Article 1.
General Provisions.
§ 143A‑1. Short title.
This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Executive Organization Act of 1971." (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑2. Head of department defined.
Whenever the term "head of the department" is used it shall mean the head of one of the principal departments created by this Chapter. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
Whenever the term "agency" is used it shall mean and include, as the context may require, an existing department, institution, commission, committee, board, division, bureau, officer or official. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑4. Policy‑making authority and administrative powers of Governor; delegation.
The Governor, in accordance with Article III of the Constitution of North Carolina, shall be the chief executive officer of the State. Subject to the Constitution and laws of this State, the Governor shall be responsible for formulating and administering the policies of the executive branch of the State government. Where a conflict arises in connection with the administration of the policies of the executive branch of the State government with respect to the reorganization of State government, such conflict shall be resolved by the Governor, and the decision of the Governor shall be final. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑5. Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
The Lieutenant Governor shall maintain an office in the Hawkins‑Hartness House located at 310 North Blount Street in the City of Raleigh which office shall be open during normal working hours throughout the year. The Lieutenant Governor shall serve as President of the Senate and perform such additional duties as the Governor or General Assembly may assign to him. This section shall become effective January 1, 1973. (1971, c. 864, s. 1; 2017‑10, s. 2.10.)
(a) Under this Chapter, a Type I transfer means the transferring of all or part of an existing agency to a principal department established by this Chapter. When all or part of any agency is transferred to a principal department under a Type I transfer, its statutory authority, powers, duties, and functions, records, personnel, property, unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations or other funds, including the functions of budgeting and purchasing, are transferred to the principal department.
When any agency, or part thereof, is transferred by a Type I transfer to a principal department under the provisions of this Chapter, all its prescribed powers, duties, and functions, including but not limited to rule making, regulation, licensing, and promulgation of rules, rates, regulations, and standards, and the rendering of findings, orders, and adjudications are transferred to the head of the principal department into which the agency, or part thereof, has been transferred.
(b) Under this Chapter, a Type II transfer means the transferring intact of an existing agency, or part thereof, to a principal department established by this Chapter. When any agency, or part thereof, is transferred to a principal department under a Type II transfer, that agency, or part thereof, shall be administered under the direction and supervision of that principal department, but shall exercise all its prescribed statutory powers independently of the head of the principal department, except that under a Type II transfer the management functions of any transferred agency, or part thereof, shall be performed under the direction and supervision of the head of the principal department.
(c) Whenever the term "management functions" is used it shall mean planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑7. Agencies not enumerated; continuation.
Any existing department, institution, board or commission not enumerated in this Chapter but established or created by the General Assembly shall continue to exercise all its powers, duties and functions. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑8. Internal organization of departments; allocation and reallocation of duties and functions; limitations.
The Governor shall cause the administrative organization of each department to be examined with a view to promoting economy and efficiency. The Governor may reorganize and organize the principal departments and assign and reassign the duties and functions among the divisions and other units, division heads, officers, and employees; except as otherwise expressly provided by statute. When such changes affect existing law they must be submitted in accordance with Article III, Sec. 5 of the Constitution. The head of a principal department shall have legal custody of all books, papers, documents and other records of the department. The head of a principal department shall be responsible for the preparation and presentation of the department budget request which shall include all funds requested and all receipts expected for all elements of the department. (1971, c. 864, s. 1.)
§ 143A‑9. Appointment of officers and employees; salaries of department heads.
Any provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and subject to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, the head of a principal department, except those departments headed by elected officials who are constitutional officers, shall be appointed by the Governor and serve at his pleasure.
The head of a principal department shall appoint the chief deputy or chief assistant and such chief deputy or chief assistant shall be subject to the North Carolina Human Resources Act. Except where appointment by the Governor is prescribed by existing statute, the head of the principal department shall appoint the administrative head of each transferred agency and, subject to the provisions of the North Carolina Human Resources Act, appoint all employees of each division, section or other unit under a principal department.
