Government of North Carolina
Government of North Carolina | |
---|---|
Judiciary of North Carolina | |
Courts | Courts of North Carolina |
North Carolina Supreme Court | |
Chief judge | Paul Martin Newby |
Seat | Law and Justice Building, Raleigh |
The government of North Carolina is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the
Executive branch
North Carolina's executive branch is governed by Article III of the state constitution. The first North Carolina Constitution in 1776 called for a governor and a seven member Council of State elected by the legislature. Currently, the ten-member Council of State of North Carolina includes the following members elected by voters:[1][2][3][4][5][6]
- Governor
- Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Commissioner of Agriculture
- Commissioner of Insurance
- Commissioner of Labor
- Superintendent of Public Instruction
- State Treasurer
- State Auditor
The Council of State as a collective body is accorded little responsibility by the state constitution, though some statues grant it authority in certain cases, particularly in the acquisition of property by the state.[7]
The nine North Carolina Cabinet departments, headed by department secretaries, plus the Department of Administration, are appointed by the Governor are as follows:[4]
- Department of Administration,
- Department of Commerce,
- Department of Natural and Cultural Resources,
- Department of Environmental Quality,
- Department of Health and Human Services,
- Department of Information Technology
- Department of Revenue,
- Department of Public Safety,
- Department of Military and Veterans Affairs,[8]
- Department of Transportation.
The North Carolina Register includes information about state agency rules, administrative rules, executive orders and other notices, and is published bimonthly.[9][10] The North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) contains all the codified rules.[9]
Legislative branch
The legislature derives its authority from Article II of the North Carolina Constitution.
Judiciary
North Carolina's current judicial system was created in the 1960s after significant consolidation and reform.[14] The judicial system derives its authority from Article IV of the North Carolina Constitution.[15] The state court system is unified into one General Court of Justice.[16] The General Court is composed of a District Court Division, a Superior Court Division, and an Appellate Division.[17] The Administrative Office of the Courts oversees all clerical and financial aspects of the state judicial system.[16]
At the helm of the General Court of Justice and one of the two components of the Appellate Division is the
The trial division includes the Superior Court and the District Court. The Superior Court is the state
The District Court is a court of
Local government
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Asheboro_municipal_building.jpg/220px-Asheboro_municipal_building.jpg)
Overview
The General Assembly's authority to create local governments comes from Article VII of the Constitution of North Carolina.[21] Local governments in North Carolina primarily consist of counties, cities, and towns.[22] The state makes no legal distinction between a town and a city.[23] North Carolina has 100 counties and more than 552 municipalities.[24] There are also special purpose governments, most of which concern either soil and water conservation or housing and community development.[25] Some local governments are joined in regional councils with others to improve coordination and cooperation.[26]
Counties
All counties in the state are led by an elected board of commissioners who employ a county manager.[27] Boards of commissioners vary in size from three to 11 members. In addition to the manager, the commissioners usually hire the county's clerk, attorney, assessor, and tax collector. Unlike in municipal council-manager governments in the state, the board of commissioners usually must approve all of the manager's hiring decisions unless they explicitly delegate sole hiring authority to the manager.[28] County government in North Carolina is also more fractured than municipal government, due to the presence of other elected officials such as sheriffs and registers of deeds, who have control over their own staff.[29] The office of county sheriff is established by the constitution, and sheriffs are not subject to the oversight of the state government.[30] County government is largely funded through local property taxes.[31]
County governments in North Carolina include the following officials:[22]
- Sheriffs
- County commissioners
- Register of deeds
- Clerk of court
- Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
- Board of Education
- Board of Elections
- Public Health Board
- Mental Health Board
- Social Services Board
Municipalities
North Carolina is a
See also
References
- ^ a b "North Carolina Constitution of 1776". Yale Law School. 1776. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ a b "The 1868 constitution". Learn NC. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Constitution of North Carolina, 1971". North Carolina General Assembly.
- ^ a b "Executive Branch". NCPedia.org. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ Marshall, Ellaine F. (2001). North Carolina Manual. North Carolina Secretary of State.
- ^ "Article III of the North Carolina State Constitution of 1971". 1971. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ Orth, John V. (2006). "Council of State". NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "NC Governor Roy Cooper". governor.nc.gov. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "N.C. State Statutes, County and Municipal Ordinances". University of North Carolina Kathrine R. Everett Law Library. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^ "North Carolina Register". www.oah.nc.gov. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ called the House of Commons until 1868 when it was change in the North Carolina Constitution
- ^ "North Carolina Government". NC.GOV. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ^ "Session Laws". ncgovdocs.org. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Fleer 1994, p. 132.
- ^ a b "Judicial Branch". nc.gov. The State of North Carolina. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ a b Williams, Wiley J. (2006). "Judiciary, State". NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
- ^ Orth & Newby 2013, p. 128.
- ^ Orth & Newby 2013, pp. 130, 133.
- ^ Orth & Newby 2013, p. 130, 138.
- ^ Brinkley, Martin H. "Supreme Court of North Carolina: A Brief History". North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
- ^ Orth & Newby 2013, pp. 169–170.
- ^ a b Whittaker, Gordon (June 2012). Local Government in North Carolina (PDF) (4th ed.). Chapel Hill: UNC School of Government and the North Carolina City and County Management Association. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ a b Stick, David (2006). "Towns and Cities". NCPedia. North Carolina Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "How NC Cities Work". North Carolina League of Municipalities. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, pp. 214–215.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, p. 215.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, pp. 209, 213.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, p. 213.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, pp. 213–214.
- ^ Orth & Newby 2013, p. 170.
- ^ Nagem, Sarah (July 7, 2022). "Scotland County lowers property tax rate, but it's still the highest in North Carolina". Border Belt Independent. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, p. 216.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, pp. 209, 211–212.
- ^ Cooper & Knotts 2012, p. 209.
Works cited
- Cooper, Christopher A.; Knotts, H. Gibbs, eds. (2012). The New Politics of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469606583.
- Fleer, Jack D. (1994). North Carolina Government & Politics. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803268852.
- Orth, John V.; Newby, Paul M. (2013). The North Carolina State Constitution (second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199300655.
External links
- "North Carolina Government". NC.gov. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
Media related to Government of North Carolina at Wikimedia Commons