JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A legal loophole is preventing the Jacksonville Police Department from having jurisdiction in parts of the city, including the area directly in front of the police department.
House Bill 116 was enacted on August 6, 2026. Under the law, Jacksonville police officers may exercise arrest powers and other police powers outside the city’s corporate limits only within 1 mile of the city limits, and only in areas north of N.C. Highway 24.
The law also bars Jacksonville from annexing any territory south of Highway 24 and bars the city from exercising planning and zoning authority beyond its contiguous corporate limits.
In the area affected by the law, a Jacksonville officer has no more legal authority than a private citizen. Officers there can perform a citizen’s arrest, but they cannot legally act as police officers.
Jacksonville Public Safety Director and former Police Chief Mike Yaniero said the law removed that authority from a section of the city.
“A police officer has jurisdiction within the city and within a mile outside the city, and what this bill did is a section of the city, it removed that ability for them to be a police officer. So in order for them to enforce the law, one of the things that they would have to do is basically be a private citizen. So what it did is it stripped some of those protections that the officers had,” Yaniero said.
A map of the city limits shows the affected area as a white cutout in the middle of the city, where the police department sits.
The Jacksonville Police Department does not currently hold jurisdiction on the entire length of Court Street or New Bridge Street, as well as Sturgeon City and other downtown areas.
Councilwoman Cindy Edwards said the gap resulted from the bill’s wording, which states that areas south of Highway 24 should not fall under Jacksonville police jurisdiction.
Yaniero said he does not believe the gap was an intended consequence of the bill.
“I don’t think that was an intended consequence. I think it was the way the bill was written,” Yaniero said.
The city is working with the county and attorneys to fix the issue. It cannot be resolved until at least November.
In the meantime, Yaniero said the city has worked out a plan with the sheriff and the district attorney to address the gap.
“We’ve worked with a plan with the sheriff and the district attorney, and I think we have a good plan to address those concerns, especially with those officers who are out there enforcing the law, and giving them the protections they need,” Yaniero said.
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