S.L. 1959-1257

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1959 SESSION

CHAPTER 1257

SENATE BILL 516

AN ACT TO ALLOW THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF HALIFAX COUNTY TO DETERMINE IN A SPECIAL ELECTION WHICH OF TWO PROPOSED METHODS OF SELECTING MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALCOHOLIC CONTROL SHALL BE ADOPTED FOR HALIFAX COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. The Halifax County Board of Elections shall hold a special election on the same date as the 1960 primary election at which time two methods for the selection of members of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall be submitted to the people of Halifax County. No new registration shall be required for this special election and said election shall be held in accordance with the laws governing primary elections insofar as is possible.

Sec. 2. The following questions shall be submitted to the qualified electors of Halifax County at said special election:

(a) [ ] For MURPHREY PROPOSAL naming a three-man board to serve until the 1962 general election, at which time the members of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall be elected for two-year terms in the same manner as other elective county officers. All vacancies on the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control occurring between elections shall be filled by appointment of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Halifax County.

(b) [ ] For CREW PROPOSAL providing for a three-man board to be appointed by the members of the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, the Halifax County Board of Health, and the Halifax County Board of Education as provided by the State-wide ABC Law. Members of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall serve until they resign or are removed for cause. Vacancies occurring on the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original board is appointed.

Sec. 3. If a majority of the voters voting in said special election favor the Murphrey Proposal, then the following provisions of this Section shall be adopted for Halifax County and become effective following approval by the voters:

(a) There is hereby created and set up a board which shall be designated as the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County, hereinafter referred to as the Board, and to consist of three persons, whose duty it shall be to administer the provisions of this Section until their successors are qualified. The Board shall initially consist of the three persons hereinafter appointed.

(b) There shall be elected in Halifax County, at the general election to be held in the year 1962, and every two years thereafter, by the duly qualified voters thereof, three persons to be chosen from the body of the county, who shall be designated as the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County, hereinafter referred to as the Board, and they shall hold their office for two years from date of their qualification and until their successors are elected and qualified and it shall be the duty of said Board to administer the provisions of this Section.

(c) The duly elected members of the Board shall qualify and enter upon the duties of their office on the first Monday of December next succeeding their election, and they may take the oaths of office before the Clerk of Superior Court, or some judge, or justice of the peace or other person qualified by law to administer oaths. The oaths of office severally taken and subscribed by them shall be deposited with the Clerk of the Superior Court. The oath, which shall be taken by all members of the Board, whether elected or appointed, before beginning the duties of their office, shall be in the following form:

I, A. B., do swear (or affirm) that I will well and truly execute the duties of the office of member of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County according to the best of my skill and ability, according to law; so help me, God.

(d) In case of a vacancy occurring in the Board, due to the death, resignation, or removal under G. S. 18-59 of any member, whether elected or appointed, the Clerk of the Superior Court of Halifax County shall appoint to said office some person for the unexpired term.

(e) The Board shall hold a regular meeting at the courthouse on the first Monday in each month unless the said first Monday falls on a legal holiday, in which event the meeting shall be held on the following Tuesday of the month. The Board may adjourn its regular meetings from day to day until the business before it is disposed of. Special meetings may be held by call of the Chairman of the Board upon two days' written notice being given to each of the Board members and posting such notice on the courthouse bulletin board. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum. At each regular December meeting the Board shall choose one of its members as chairman for the ensuing year, and in his absence the members present shall choose a temporary chairman.

(f) The Board is hereby authorized to fix the compensation of the members of said Board, to be paid out of the funds derived from operation of the Alcoholic Beverages Control System in Halifax County, and not to exceed the following amounts: For each member of the Board, fifty dollars ($50.00) per month; mileage allowance to and from each meeting attended, seven cents (7¢) per mile. The compensation fixed by the Board pursuant to this Section shall be in lieu of all other compensation for the services of the Chairman of the Board and the other members.

