New laws for a new year

Starting next week, jails will have to ask whether prisoners are illegal aliens. Bars and restaurants will have to recycle beer and wine bottles. And smokers who work in state buildings will have to take it outside. A bevy of new laws take effect next week. Here's a look at some.

Born identity

This change in the law makes it easier for adopted children to find information about their birth parents. Adoption agencies and county social services departments can act as intermediaries to help an adopted person get family health information. Also, the agencies can help adopted adults find birth parents, assuming all parties have given written permission.

Fresh air

On Jan. 1, there will be no smoking inside buildings owned or leased by the state. The law also spells out what municipalities can do to limit smoking. This summer, Wake County officials decided to ban smoking in all county buildings, and that policy is also effective Jan. 1. Also, smoking will be prohibited in state psychiatric facilities. This year, lawmakers had banned smoking in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Status check

Every jailer in the state must ask everyone arrested on either a felony charge or for impaired driving whether they are legal residents of the U.S.

From there, it is up to the feds.

"If you're here illegally and accused of a felony and DWI, we are going to do everything we can do to have you deported from our country," said Sen. Julia Boseman, a New Hanover County Democrat, who pushed for the law.

Civil liberties and Latino groups have argued that checking immigration status in the jail encourages racial profiling. Many law enforcement officials have said it could discourage people worried about their immigration status from cooperating with police.

Green beer

This law requires those who plow through an awful lot of glass to start recycling it. Bars and restaurants will have to submit a plan for recycling as a condition for getting alcohol permits. That means a lot of beer and wine bottles will stay out of the landfill. At The Flying Saucer in downtown Raleigh, patrons go through about 1,400 beer bottles a week, said Erik Hodgeman, assistant general manager. The bar had to find a company to haul away its bottles, but it wasn't too difficult or expensive to set up the program, which starts next week, Hodgeman said.

Mending lending

A series of bills adopted this year were designed to protect homeowners. The changes are in response to the national subprime mortgage crisis, in which homeowners are discovering that they can't afford their mortgages. The changes give consumers more rights and make it tougher for a lender to issue a shaky loan. The new law requires lenders to carefully forecast whether a borrower is likely to be able to make payments, said Rep. Dan Blue, a Wake County Democrat who was a key sponsor of the changes.

"The responsible lenders sort of admit that's a reasonable approach," he said.

The changes also give homeowners more legal recourse against lenders.

Confession time

Anyone planning to run for office must first answer a simple question: "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" Lying in the answer is a felony.

Animal control

Twenty cents from every rabies tag sold will go to raise money for programs to spay and neuter pets.