North Carolina manual [serial] (Volume 1951) online

proceedings, and file the same with the clerk of the Superior Court
for his county.

Sec. 28. Vacancies in office of justices. When the office of justice
of the peace shall become vacant otherwise than by expiration of
the term, and in case of a failure by the voters of any district
to elect, the clerk of the Superior Court for the county shall ap-
point to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.

Sec. 29. Vacancies in office of Superior Court clerk. In case the
office of clerk of a Superior Court for a county shall become vacant
otherwise than by the expiration of the term, and in case of a
failure by the people to elect, the judge of the Superior Court for
county shall appoint to fill the vacancy until an election can be
regularly held.

Sec. 30. Officers of other courts inferior to Supreme Court. In
case the General Assembly shall establish other courts inferior to
the Supreme Court, the presiding officers and clerks thereof shall
be elected in such manner as the General Assembly may from time
to time prescribe, and they shall hold their offices for a term not
exceeding eight years.



Constitution 59

Sec. 31. Removal of judges of the various courts for inability.
Any judge of the Supreme Court, or of the Superior Courts, and
the presiding officers of such courts inferior to the Supreme Court
as may be established by law, may be removed from office for
mental or physical inability, upon a concurrent resolution of two-
thirds of both Houses of the General Assembly. The judge or pre-
siding officer against whom the General Assembly may be about
to proceed shall receive notice thereof, accompanied by a copy
of the causes alleged for his removal, at least twenty days before
the day on which either House of the General Assembly shall act
thereon.

Sec. 32. Removal of clerks of the various courts for inahility.
Any clerk of the Supreme Court, or of the Superior Courts, or of
such courts inferior to the Supreme Court as may be established
by law, may be removed from office for mental or physical in-
ability; the clerk of the Supreme Court by the judges of said
court, the clerk of the Superior Courts by the judge riding the
district, and the clerks of such courts inferior to the Supreme
Court as may be established by law by the presiding officers of
said courts. The clerk against whom proceedings are instituted
shall receive notice thereof, accompanied by a copy of the causes
alleged for his removal, at least ten days before the day appointed
to act thereon, and the clerk shall be entitled to an appeal to the
next term of the Superior Court, and thence to the Supreme Court,
as provided in other cases of appeals.

Sec. 33. Amendments not to vacate existing offices. The amend-
ments made to the Constitution of North Carolina by this Conven-
tion shall not have the effect to vacate any office or term of office
now existing under the Constitution of the State, and filled, or
held by virtue of any election or appointment under the said Con-
stitution and the laws of the State made in pursuance thereof.

ARTICLE V

REVENUE AND TAXATION

Section 1. Capitation tax; exemptions. The General Assembly
may levy a capitation tax on every male inhabitant of the State
over twenty-one and under fifty years of age, which said tax shall
not exceed two dollars, and cities and towns may levy a capitation



60 North Carolina Manual

tax which shall not exceed one dollar. No other capitation tax
shall be levied. The commissioners of the several counties and of
the cities and towns may exempt from the capitation tax any
special cases on account of poverty or infirmity.

Sec. 2. Application of proceeds of State and county capitation
fax. The proceeds of the State and county capitation tax shall be
applied to the purposes of education and the support of the poor
but in no one year shall more than twenty-five per cent thereof
be appropriated to the latter purpose.

Sec. 3. State taxation. The power of taxation shall be exercised
in a just and equitable manner, and shall never be surrendered,
suspended, or contracted away. Taxes on property shall be uni-
form as to each class of property taxed. Taxes shall be levied
only for public purposes, and every act levying a tax shall state
the object to which it is to be applied. The General Assembly may
also tax trades, professions, franchises, and incomes: Provided,
the rate of tax on income shall not in any case exceed ten per
cent (10%), and there shall be allowed the following exemptions,
to be deducted from the amount of annual incomes, to-wit: for
married man with a wife living with him, or to a widow or
widower having minor child or children, natural or adopted, not
less than $2,000; to all other persons not less than $1,000, and
there may be allowed other deductions (not including living ex-
penses) so that only net incomes are taxed.

