GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2019
SESSION LAW 2019-102
HOUSE BILL 134
AN ACT to provide that vacancies on the Onslow county board of commissioners are filled in accordance with G.S. 153A-27.1; AND TO change the manner of election of the Stokes County board of education from nonpartisan to partisan and to make the terms of all members four years.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 153A‑27.1(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Avery, Beaufort, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Carteret, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Cumberland, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Guilford, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hyde, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Moore, Onslow, Pender, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rutherford, Sampson, Stanly, Stokes, Transylvania, and Yancey."
SECTION 1.(b) This section applies to Onslow County only.
SECTION 1.(c) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to vacancies filled on or after that date.
SECTION 2.(a) Section 1 of Chapter 66 of the 1995 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Section 1. Notwithstanding
the provisions of G.S. 115C-37, beginning in 1996 the Beginning in 2020,
the members of the Stokes County Board of Education shall be elected on a nonpartisan
partisan basis at the time set by G.S. 163-1 for the general
election in each even‑numbered year as terms expire. The election
shall be conducted on a nonpartisan plurality basis, with the results
determined in accordance with G.S. 163-292. Candidates shall file notices of
candidacy not earlier than noon on the first Monday in June and not later than
noon on the last Friday in July. The names of the candidates shall be printed
on the ballot without reference to any party affiliations.The primary
and election shall be held and conducted in accordance with the general laws
governing primaries and elections for county officers, except as otherwise
provided herein. Members elected to the Stokes County Board of Education shall
take office the first Monday of December immediately following their election,
and the terms of their predecessors shall expire at the same time. Members
shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified."
SECTION 2.(b) Section 2 of Chapter 66 of the 1995 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 2. Notwithstanding
the provisions of G.S. 115C-37, in 1998 In 2020, and biennially quadrennially
thereafter, three members shall be elected to the Stokes County Board of Education.
The two persons receiving the highest numbers of votes are elected to four-year
terms, and the person receiving the next highest number of votes is elected to
a two-year term.Education for four‑year terms. In 2022, and
quadrennially thereafter, two members shall be elected to the Stokes County
Board of Education for four‑year terms.
Beginning in 2020, vacancies on the Stokes County Board of Education for seats elected on a partisan basis shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37.1. Appointments to fill vacancies on the Stokes County Board of Education for seats elected on a nonpartisan basis in 2016 or 2018 shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37(f)."
SECTION 2.(c) This section does not affect the terms of office of any person elected in 2016 or 2018 to the Stokes County Board of Education. Each member of the Stokes County Board of Education elected in 2016 and 2018, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy for a member elected in 2016 or 2018, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
SECTION 2.(d) Effective on the first Monday in December of 2020, G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alleghany, Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Dare, Davie, Graham, Guilford, Harnett, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, Madison, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
SECTION 2.(e) All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this section are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 10th day of July, 2019.
s/ Ralph E. Hise
Presiding Officer of the Senate
s/ Tim Moore
Speaker of the House of Representatives