NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1977 SESSION

CHAPTER 1130

SENATE BILL 224

AN ACT TO DIVIDE THE FIFTEENTH AND TWENTY-SEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICTS, AND TO CREATE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE, AND DISTRICT COURT JUDGES AS REQUIRED THEREBY AND TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS THEREFOR.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 7A-41, as set forth in the 1976 Interim Supplement to the General Statutes, is amended in the table, effective July 15, 1977, by deleting the reference to the fifteenth judicial district therein, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"Judicial District            Counties                     No. of Resident                 No. of full

                                                                       Judges                              time Asst.

                                                                                                               District

                                                                                                               Attorneys

           15A                  Alamance                            1                                    3

           15B                   Orange

                                    Chatham                              1                                    2"

Sec. 2.  G.S. 7A-41, as set forth in the 1976 Interim Supplement to the General Statutes, is amended in the table, effective January 1, 1979, by deleting the reference to the twenty-seventh judicial district therein, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"Judicial District            Counties                     No. of Resident                 No. of full

                                                                       Judges                              time Asst.

                                                                                                               District

                                                                                                               Attorneys

           27A                  Gaston                                2                                    5

           27B                   Cleveland

                                    Lincoln                                1                                    3"

Sec. 3.  G.S. 7A-60(b), as set forth in the 1975 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 1B of the General Statutes, is amended by adding the following paragraphs at the end thereof:

"Effective July 15, 1977, the fifteenth prosecutorial district is divided into two prosecutorial districts, to be known as Prosecutorial Districts 15A and 15B. District 15A shall consist of Alamance County, and District 15B shall consist of Orange and Chatham Counties. The current district attorney of the fifteenth prosecutorial district shall become the district attorney for Prosecutorial District 15A, and the Governor shall appoint a district attorney for Prosecutorial District 15B. The appointee shall serve until January 1, 1979, and his successor shall be chosen in the general election of November 1978, to serve a four-year term beginning January 1, 1979."

Sec. 4.  G.S. 7A-133, as set forth in the 1976 Interim Supplement to the General Statutes, is amended in the table, effective July 15, 1977, by deleting the references to the fifteenth district under the columns headed "District", "Judges", and "County", and inserting in lieu thereof:

"District                                                 Judges                                           County

           15A                                                    3                                                Alamance

           15B                                                     2                                                Orange

                                                                                                                        Chatham"

The additional district court judge authorized by this act for district fifteen-A shall be appointed by the Governor to serve until the first Monday in December 1980. The appointee's successor shall be chosen in the general election of November 1980 to serve a four-year term beginning the first Monday in December 1980.

Sec. 5.  G.S. 7A-133, as set forth in the 1976 Interim Supplement to the General Statutes, is amended in the table, effective January 1, 1979, by deleting the references to the twenty-seventh district under the columns headed "District", "Judges", and "County", and inserting in lieu thereof:

"District                                                 Judges                                           County

           27A                                                    4                                                Gaston

           27B                                                     2                                                Cleveland

                                                                                                                        Lincoln"

The additional district court judge authorized by this act for district 27B shall be appointed by the Governor to serve until the first Monday in December 1980. The appointee's successor shall be chosen in the general election of November 1980, to serve a four-year term beginning the first Monday in December 1980.

Sec. 6.  G.S. 7A-465, as set forth in the 1975 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 1B of the General Statutes, is amended by adding the following at the end of the third paragraph:

"Effective January 1, 1979, the twenty-seventh judicial district is divided into judicial districts 27A and 27B. On that date the current public defender of the twenty-seventh district shall become the public defender for district 27A."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 7A-466, as set forth in the 1975 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 1B of the General Statutes, is amended in line 2 by deleting "twenty-sixth and twenty‑seventh" and inserting in lieu thereof "twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh-A".

Sec. 8.  There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Judicial Department the sum of forty-one thousand six hundred ninety-five dollars ($41,695) for the 1977-1978 fiscal year and the sum of ninety-seven thousand five hundred seventy-seven dollars ($97,577) to provide additional judicial employees in judicial districts fifteen-A, fifteen-B, twenty-seven-A and twenty-seven-B.

Sec. 9.  This act shall become effective July 15, 1977.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 1st day of July, 1977.