NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1977 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 762

SENATE BILL 756

 

 

AN ACT TO REWRITE G.S. 20-81 CONCERNING THE ISSUANCE OF OFFICIAL LICENSE PLATES TO STATE OFFICIALS AND TO CORRECT UNCERTAINTIES RESULTING FROM THE ENACTMENT OF CHAPTER 865 AND CHAPTER 432 OF THE 1975 SESSION LAWS.

 

Whereas, Chapter 865 of the 1975 Session Laws ratified June 26, 1975, effective July 1, 1975, rewrote G.S. 20-81; and

Whereas, Chapter 432 of the 1975 Session Laws, ratified May 28, 1975, effective January 1, 1976, also rewrote G.S. 20-81; and

Whereas, it is possible that Chapter 865 of the 1975 Session Laws, having the latter ratification date, could be interpreted as repealing Chapter 432 of the 1975 Session Laws or that Chapter 432 of the 1975 Session Laws, having the later effective date, could be interpreted as repealing Chapter 865 of the 1975 Session Laws as of January 1, 1976; and

Whereas, because of this uncertainty, it is necessary that G.S. 20-81 be rewritten in its entirety; Now, therefore,

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S.  20-81 is rewritten to read as follows:

"§ 20-81.  Official license plates. — Official license plates issued to State officials shall be subject to the same fees and transfer provisions as provided in G.S. 20-87 and G.S. 20-64 respectively and shall be issued as follows:

(1)        Senate and Congressional. Official license plates issued to the United States Senators shall bear the words 'U. S. Senate', be numbered 1 and 2, and shall be issued on the basis of seniority. The official plates issued to United States Congressmen shall bear the words 'U. S. House' and be numbered 1 through 11 and shall be issued on the basis of congressional districts.

(2)        North Carolina General Assembly. Official plates issued to members of the North Carolina State Senate or House of Representatives shall bear the words 'Senate' or 'State House' followed by the Senator's or Representative's assigned seat number.

(3)        Judicial. Official plates issued to the judiciary shall be issued as follows:

a.         Appellate Division. Official plates that shall be issued upon request to the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the Chief Judge and Associate Judges of North Carolina Court of Appeals shall bear the letter 'J' followed by numerical designation from 1 through 19. The Chief Justice upon request shall be issued the plate bearing number 1 and the remaining plates shall first be issued upon request to the Associate Justices on the basis of seniority. The Chief Judge shall be issued upon request the next such judicial plate and the remaining plates shall be issued upon request to the Associate Judges on the basis of seniority. Retired members of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals shall receive an official plate upon request similar in every respect to the plate issued to the regular justices and judges bearing the numerical designation of his or her position of seniority at the time of retirement except that the numerical designation shall be followed with the letter 'X'. Official plate J-20 may be issued upon request to the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

b.         Superior court. Official plates shall be issued to the various senior resident judges of the superior court upon request and shall bear the letter 'J' followed by a numerical designation equal to the sum of the numerical designation of their respective judicial districts plus 20. Where there is more than one resident judge of the superior court within a district, official plates shall upon request be issued to other resident judges serving within the district similar to the official plate to be issued upon request to the senior resident judge of the district except the numerical designation on each subsequent plate shall be followed by a letter of the alphabet beginning with the letter 'A', which shall be indicative of the recipient's position as to seniority. Special judges and emergency judges of the superior court shall be issued an official plate bearing the letter 'J' with a numerical designation as designated by the Administrative Office of the Courts with the approval of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Retired judges shall be issued a similar plate except that the numerical designation shall be followed by the letter 'X'.

c.         North Carolina district court judges. An official plate shall be issued upon request to each chief judge of the district courts of North Carolina which shall bear the letter 'J' followed by a numerical designation equal to the sum of the numerical designation of their respective judicial districts plus 100 and all other judges of the district courts serving within the same judicial district shall, upon request, be issued an official plate bearing the same letter and numerical designation as appears on the official plate issued to the chief district judge of the judicial district except that on each subsequent official plate issued within a district, the numerical designation shall be followed by a letter of the alphabet beginning with the letter 'A' which shall be indicative of the recipient's position as to seniority. Retired judges shall be issued a similar plate except that the numerical designation shall be followed by the letter 'X'.

d.         District attorneys. Officials plates shall be issued upon request to the various district attorneys which plates shall bear the letters 'DA' followed by a numerical designation indicative of their judicial district.

