A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide for partisan elections for membership on the columbus county board of education and to repeal any conflicting statutes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Columbus County Board of Education shall consist of five members to be elected to staggered terms of four years. Members shall be elected from five single‑member residency districts. One member shall be elected from each residency district by the qualified voters of the entire county, excluding the area encompassing the Whiteville School Administrative Unit. No person shall be eligible to file for, be elected to, or serve on the Columbus County Board of Education unless the person is a qualified voter and resident of the district in which the person seeks to be elected.
SECTION 2.  Members of the Columbus County Board of Education shall be elected on a partisan basis at the time of the general election in each even‑numbered year as terms expire. Candidates for the Columbus County Board of Education shall be nominated at the same time and in the same manner as other county officers. Except as provided by this act, the election shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapters 115C and 163 of the General Statutes.
SECTION 3.  Members shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified. All members shall take office on the first Monday in December after the election.
SECTION 4.  This act does not affect the terms of office of any person elected in 2022 or 2024 to the Columbus County Board of Education. Any vacancy on the Columbus County Board of Education for a member elected in 2022 or 2024 shall be filled by the remaining members of the Columbus County Board of Education until the next election of the members of the Columbus County Board of Education, at which time the remaining unexpired term of the office in which the vacancy occurs shall be filled by election. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be a resident of the district in which the vacancy occurs. The members of the Columbus County Board of Education elected in 2022 or 2024, or any member appointed by the remaining members of the Columbus County Board of Education to fill a vacancy of a member elected in 2022 or 2024, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.
SECTION 5.(a)  Vacancies on the Columbus County Board of Education shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37.1.
SECTION 5.(b)  G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	This section shall apply only to the Hickory City Board of Education and the Newton‑Conover City Board of Education and in the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Beaufort, Brunswick, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Columbus, Craven, Dare, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Harnett, Henderson, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Polk, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Vance, Washington, and Yancey."
SECTION 5.(c)  This section becomes effective December 1, 2026.
SECTION 6.  The following provisions of law are repealed:
(1)	Section 1 of Chapter 717 of the 1953 Session Laws.
(2)	Chapter 114 of the 1961 Session Laws.
(3)	Chapter 216 of the 1961 Session Laws.
(4)	Chapter 327 of the 1961 Session Laws.
(5)	Chapter 295 of the 1963 Session Laws.
(6)	Chapter 1 of the 1969 Session Laws.
(7)	Section 2 of Chapter 1053 of the 1969 Session Laws.
(8)	Chapter 836 of the 1973 Session Laws.
(9)	Sections 1, 2, and 3 of Chapter 192 of the 1981 Session Laws.
SECTION 7.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections held on or after that date.