Sec. 4. Limitations upon the increase of public debts. The Gen-
eral Assembly shall have the power to contract debts and to pledge
the faith and credit of the State and to authorize counties and
municipalities to contract debts and pledge their faith and credit,
for the following purposes: To fund or refund a valid existing
debt; to borrow in anticipation of the collection of taxes due and
payable within the fiscal year to an amount not exceeding fifty
per centum of such taxes; to supply a casual deficit; to suppress
riots or insurrections, or to repel invasions. For any purpose
other than these enumerated, the General Assembly shall have
no power, during any biennium, to contract new debts on behalf
of the State to an amount in excess of two-thirds of the amount
by which the State's outstanding indebtedness shall have been re-
duced during the next preceding biennium, unless the subject be
submitted to a vote of the people of the State; and for any purpose



Constitution 61

other than these enumerated the General Assembly shall have no
power to authorize counties or municipalities to contract debts,
and counties and municipalities shall not contract debts, during
any fiscal year, to an amount exceeding two-thirds of the amount
by which the outstanding indebtedness of the particular county
or municipality shall have been reduced during the next preceding
fiscal year, unless the subject be submitted to a vote of the people
of the particular county or municipality. In any election held in
the State or in any county or municipality under the provisions
of this section, the proposed indebtedness must be approved by a
majority of those who shall vote thereon. And the General Assem-
bly shall have no power to give or lend the credit of the State in
aid of any person, association, or corporation, except to aid in
the completion of such railroads as may be unfinished at the time
of the adoption of this Constitution, or in which the State has
a direct pecuniary interest, unless the subject be submitted to a
direct vote of the people of the State, and be approved by a ma-
jority of those who shall vote thereon.

Sec. 5. Property exempt from taxation. Property belonging to
the State, or to municipal corporations, shall be exempt from tax-
ation. The General Assembly may exempt cemeteries and property
held for educational, scientific, literary, charitable, or religious
purposes; also wearing apparel, arms for muster, household and
kitchen furniture, the mechanical and agricultural implements of
mechanics and farmers; libraries and scientific instruments, or
any other personal property, to a value not exceeding three hun-
dred dollars. The General Assembly may exempt from taxation
not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) in value of prop-
erty held and used as the place of residence of the owner.

Sec. 6. Taxes levied for counties. The total of the State and
county tax on property shall not exceed fifteen cents on the one
hundred dollars value of property, except when the county prop-
erty tax is levied for a special purpose and with the special ap-
proval of the General Assembly, which may be done by special or
general act: Provided, this limitation shall not apply to taxes
levied for the maintenance of the public schools of the State for
the term required by article nine, section three, of the Constitu-
tion: Provided, further, the State tax shall not exceed five cents
on the one hundred dollars value of property.



62 North Carolina Manual

Sec. 7. Acts levying taxes shall state objects, etc. Every act of
the General Assembly levying a tax shall state the special object
to which it is to be applied, and it shall be applied to no other
purpose.

ARTICLE VI

SUFFRAGE AND ELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE

Section 1. Who may vote. Every person born in the United
States, and every person who has been naturalized, twenty-one
years of age, and possessing the qualifications set out in this
article, shall be entitled to vote at any election by the people of
the State, except as herein otherwise provided. (The 19th amend-
ment to the United States Constitution, ratified August 6, 1920,
provided that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any
state on account of sex." North Carolina accordingly by c. 18,
• Extra Session 1920, provided for the registration and voting of
women.)