e.         United States judges. Official plates shall be issued upon request to Justices of the United States Supreme Court, Judges of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals and to the District Judges of the United States District Courts residing in North Carolina and shall bear the words 'U.S. Judge' followed by a numerical designation beginning with the number '1' which shall be indicative of the judge's seniority position as to the date he began continuous service as a United States Judge as designated by the Secretary of State. Retired judges and judges who have taken senior status shall be issued similar plates except that the numerical designation shall be based upon the date of such retirement or assumption of senior status and shall follow the numerical designation of active justices and judges.

f.          United States Attorneys. Official plates shall be issued upon request to the United States Attorneys, which plates shall bear the letters, 'U.S. Attorney', followed by a numerical designation indicative of their district, with 1 being the Eastern District, 2 being the Middle District, and 3 being the Western District.

(4)        Elective and Appointive. Official plates issued to elective and appointive members of State government shall bear number designations beginning with number 1 which shall be assigned to the Governor of North Carolina and numbers following thereafter shall be issued to in the following order:

2.         Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

3.         Speaker of the House of Representatives

4.         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

5.         Secretary of State

6.         State Auditor

7.         State Treasurer

8.         Superintendent of Public Instruction

9.         Attorney General

10.       Commissioner of Agriculture

11.       Commissioner of Labor

12.       Commissioner of Insurance

13.       Speaker Pro Tempore of the House

14.       Legislative Services Officer

15.       Secretary of Administration

16.       Secretary of Natural Resources and Community Development

17.       Secretary of Revenue

18.       Secretary of Human Resources

19.       Secretary of Commerce

20.       Secretary of the Department of Correction

21.       Secretary of Cultural Resources

22.       Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety

23-29.  To be reserved for and assigned to members of the Governor's staff at the direction of the Governor.

30.       State Budget Officer

31.       State Personnel Director

32-41.  To be reserved for and assigned to nonlegislative members of the Advisory Budget Commission at the direction of the Governor

42.       Chairman, State Board of Education

43.       President, U.N.C. System

44.       Chairman, A.B.C. Board

45.       Member, A.B.C. Board

46.       Member, A.B.C. Board

47.       Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture

48.       Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture

49.       Deputy Secretary of State

50.       Deputy State Treasurer

51.       Assistant State Treasurer

52.       Deputy Commissioner, Department of Labor

53.       Chief Deputy, Department of Insurance

54.       Assistant Commissioner of Insurance

55-65.  Shall be reserved for and assigned to the Attorney General's deputies and assistants only. Specific number assignments shall be at the direction of the Attorney General.

66-88.  Shall be reserved for and assigned upon request to nonlegislative members of the Board of Economic Development. Specific number assignments to such members shall be at the direction of the Governor.

89-96.  Shall be reserved for and assigned upon request to nonlegislative members of the State Ports Authority. Specific number assignments to such members shall be at the direction of the Governor.

97-104.Shall be reserved for and assigned upon request to members of the Utilities Commission. Number 97 to be upon request assigned to the Chairman of the Utilities Commission with remaining numbers to be assigned upon request to the remaining members of the Utilities Commission on the basis of seniority.

105-109. Shall be reserved for and assigned upon request to members of the Parole Commission. Number 105 to be upon request assigned to the Chairman of the Parole Commission with remaining numbers to be assigned upon request to the remaining members of the Parole Commission on the basis of seniority.

110-200. Shall be reserved for and assigned upon request to members of State boards and commissions and State employees at the direction of the Governor.

(5)        Department of Transportation. Official plates shall be issued upon request to various members of the divisions of the Department of Transportation which shall bear the letters 'DOT' followed by a number designated from 1 through 85. Specific number assignments to members of the Divisions of the Department of Transportation shall be at the direction of the Governor.

      License plates issued to State officials by the Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation pursuant to this section shall be assessed a fee of ten dollars ($10.00), in addition to any fees charged under G.S. 20-87 and G.S. 20-88. These plates will be subject to the same transfer provisions as provided in G.S. 20-64.

      The revenue derived from the additional fee for such plates shall be placed in a separate fund designated the 'Officials Registration Plate Fund'. After deducting the cost of the plates, plus budgetary requirements for handling an issuance, to be determined by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, any remaining monies derived from the additional fee for such plate shall be periodically transferred in accordance with G.S. 20-81.3(c)."

Sec. 2.  Chapter 432 of the 1975 Session Laws and Chapter 865 of the 1975 Session Laws are hereby repealed.

Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 27th day of June, 1977.