse, gelding, mare, or dog) without their consent, even just temporarily, you will be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor in North Carolina.
- Remember to pay taxes on any drugs that you sell. (N.C.G.L. 105-114.107)
Drug dealers in North Carolina must pay an excise tax on any controlled substance they sell. It depends on the type of drug, but if, for example, you sell cocaine, you must pay an excise tax of fifty dollars for each gram, or fraction thereof, of cocaine sold.
A couple of quirky local rules:
- Cover up at the beach. (Town of Kure Beach, Municipal Code, Sec 12-32)
In the town of Kure Beach, if you want to swim in the Atlantic Ocean or sunbathe, it is illegal to wear a thong bathing suit (or similar attire).
- No loud roosters allowed. (Ahoskie Code of Ordinances, 10-10)
In Ahoskie, it is illegal to keep any rooster whose loud or habitual crowing would constitute a public nuisance.
- Hold the silly string, kids. (Mount Airy Code of Ordinances, 10-14)
In Mount Airy, it is illegal to sell or use silly string (or similar items).
- Keep both hands on the bicycle wheel. (Kill Devil Hills Town Code, 73.04)
In Kill Devil Hills, you must ride a bike with your hands on the handlebars at all times.
- Hold the spit. (Dunn Code of Ordinances, 19-8)
Keep it classy and save the spitting for another town or somewhere private – in Dunn, it is illegal to spit on any street or sidewalk.
