GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	3 

SENATE BILL 1139*
Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 5/12/93
House Committee Substitute Favorable 6/14/93

Short Title:  Fees on 20-day Failures/Court Positions.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors:
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  
─────────────────────────────────────── 

May 11, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPOSE A PROCESSING FEE ON 20-DAY FAILURES AND TO ADD ADDITIONAL COURT POSITIONS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 20-24.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-24.1.  Revocation for failure to appear or pay fine, penalty or costs for motor vehicle offenses; processing fee.
(a)	The Division must revoke the driver's license of a person upon receipt of notice from a court that the person was charged with a motor vehicle offense and he:
(1)	failed to appear, after being notified to do so, when the case was called for a trial or hearing; or
(2)	failed to pay a fine, penalty, or court costs ordered by the court.
Revocation orders entered under the authority of this section are effective on the sixtieth day after the order is mailed or personally delivered to the person.
(b)	A license revoked under this section remains revoked until the person whose license has been revoked:
(1)	disposes of the charge in the trial division in which he failed to appear when the case was last called for trial or hearing; or
(2)	demonstrates to the court that he is not the person charged with the offense; or
(3)	pays the penalty, fine, or costs ordered by the court; or
(4)	demonstrates to the court that his failure to pay the penalty, fine, or costs was not willful and that he is making a good faith effort to pay or that the penalty, fine, or costs should be remitted.
Upon receipt of notice from the court that the person has satisfied the conditions of this subsection applicable to his case, and upon payment to the Division of any processing fee required by subsection (f) of this section, the Division must restore the person's license as provided in subsection (c). In addition, if the person whose license is revoked is not a resident of this State, the Division may notify the driver licensing agency in the person's state of residence that the person's license to drive in this State has been revoked.
(b1)	A defendant must be afforded an opportunity for a trial or a hearing within a reasonable time of the defendant's appearance.  Upon motion of a defendant, the court must order that a hearing or a trial be heard within a reasonable time.
(c)	If the person satisfies the conditions of subsection (b) that are applicable to his case before the effective date of the revocation order, the revocation order and any entries on his driving record relating to it shall be deleted and the person does not have to pay the restoration fee set by G.S. 20-7(i1). For all other revocation orders issued pursuant to this section, the person must pay the restoration fee and satisfy any other applicable requirements of this Article before he may be relicensed.
(d)	To facilitate the prompt return of licenses and to prevent unjustified charges of driving while license revoked, the clerk of court, upon request, must give the person a copy of the notice it sends to the Division to indicate that the person has complied with the conditions of subsection (b) applicable to his case. If the person complies with the condition before the effective date of the revocation, the notice must indicate that the person is eligible to drive if he is otherwise validly licensed.
(e)	As used in this section and in G.S. 20-24.2, the word offense includes crimes and infractions created by this Chapter.
(f)	A processing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) is imposed on a person who has satisfied the conditions in subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(3) of this section.  The fee is imposed to cover the cost to courts of issuing notices to the Division under this section and G.S. 20-24.2.  These processing fees shall be credited to the General Fund."
Sec. 2.  (a)	G.S. 7A-41(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The counties of the State are organized into judicial divisions and superior court districts, and each superior court district has the counties, and the number of regular resident superior court judges set forth in the following table, and for districts of less than a whole county, as set out in subsection (b) of this section:
	Superior
Judicial	Court 	No. of Resident
Division	District	Counties		Judges