Sec. 2. Qi(alificatio)is of voters. He shall reside in the State of
North Carolina for one year, and in the precinct, ward, or other
election district in which he offers to vote four months next pre-
ceding the election: Provided, that removal from one precinct,
ward, or other election district to another in the same county
shall not operate to deprive any person of the right to vote in the
precinct, ward, or other election district from which he has re-
moved until four months after such removal. No person who has
been convicted, or who has confessed his guilt in open court upon
indictment, of any crime the punishment of which now is, or may
hereafter be, imprisonment in the State's Prison, shall be per-
mitted to vote, unless the said person shall be first restored to
citizenship in the manner prescribed by law.

Sec. 3. Voters to be registered. Every person offering to vote
shall be at the time a legally registered voter as herein prescribed
and in the manner hereafter provided by law, and the General
Assembly of North Carolina shall enact general registration laws
to carry into effect the provisions of this article.

Sec. 4. Qualificatio7i for registration. Every person presenting
himself for registration shall be able to read and write any section



Constitution 63

of the Constitution in the English language. But no male person
who was, on January 1, 1867, or at any time prior thereto, en-
titled to vote under the laws of any State in the United States
wherein he then resided, and no lienal descendant of any such
person, shall be denied the right to register and vote at any elec-
tion in this State by reason of his failure to possess the educa-
tional qualifications herein prescribed: Provided, he shall have
registered in accordance with the terms of this section prior to
December 1, 1908. The General Assembly shall provide for the
registration of all persons entitled to vote without the educational
qualifications herein prescribed, and shall, on or before November
1, 1908, provide for the making of a permanent record of such
registration; and all persons so registei-ed shall forever thereafter
have the right to vote in all elections by the people in this State,
unless disqualified under section 2 of this article.

Sec. 5. Indivisible plan; legislative intent. That this amend-
ment to the Constitution is presented and adopted as one indi-
visible plan for the regulation of the suffrage, with the intent and
purpose to so connect the different parts, and to make them so
dependent upon each other, that the whole shall stand or fall
together.

Sec. 6. Elections by people and General Assembly. All elections
by the people shall be by ballot, and all elections by the General
Assembly shall be viva voce.

Sec. 7. Eligibility to office; official oath. Every voter in North
Carolina, except as in this article disqualified, shall be eligible to
office, but before entering upon the duties of the office he shall
take and subscribe the following oath:

"I, , do solemnly swear or (affirm) that I will

support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United
States, and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina not in-
consistent therewith, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties
of my office as So help me, God."

Sec. 8. Disqualification for office. The following classes of per-
sons shall be disqualified for office: First, all persons who shall
deny the being of Almighty God. Second, all persons who shall
have been convicted or confessed their guilt on indictment pend-
ing, and whether sentenced or not, or under judgment suspended,
of any treason or felony, or of any other crime for which the



64 North Carolina Manual

punishment may be imprisonment in the penitentiary, since be-
coming citizens of the United States, or of corruption or malprac-
tice in office, unless such person shall be restored to the rights of
citizenship in a manner prescribed by law.

Sec. 9. When this chapter operative. That this amendment to
the Constitution shall go into effect on the first day of July, nine-
teen hundred and two, if a majority of votes cast at the next gen-
eral election shall be cast in favor of this suffrage amendment.

ARTICLE VII

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS

Section 1. County officers. In each county there shall be elected
biennially by the qualified voters thereof, as provided for the elec-
tion of members of the General Assembly, the following officers:
A treasurer, register of deeds, surveyor, and five commissioners.
(Under authority of the Public Laws of 1935, c. 362, s. 13, pro-
vision was made for the quadrennial election of registers of deeds,
certain counties being exempted.)

Sec. 2. Duty of county commissioners. It shall be the duty of
the commissioners to exercise a general supervision and control of
the penal and charitable institutions, schools, roads, bridges, levy-
ing of taxes, and finances of the county, as may be prescribed by
law. The register of deeds shall be ex officio clerk of the board of
commissioners.

Sec. 3. Counties to be divided into districts. It shall be the duty
of the commissioners first elected in each county to divide the
same into convenient districts, to determine the boundaries and
prescribe the name of the said districts, and to report the same
to the General Assembly before the first day of January, 1869.