(g) The several members of the County Board shall give bond for the faithful performance of their duties, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), and the said bond shall be payable to the State of North Carolina and to Halifax County, with some corporate surety, which surety shall be satisfactory to, and approved by, the county attorney and the Chairman of the State Board, and shall be deposited with the Chairman of the State Board. The State Board, for and on behalf of the State of North Carolina, and Halifax County shall each be secured therein to the full amount of the penalty thereof, and the recovery or payment of any sums due thereunder to either shall not diminish or affect the right of the other obligee in said bond to recover the full amount of the said penalties thereof, and the giving and the approval of such bond shall be a part of the qualification of said members and no member shall be entitled to exercise any of the functions or powers incident to his appointment or election until and unless the said bond shall have been given and approved as herein provided.

(h) The Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County, created by this Section, shall possess all power and authority which is necessary and proper in carrying out the provisions of the law relative to the sale and disposition of intoxicating beverages in regular stores set up and operated under the provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

(i) The present Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County, and their agent or agents, shall turn over to the new Board of Alcoholic Control created by the provisions of this Section, on or before July 1, 1960, all monies, bank credits, stocks of merchandise, equipment, equity in contracts, books of record, bills receivable, accounts payable and all other property and effects of any kind or nature used in or incident to the operation of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board in Halifax County. On June 29th and 30th, 1960, all alcoholic beverage control stores in Halifax County shall be closed and an inventory of all stocks, property and other effects belonging to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County shall be taken jointly by the outgoing and incoming boards, or their agents. Such inventory shall be in writing and shall include the quantity and cost price of the stocks of merchandise and the number of articles and value of other property. The inventory herein provided for shall be available to the auditor who shall make a complete audit of the affairs of said Alcoholic Beverage Control System as of June 30, 1960. The profits heretofore accrued or hereafter accrued shall be distributed as follows:

After necessary deductions are made to provide for a proper reserve and to provide for operating expenses, all profits which accrue from the operation of the alcoholic beverage control stores in Halifax County, commencing July 1, 1960, and quarterly thereafter, shall be distributed in the following manner:

(1) Not less than five per cent (5%) nor more than ten per cent (10%) of the total profits shall be allocated to law enforcement and expended by the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control in the manner and for the purposes set out in G. S. 18-45, as it appears in the 1957 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 1C of the General Statutes.

(2) Not more than five per cent (5%) of the total profits may be allocated for education as to the use of alcoholic beverages and for the rehabilitation of alcoholics by the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control in the manner and for the purposes set out in G. S. 18-45, as it appears in the 1957 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 1C of the General Statutes.

(3) The Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall set aside and pay over to the Halifax County Board of Commissioners such sum as may be required in order for the Board of Alcoholic Control to pay for library service, two dollars ($2.00) for each one dollar ($1.00) available from the North Carolina Library Commission.

(4) After subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this Section have been complied with:

(a) Twenty-five per cent (25%) of the remaining profits shall be allocated and paid to the several municipal corporations within Halifax County where alcoholic beverage control stores are operated; such profits shall be allocated proportionately on the basis of the ratio of profits derived from the operation of the store or stores in any one municipality to the profits derived from the operation of all stores in all of the municipalities in the county in which stores are operated; and

(b) Seventy-five per cent (75%) of the profits shall be paid to the Board of Commissioners of Halifax County; forty per cent (40%) shall be used by the county commissioners for general county purposes; sixty per cent (60%) of said seventy-five per cent (75%) shall be allocated by the county board of commissioners and distributed to the Halifax County Board of Education, the Weldon City Administrative Unit and the Roanoke Rapids City Administrative Unit proportionately on a per capita school enrollment basis and expended by the governing boards of the several school units for necessary expenses in their respective units.

(j) The books and records of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall be audited quarterly by the auditor or auditing firm employed to do the regular county auditing and said quarterly audits shall be made available to the Board of County Commissioners of Halifax County and to the public for inspection and review.

(k) All funds realized from the operation of alcoholic beverage control stores in Halifax County shall be deposited in the bank daily. All disbursements of said funds shall be made by check and each check shall be signed by the manager and countersigned by the Chairman of the Board and the County Auditor for Halifax County.