First	1	Camden, Chowan,	2
Currituck,
Dare, Gates,
Pasquotank, 
Perquimans
2	Beaufort, Hyde,	1 
Martin,
Tyrrell, Washington
3A	Pitt	2
3B	Carteret, Craven,	2
Pamlico
4A	Duplin, Jones, 	1
Sampson
	4B	Onslow	1
5	New Hanover, 	3
Pender
6A	Halifax	1
6B	Bertie, Hertford,	1
Northampton
	7A	Nash	1
	7B	(part of Wilson,	1
part of Edgecombe,
see subsection (b))
7C	(part of Wilson,	1
part of Edgecombe,
see subsection (b))
8A	Lenoir and Greene	1
8B	Wayne	2
Second	9	Franklin, Granville, 	2
Person,  
Vance, Warren
10A	(part of Wake,	2
see subsection (b))
10B	(part of Wake,	2
see subsection (b))
10C	(part of Wake,	1
see subsection (b))
10D	(part of Wake,	1
see subsection (b))
11	Harnett, Johnston, 	2
Lee
12A	(part of Cumberland, 	1
see subsection (b))
12B	(part of Cumberland,	1
see subsection (b))
12C	(part of Cumberland,	2
see subsection (b))
13	Bladen, Brunswick,	2
Columbus
14A	(part of Durham,	1
see subsection (b))
14B	(part of Durham,	3
see subsection (b))
15A	Alamance	2
15B	Orange, Chatham	1
	16A	Scotland, Hoke	1
16B	Robeson	2
Third	17A	Caswell, Rockingham	2
17B	Stokes, Surry	2
18A	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
18B	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
18C	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
18D	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
18E	(part of Guilford,	1
see subsection (b))
19A	Cabarrus	1
19B	Montgomery, 	1
Randolph
19C	Rowan	1
20A	Anson, Moore, 	2
Richmond
	20B	Stanly, Union	2
	21A	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
21B	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
21C	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
21D	(part of Forsyth,	1
see subsection (b))
22	Alexander, Davidson,	2
Davie, Iredell
23	Alleghany, Ashe, 	1
Wilkes, Yadkin
Fourth	24	Avery, Madison,	1
Mitchell, 
Watauga, Yancey
25A	Burke, Caldwell 	2
	25B	Catawba	2
26A	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
see subsection (b))
26B	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
see subsection (b))
26C	(part of Mecklenburg,	2
see subsection (b))
27A	Gaston	2
27B	Cleveland, Lincoln	2
28	Buncombe	2
29	Henderson,	2
McDowell, Polk,
Rutherford,
Transylvania
	30A	Cherokee, Clay,	1
Graham, Macon,
Swain
30B	Haywood, Jackson	1"
(b)	The additional superior court judges for superior court districts 3B, 15A, 17B, and 27B shall be elected in the 1994 general election for eight-year terms.  The additional superior court judge for superior court district 8B shall be elected in the 1994 general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term expiring December 31, 2000.  The additional superior court judge for superior court district 10A shall be elected in the 1994 general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term expiring December 31, 1996.  The additional superior court judges for superior court districts 20B, and 25B shall be elected in the 1994 general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired terms expiring December 31, 1998.  This is to provide unstaggered terms for multiple judgeships in the same district.
(c)	This section becomes effective January 1, 1995, but elections shall be held in 1994 as provided by law.
Sec. 3.  (a)	G.S. 7A-133 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-133.  Numbers of judges by districts; numbers of magistrates and additional seats of court, by counties.
Each district court district shall have the numbers of judges and each county within the district shall have the numbers of magistrates and additional seats of court, as set forth in the following table:

	Additional
	Magistrates	Seats of
District	Judges	County	 Min.-Max.	Court

	1	4	Camden	1	2
Chowan	2	3
Currituck	1	2
Dare	3	8
Gates	2	3
Pasquotank	3	4
Perquimans	2	3
2	3	Martin	5	8
Beaufort	4	8
Tyrrell	1	3
Hyde	2	4
Washington	3	4
3A	4	Pitt	10	12	Farmville
Ayden
3B	4	Craven	7	10	Havelock
Pamlico	2	3
Carteret	5	8
4	6	Sampson	6	8
Duplin	9	11
Jones	2	3
Onslow	8	14
5	6	New Hanover	6 	11
Pender	4	6
6A	2	Halifax	9	14   	Roanoke
Rapids,
Scotland Neck
6B	3	Northampton	5	6
Bertie	4	5
Hertford	5	6
7	6	Nash	7	10	Rocky Mount
Edgecombe	4	6	Rocky Mount
Wilson	4	6
8	6	Wayne	5	11	Mount Olive
Greene	2	4
Lenoir	4	10	La Grange
9	5	Person 	3 	4
Granville	3	7
Vance	3	5
Warren	3	4
Franklin	3	6
10	12	Wake	12	20	Apex,
Wendell,
      	Fuquay-
Varina,
Wake Forest
11	6	Harnett	7	11	Dunn
Johnston	10	12    	Benson,
	Clayton
and Selma
Lee	4	6
12	7	Cumberland	10	17
13	4	Bladen	4	6
Brunswick	4	7
Columbus	6	8	Tabor City
14	5	Durham	8	12
15A	3	Alamance	7	10	Burlington
15B	3	Orange	4	11	Chapel Hill
Chatham	3	8	Siler City
16A	2	Scotland	3	5
Hoke	4	5
16B	5	Robeson	8	16	Fairmont,
Maxton,
Pembroke,
Red Springs,
Rowland,
St. Pauls
17A	3	Caswell	2 	5
Rockingham	4	9	Reidsville,
Eden,
Madison
17B	3	Stokes	2	5
Surry	5	8	Mt. Airy
18	11	Guilford	20	26	High Point
19A	3	Cabarrus	5	9	Kannapolis
19B	4	Montgomery	2	4
Randolph	5	8	Liberty
19C	3	Rowan	5	10
20	7	Stanly	5	6
Union	4	6
Anson	4	5
Richmond	5	6	Hamlet
Moore	5	8	Southern
Pines
21	7	Forsyth	3	15	Kernersville
22	7	Alexander	2	3
Davidson	7	10	Thomasville
Davie	2	3
Iredell	4	8	Mooresville
23	3	Alleghany	1	2
Ashe	3	4
Wilkes	4	6
Yadkin	3	5
24	3	Avery	3	4
Madison	4	5
Mitchell	3	4
Watauga	4	6
Yancey	2	4
25	7	Burke	4	7
Caldwell	4	7
Catawba	6	9	Hickory
26	14	Mecklenburg	15	26
27A	5	Gaston	11	20
27B	4	Cleveland	5	8
Lincoln	4	6
28	5	Buncombe	6	15
29	5	Henderson	4	6
McDowell	3	4
Polk	3	4
Rutherford	6	8
Transylvania	2	4
30	4	Cherokee	3	4
Clay	1	2
Graham	2	3
Haywood	5	7	Canton
Jackson	3	4
Macon	3	4
Swain	2	3."
(b) The additional district court judges for district court districts 1, 3A, 6B, 8, 10, 12, 18, 19A, 19B, 19C, 20, 22, 26, 29, and 30 shall be elected in the 1994 general election for four-year terms commencing the first Monday in December 1994.
(c)	This section becomes effective December 1, 1994, but elections shall be held in 1994 as provided by law.
Sec. 4.  (a)	Effective July 1, 1993, G.S. 7A-60(a1) reads as rewritten:
"(a1)	The counties of the State are organized into prosecutorial districts, and each district has the counties and the number of full-time assistant district attorneys set forth in the following table:
No. of Full-Time
Prosecutorial	Asst. District
District	Counties	Attorneys
1	Camden, Chowan, Currituck,	6
Dare, Gates, Pasquotank,
Perquimans
2	Beaufort, Hyde, Martin,	4
Tyrrell, Washington
3A	Pitt	6
3B	Carteret, Craven, Pamlico	6
4	Duplin, Jones, Onslow,	10
Sampson
5	New Hanover, Pender	9
6A	Halifax	3
6B	Bertie, Hertford,	3
	Northampton
	7	Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson	10
8	Greene, Lenoir, Wayne	8
9	Franklin, Granville,	8
Person, Vance, Warren
10	Wake	19
11	Harnett, Johnston, Lee	9
12	Cumberland	12
13	Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus	6
14	Durham	9
15A	Alamance	6
15B	Orange, Chatham	5
16A	Scotland, Hoke	3
16B	Robeson	7
17A	Caswell, 	5
Rockingham
17B	Stokes, Surry	4
18	Guilford	17
19A	Cabarrus, Rowan	9
19B	Montgomery, Randolph	5
20	Anson, Moore, Richmond,	11
Stanly, Union
21	Forsyth	12
22	Alexander, Davidson, Davie,	11
Iredell
23	Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes,	5
Yadkin
24	Avery, Madison, Mitchell,	4
Watauga, Yancey
25	Burke, Caldwell, Catawba	11
26	Mecklenburg	23
27A	Gaston	8
27B	Cleveland,	6
Lincoln
28	Buncombe	8
29	Henderson, McDowell, Polk,	8
Rutherford, Transylvania
30	Cherokee, Clay, Graham,	6
Haywood, Jackson, Macon,
Swain."
(b)	Effective July 1, 1993, G.S. 7A-69 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-69. Investigatorial assistants.
The district attorney in the first, third-B, fourth, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, fourteenth, fifteenth-A, sixteenth, eighteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth and thirtieth prosecutorial districts is entitled to one investigatorial assistant to be appointed by the district attorney and to serve at his pleasure. It shall be the duty of the investigatorial assistant to investigate cases preparatory to trial and to perform such other duties as may be assigned by the district attorney. The investigatorial assistant is entitled to reimbursement for his subsistence and travel expenses to the same extent as State employees generally."
Sec. 5.  This act is effective July 1, 1993, and shall apply to all fees assessed or paid on or after that date.