GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 767
Committee Substitute Reported Without Prejudice 4/29/99

Short Title:  Divide District 7.	(Local)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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March 31, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO DIVIDE DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT 7 AND PROSECUTORIAL DISTRICT 7 INTO DISTRICTS 7A AND 7B.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 7A-133(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each district court district shall have the numbers of judges as set forth in the following table:

District	Judges	County 

	1	4	Camden
	Chowan
Currituck
Dare
Gates
Pasquotank
Perquimans
2	3	Martin
Beaufort
Tyrrell 
Hyde
Washington
3A	5	Pitt
3B	5	Craven
Pamlico
Carteret
4	7	Sampson
Duplin
Jones
Onslow
5	6	New Hanover
Pender
6A	2	Halifax
6B	3	Northampton
Bertie
Hertford
7A	3	Nash 
	7B	4	Edgecombe
Wilson
8	6	Wayne
Greene
Lenoir
9	4	Granville
(part of Vance
see subsection (b))
Franklin
9A	2	Person
Caswell
9B	1	Warren
(part of Vance
see subsection (b))
10	13 	Wake
11	7	Harnett
Johnston
Lee
12	9	Cumberland
13	5	Bladen
Brunswick
Columbus
	14	6	Durham
15A	3	Alamance
15B	4	Orange
Chatham
16A	3	Scotland
Hoke
16B	5	Robeson
17A	2	Rockingham
17B	3	Stokes
Surry
18	11	Guilford
19A	3	Cabarrus
19B	6	Montgomery
Moore
Randolph
19C	4	Rowan
20	7	Stanly
Union
Anson
Richmond
21	8	Forsyth
22	8	Alexander
Davidson
Davie
Iredell
23	4	Alleghany
Ashe
Wilkes
Yadkin
24	4	Avery
Madison
Mitchell
Watauga
Yancey
25	8	Burke
Caldwell
Catawba
26	15	Mecklenburg
27A	5	Gaston
27B	4	Cleveland
Lincoln
28	5	Buncombe
29	6	Henderson
McDowell
Polk
Rutherford
Transylvania
30	4	Cherokee
Clay
Graham
Haywood
Jackson
Macon
Swain."
Section 2.  The district court judgeships established for District 7A by Section 1 of this act shall be filled by the district court judges from current District 7 who reside in Nash County.  The terms  of two of the judges residing in Nash County  expire the first Monday in December of 2000.  Those judges' successors shall be elected in the 2000 election. The terms of one of the judges residing in Nash County  expires the first Monday in December of 2002.  That judge's successor shall be elected in the 2002 election.
Section 3.  The district court judgeships established for District 7B by Section 1 of this act shall be filled by the district court judges from current District 7 who reside in Edgecombe and Wilson Counties.  The terms of two of the judges residing in Edgecombe and one of the judges residing in Wilson County expire the first Monday in December of 2000.  Those judges' successors shall be elected in the 2000 election.  The term of one of the judges residing in Edgecombe County expires the first Monday in December of 2002.  That judge's successor shall be elected in the 2002 election.
Section 4.  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,	9
Dare, Gates, Pasquotank,
Perquimans
2	Beaufort, Hyde, Martin,	5
Tyrrell, Washington
3A	Pitt	9
3B	Carteret, Craven, Pamlico	10
4	Duplin, Jones, Onslow,	14
Sampson
5	New Hanover, Pender	13
6A	Halifax	4
6B	Bertie, Hertford,	4
	Northampton
	7A	Nash	6
7B	Edgecombe, Wilson	9
8	Greene, Lenoir, Wayne	11
9	Franklin, Granville,	10
Vance, Warren
9A	Person, Caswell	4
	10	Wake	28
11	Harnett, Johnston, Lee	14
12	Cumberland	17
13	Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus	9
14	Durham	13
15A	Alamance	7
15B	Orange, Chatham	7
16A	Scotland, Hoke	5
16B	Robeson	9
17A	Rockingham	5
17B	Stokes, Surry	5
18	Guilford	26
19A	Cabarrus	 	5
19B	Montgomery, Moore, Randolph	11
19C	Rowan	5
20	Anson, Richmond,	14
Stanly, Union
21	Forsyth	17
22	Alexander, Davidson, Davie,	16
Iredell
23	Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes,	5
Yadkin
24	Avery, Madison, Mitchell,	4
Watauga, Yancey
25	Burke, Caldwell, Catawba	14
26	Mecklenburg	32
	27A	Gaston	12
27B	Cleveland,	8
Lincoln
28	Buncombe	10
29	Henderson, McDowell, Polk,	11
Rutherford, Transylvania
30	Cherokee, Clay, Graham,	8
Haywood, Jackson, Macon,
Swain."
Section 5.  The district attorney position established for District 7B by Section 4 of this act shall be filled by the district attorney from current District 7 who resides in Edgecombe County.  The district attorney position established for District 7A by Section 4 of this act shall be filled by appointment by the Governor.  That district attorney's term expires on December 1, 2000.  A successor shall be elected in the 2000 election.
Section 6.  The six assistant district attorney positions established for District 7A by Section 4 of this act shall be filled by six assistant district attorneys currently serving Nash County in District 7.  The nine assistant district attorney positions established for District 7B by Section 4 of this act shall be filled by nine assistant district attorneys currently serving Edgecombe and Wilson Counties in District 7.
Section 7.  G.S. 7A-69 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-69.  Investigatorial assistants.
The district attorney in prosecutorial districts 1, 3B, 4, 6B, 7B, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15A, 15B, 18, 19B, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27A, 27B, 28, 29, and 30 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."
Section 8.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Judicial Department the sum of two hundred ten thousand dollars ($210,000) for the 1999-2000 fiscal year and the sum of two hundred eighty thousand dollars ($280,000) for the 2000-2001 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.
Section 9.  Sections 1 through 3 of this act become effective January 1, 2000, or the date upon which those sections are approved under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, whichever is later.  Sections 4 through 8 of this act become effective January 1, 2000.  The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.