Sec. 4. Townships have corporate powers. Upon the approval of
the reports provided for in the foregoing section, by the General
Assembly, the said districts shall have corporate powers for the
necessary purposes of local government, and shall be known as
townships.

Sec. 5. Officers of townships. In each township there shall be
biennially elected, by the qualified voters thereof, a clerk and two
justices of the peace, who shall constitute a board of trustees,
and shall, under the supervision of the county commissioners, have



Constitution 65

control of the taxes and finances, roads and bridges oi the town-
ships, as may be prescribed by law. The General Assembly may
provide for the election of a larger number of justices of the peace
in cities and towns, and in those townships in which cities and
towns are situated. In every township there shall also be bien-
nially elected a school committee, consisting of three persons,
whose duties shall be prescribed by law. (Amended by c. 141,
1877.)

Sec. 6. Trustees shQ.ll assess property. The township board of
trustees shall assess the taxable property of their townships and
make returns to the county commissioners for revision, as may be
prescribed by law. The clerk shall be, ex officio, treasurer of the
township.

Sec. 7. No debt or loan except by a majority of voters. No
county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall contract
any debt, pledge its faith or loan its credit, nor shall any tax
be levied or collected by any officers of the same except for the
necessary expenses thereof, unless approved by a majority of
those who shall vote thereon in any election held for such purpose.

Sec. 8. No money drawn except by law. No money shall be
drawn from any county or township treasury except by authority
of law.

Sec. 9. When officers enter on duty. The county officers first
elected under the provisions of this article shall enter upon their
duties ten days after the approval of this Constitution by the
Congress of the United States.

Sec. 10. Governor to appoint justices. The Governor shall ap-
point a sufficient number of justices of the peace in each county,
who shall hold their places until sections four, five, and six of this
article shall have been carried into effect.

Sec. 11. Charters to remain in force until legally changed. All
charters, ordinances, and provisions relating to municipal corpora-
tions shall remain in force until legally changed, unless incon-
sistent with the provisions of this Constitution.

Sec. 12. Debts in aid of the rebellion not to be paid. No county,
city, town, or other municipal corporation shall assume or pay,
nor shall any tax be levied or collected for the payment of any
debt, or the interest upon any debt, contracted directly or in-
directly in aid of or support of the rebellion.



66 North Carolina Manual

Sec. 13. Poivcrs of General Assembly over municipal corpora-
tions. The General Assembly shall have full power by statute to
modify, change, or abrogate any and all of the provisions of this
article, and substitute others in their place, except sections seven,
nine and thirteen. Recent amendment repealed old section 9 and
renumbered section 10-14.) (Under the general authority of this
section several statutory amendments have been made. See notes
supra, ss. 1 and 5.)

ARTICLE VIII

CORPORATIONS OTHER THAN MUNICIPAL

Section 1. Corporations under general laws. No corporation
shall be created, nor shall its charter be extended, altered, or
amended by special act, except corporations for charitable, educa-
tional, penal, or reformatory purposes that are to be and remain
under the patronage and control of the State; but the General
Assembly shall provide by general laws for the chartering and
organization of all corporations, and for amending, extending, and
forfeiture of all charters, except those above permitted by special
act. All such general laws and special acts may be altered from
time to time or repealed; and the General Assembly may at any
time by special act repeal the charter of any corporation.

Sec. 2. Debts of corporations, how secured. Dues from corpora-
tions shall be secured by such individual liabilities of the corpora-
tions, and other means, as may be prescribed by law.

Sec. 3. What corporations shall include. The term "Corpora-
tion" as used in this article shall be construed to include all
associations and joint-stock companies having any of the powers
and privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or
partnerships. And all corporations shall have the right to sue, and
shall be subject to be sued, in all courts in like cases as natural
persons.

Sec. 4. Legislature to provide for organizing cities, toivns, etc.
It shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide by general laws
for the organization of cities, towns, and incorporated villages,
and to restrict their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing
money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit, so as to px-event
abuses in assessment and in contracting debts by such municipal
corporations.