In establishing the position of secretary, and the supporting staff for the principal departments, the cost of such staff positions will be met insofar as possible by utilizing existing positions or funds available from vacant positions within agencies assigned to the principal departments. (1971, c. 864, s. 1; 1983, c. 717, s. 50; 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c).)
§ 143A‑10. Governor; continuation of powers and duties; staff.
All powers, duties and functions vested by law in the Governor or in the office of Governor are continued, except as otherwise provided by this Chapter.
The immediate staff of the Governor shall not be subject to the North Carolina Human Resources Act. (1971, c. 864, s. 1; 2006‑203, s. 100; 2013‑382, s. 9.1(c).)
§ 143A‑11. Principal departments.
Except as otherwise provided by this Chapter, or the State Constitution, all executive and administrative powers, duties and functions, not including those of the General Assembly and the judiciary, previously vested by law in the several State agencies, are vested in the following principal offices or departments:
(1) Office of the Governor.
(2) Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
(3) Department of the Secretary of State.
(4) Department of State Auditor.
(5) Department of State Treasurer.
(6) Department of Public Instruction.
(7) Department of Justice.
(8) Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
(9) Department of Labor.
(10) Department of Insurance.
(11) through (13) Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 509, s. 96.
(14) Repealed by Session Laws 1973, c. 476, s. 6.
(15), (16) Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 509, s. 96.
(17), (18) Repealed by Session Laws 1973, c. 476, s. 6.
(19) Repealed by Session Laws 1973, c. 620, s. 9. (1971, c. 864, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 6; c. 620, s. 9; 1975, c. 716, s. 7; 1977, c. 771, s. 4; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(120); c. 751, s. 7(17); 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 959, s. 36; 1993, c. 522, s. 12; 1995, c. 509, s. 96; 1997‑261, s. 93.)
§ 143A‑12. Office of the Governor; creation.
There is hereby created an office of the Governor. (1971, c. 864, s. 2.)
§ 143A‑13. Office of the Lieutenant Governor; creation; awards.
(a) Creation. – There is hereby created an office of the Lieutenant Governor.
(b) Medal of Valor Award. – The Lieutenant Governor may award the "Medal of Valor Award" to a first responder upon recommendation from the highest‑ranking official or member of a first responder unit. The Lieutenant Governor may award no more than two Medal of Valor Awards to first responders each calendar year, except that a third may be awarded under special circumstances as determined by the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor may also award one Medal of Valor Award to one first responder unit, once each calendar year. A Medal of Valor Award shall be for a first responder or first responder unit that has performed great acts of heroism while under threat of personal risk to safety, beyond the call of duty in the field. For the purposes of this subsection, a "first responder" includes any firefighter, paramedic, law enforcement officer, emergency medical services personnel, or rescue squad member. (1971, c. 864, s. 3; 2023‑94, s. 2.)
§ 143A‑14. Creation of new departments by executive order.
All departments not now in existence which this Chapter directs to be created shall be made operative by executive order of the Governor; provided that all new departments shall be activated by executive order not later than July 1, 1972. (1971, c. 864, s. 21.)
§ 143A‑15. Date of transfer of agencies into existing departments.
The transfer of all agencies into departments of State government which now exist shall take place not later than October 1, 1971. (1971, c. 864, s. 21.)
§ 143A‑16. Transfer of funds by Governor.
To implement this Chapter, the Governor shall have authority to transfer all or a part of any appropriations or funds of an agency to the department to which such agency is transferred. (1971, c. 864, s. 21.)
§ 143A‑17: Repealed by Session Laws 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 769, s. 11.
§ 143A‑18. Additional funds for reorganization.
When adequate funds to implement reorganization are not available from the budgets of the transferred agencies, the Governor and the Council of State may make other funds available for these purposes, not to exceed a total of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per year for all departments created by this Chapter. (1971, c. 864, s. 21.)