GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1997 SESSION

S.L. 1997-25

SENATE BILL 199

AN ACT TO ALLOW TOWN MANAGERS OF SMALL TOWNS TO HOLD CONCURRENTLY APPOINTIVE AND MUNICIPAL ELECTIVE OFFICES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 160A-147 reads as rewritten:

"§ 160A-147.  Appointment of city manager; dual office holding.

(a)       In cities whose charters provide for the council-manager form of government, the council shall appoint a city manager to serve at its pleasure.  The manager shall be appointed solely on the basis of his the manager's executive and administrative qualifications.  He The manager need not be a resident of the city or State at the time of his appointment.  The office of city manager is hereby declared to be an office that may be held concurrently with other appointive (but not elective) offices pursuant to Article VI, Sec. 9, of the Constitution.

(b)       Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a city manager may serve on a county board of education which that is elected on a non-partisan basis if the following criteria are met:

(1)       The population of the city by which the city manager is employed does not exceed 10,000;

(2)       The city is located in two counties; and

(3)       The population of the county in which the city manager resides does not exceed 40,000.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a city manager may hold elective office if the following criteria are met:

(1) The population of the city by which the city manager is employed does not exceed 3,000.

(2) The city manager is an elected official of a city other than the city by which the city manager is employed.

(d) For the purposes of this section, The population figures shall be according to the latest United States decennial figures issued at the time the second office is assumed.  If census figures issued after the second office is assumed increase the city or county population beyond the limits of this subsection, section, the city manager may complete the term on the county board of education which he of elected office that the city manager is then serving."

Section 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 7th day of April, 1997.

s/   Dennis A. Wicker

President of the Senate

s/   Harold J. Brubaker

Speaker of the House of Representatives

s/   James B. Hunt, Jr.

Governor

Approved 12:10 p.m. this 17th day of April, 1997