Constitution 67

ARTICLE IX

EDUCATION

Section 1. Education shall be encouraged. Religion, morality,
and knowledge being necessary to good government and the hap-
piness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall for-
ever be encouraged.

Sec. 2. General Assembly shall provide for schools; separation
of the rases. The General Assembly, at its first session under this
Constitution, shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general
and uniform system of public schools, wherein tuition shall be
free of charge to all the children of the State between the ages
of six and twenty-one years. And the children of the white race
and the children of the colored race shall be taught in separate
public schools; but there shall be no discrimination in favor of,
or to the prejudice of, either race.

Sec. 3. Counties to be divided into districts. Each county of the
State shall be divided into a convenient number of districts, in
which one or more public schools shall be maintained at least six
months in every year; and if the commissioners of any county
shall fail to comply with the aforesaid requirements of this sec-
tion, they shall be liable to indictment.

Sec. 4. What property devoted to educational purposes. The
proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted
by the United States to this State, and not otherwise appropriated
by this State or the United States; also all money, stocks, bonds,
and other property now belonging to any State fund for purposes
of education, also the net proceeds of all sales of the swamp lands
belonging to the State, and all other grants, gifts, or devices that
have been or hereafter may be made to the State, and not other-
wise appropriated by the State or by the terms of the grant, gift,
or devise, shall be paid into the State Treasury, and, together
with so much of the ordinary revenue of the State as may be by
law set apart for that purpose, shall be faithfully appropriated
for establishing and maintaining in this State a system of free
public schools, and for no other uses or purposes whatsoever.

Sec. 5. County school fund; proviso. All moneys, stocks, bonds,
and other property belonging to a county school fund; also the
net proceeds from the sale of estrays; also the clear proceeds of



68 North Carolina Manual

all penalties and forfeitures and of all fines collected in the several
counties for any breach of the penal or military laws of the State;
and all money which shall be paid by persons as an equivalent
for exemption from military duty, shall belons: to and remain in
the several counties, and shall be faithfully appropriated for
establishin.e: and maintaining free public schools in the several
counties of this State: Provided, that the amount collected in each
county shall be annually reported to the Superintendent of Public
instruction.

Sec. 6. Election of trustees, and provisions for maintenance of
the University. The General Assembly shall have power to provide
for the election of trustees of the University of North Carolina,
in whom, when chosen, shall be vested all the privileges, rights,
franchises, and endowments thereof in any wise granted to or
conferred upon the trustees of said University; and the General
Assembly may make such provisions, laws, and regulations from
time to time as may be necessary and expedient for the mainten-
ance and management of said University.

Sec. 7. Benefits of the University. The General Assembly shall
provide that the benefits of the University, as far as practicable,
be extended to the youth of the State free of expense for tuition;
also, that all the property which has heretofore accrued to the
State, or shall hereafter accrue, from escheats, unclaimed divi-
dends, or distributive shares of the estates of deceased persons,
shall be appropriated to the use of the University.

Sec. 8. State Board of Ediicatio7i. The general supervision and
administration of the free public school system, and of the educa-
tional funds provided for the support thereof, except those men-
tioned in Section five of this Article, shall, from and after the
first day of April, one thousand nine hundred and forty-five, be
vested in the State Board of Education to consist of the Lieuten-
ant Governor, State Treasurer, the Superintendent of Public In-
struction, and ten members to be appointed by the Governor, sub-
ject to confirmation by the General Assembly in joint session. The
General Assembly shall divide the State into eight educational
districts, which may be altered from time to time by the General
Assembly. Of the appointive members of the State Board of Edu-
cation one shall be appointed from each of the eight educational
districts, and two shall be appointed as members at large. The



Constitution 69

first appointments under this section shall be: Two Members ap-
pointed from educational districts for terms of two years; two
members appointed from educational districts for terms of four