(1) That all the powers and duties herein conferred upon the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County shall be subject to the powers granted by law to the State Alcoholic Beverages Control Board, and, whenever and wherever the State Board has been given power to approve or disapprove anything in respect to boards, county stores or county boards, then no act on the part of the Board created by this Section shall be exercisable or valid until and unless the same has been approved by the State Board.

(m) The Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County, created by this Section, shall operate the Alcoholic Beverages Control System in Halifax County in an efficient and economical manner and shall operate said system as nearly within the limits of the present cost as possible, unless the decrease or increase in the volume of business may justify the increase or decrease of said operation expenses, and, in no event, shall any employee of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County be compensated for services at a rate in excess of six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) per annum plus necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his duties for the Board.

(n) Frank B. Neal, Roanoke Rapids, N. C., J. Lucius Whitley, Rt. 2, Enfield, N. C., and Charlie E. Brewer, Rt. 2, Littleton, N. C., are hereby appointed as members of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board of Halifax County created herein, and such persons shall qualify under the provisions of this Section and assume the duties of their office on July 1, 1960, and such persons shall serve until such time as their successors may qualify after being appointed or elected as provided by this Section.

(o) Chapter 433 of the Session Laws of 1943, Chapter 558 of the Session Laws of 1945, Chapter 33 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 148 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 824 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 1114 of the Session Laws of 1949, Chapter 721 of the Session Laws of 1951, Chapter 1033 of the Session Laws of 1951 and all other laws and clauses of laws relating to the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control are hereby repealed, and all other laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Section are hereby repealed.

Sec. 4. If a majority of the voters in said special election favor the Crew Proposal, then the following provisions of this Section shall be adopted for Halifax County and become effective following approval by the voters:

(a) Chapter 433 of the Session Laws of 1943, Chapter 558 of the Session Laws of 1945, Chapter 33 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 148 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 824 of the Session Laws of 1947, Chapter 1114 of the Session Laws of 1949, Chapter 721 of the Session Laws of 1951, Chapter 1033 of the Session Laws of 1951 and all other laws and clauses of laws relating to the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control in conflict with Article III, Chapter 18 of the General Statutes of North Carolina are hereby repealed.

(b) The present Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of Halifax County, and their agent or agents, shall turn over to the new Board of Alcoholic Control created by G. S. 18-41, on or before July 1, 1960, all monies, bank credits, stocks of merchandise, equipment, equity in contracts, books of record, bills receivable, accounts payable and all other property and effects of any kind or nature used in or incident to the operation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of Halifax County. On June 29 and June 30, 1960, all alcoholic beverage control stores in Halifax County shall be closed and an inventory of all stocks, property and other effects belonging to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of Halifax County shall be taken jointly by the outgoing and incoming Boards, or their agents. Such inventory shall be in writing and shall include the quantity and cost price of the stocks of merchandise and the number of articles and value of other property. The inventory herein provided for shall be available to the auditor who shall make a complete audit of the affairs of said Alcoholic Beverage Control System as on June 30, 1960. The profits heretofore accrued or hereafter accrued shall be distributed as follows:

(3) The Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall set aside and pay over to the Halifax County Board of Commissioners such sum as may be required in order for the Board of Alcoholic Control to pay for library services, two dollars ($2.00) for each one dollar ($1.00) available from the North Carolina Library Commission.

(4) After subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this Section have been complied with:

(c) The books and records of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control shall be audited quarterly by the auditor or auditing firm employed to do the regular county auditing and said quarterly audits shall be made available to the Board of County Commissioners of Halifax County and to the public for inspection and review.

(d) The Halifax County Board of Commissioners, the Halifax County Board of Health and the Halifax County Board of Education shall hold a joint meeting within fourteen (14) days after adoption of this proposal, and at such meeting they shall elect the three members of the new Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control in the manner provided in G. S. 18-41 and shall arrange for the audit directed by this Section.

Sec. 5. The expenses incurred by the Halifax County Board of Elections in holding the special election provided for in this Act shall be paid for out of funds of the Halifax County Board of Alcoholic Control.

Sec. 6. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 7. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 20th day of June, 1959.