§ 163-35. Director of elections to county board of elections; appointment; compensation; duties; dismissal.
§ 163‑35. Director ofelections to county board of elections; appointment; compensation; duties;dismissal.
(a) In the event avacancy occurs in the office of county director of elections in any of thecounty boards of elections in this State, the county board of elections shallsubmit the name of the person it recommends to fill the vacancy, in accordancewith provisions specified in this section, to the Executive Director of theState Board of Elections who shall issue a letter of appointment. A person shallnot serve as a director of elections if he:
(1) Holds any electivepublic office;
(2) Is a candidate forany office in a primary or election;
(3) Holds any office ina political party or committee thereof;
(4) Is a campaignchairman or finance chairman for any candidate for public office or serves onany campaign committee for any candidate;
(5) Has been convictedof a felony in any court unless his rights of citizenship have been restoredpursuant to the provisions of Chapter 13 of the General Statutes of NorthCarolina;
(6) Has been removed atany time by the State Board of Elections following a public hearing; or
(7) Is a member or aspouse, child, spouse of child, parent, sister, or brother of a member of thecounty board of elections by whom he would be employed.
(b) Appointment,Duties; Termination. Upon receipt of a nomination from the county board ofelections stating that the nominee for director of elections is submitted forappointment upon majority selection by the county board of elections theExecutive Director shall issue a letter of appointment of such nominee to thechairman of the county board of elections within 10 days after receipt of thenomination. Thereafter, the county board of elections shall enter in itsofficial minutes the specified duties, responsibilities and designatedauthority assigned to the director by the county board of elections. Thespecified duties and responsibilities shall include adherence to the dutiesdelegated to the county board of elections pursuant to G.S. 163‑33. Acopy of the specified duties, responsibilities and designated authorityassigned to the director shall be filed with the State Board of Elections.
The county board of electionsmay, by petition signed by a majority of the board, recommend to the ExecutiveDirector of the State Board of Elections the termination of the employment ofthe county board's director of elections. The petition shall clearly state thereasons for termination. Upon receipt of the petition, the Executive Directorshall forward a copy of the petition by certified mail, return receiptrequested, to the county director of elections involved. The county director ofelections may reply to the petition within 15 days of receipt thereof. Within20 days of receipt of the county director of elections' reply or the expirationof the time period allowed for the filing of the reply, the State ExecutiveDirector shall render a decision as to the termination or retention of thecounty director of elections. The decision of the Executive Director of theState Board of Elections shall be final unless the decision is, within 20 daysfrom the official date on which it was made, deferred by the State Board ofElections. If the State Board defers the decision, then the State Board shallmake a final decision on the termination after giving the county director ofelections an opportunity to be heard and to present witnesses and informationto the State Board, and then notify the Executive Director of its decision inwriting. Any one or more members of the State Board designated by the remainingmembers of the State Board may conduct the hearing and make a finaldetermination on the termination. For the purposes of this subsection, themember(s) designated by the remaining members of the State Board shall possessthe same authority conferred upon the chairman pursuant to G.S. 163‑23.If the decision, rendered after the hearing, results in concurrence with thedecision entered by the Executive Director, the decision becomes final. If thedecision rendered after the hearing is contrary to that entered by theExecutive Director, then the Executive Director shall, within 15 days from thewritten notification, enter an amended decision consistent with the results ofthe decision by the State Board of Elections or its designated member(s).
Upon majority vote on therecommendation of the Executive Director, the State Board of Elections mayinitiate proceedings for the termination of a county director of elections forjust cause. If the State Board votes to initiate proceedings for termination,the State Board shall state the reasons for the termination in writing and senda copy by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the county director ofelections. The director has 15 days to reply in writing to the notice. TheState Board of Elections shall also notify the chair of the county board ofelections and the chair of the county board of commissioners that the StateBoard has initiated termination proceedings. The State Board shall make a finaldecision on the termination after giving the county director of elections anopportunity to be heard, present witnesses, and provide information to theState Board. Any one or more members of the State Board designated by theremaining members of the State Board may conduct the hearing and make a finaldecision. For the purposes of this subsection, the member(s) designated by theremaining members of the State Board shall possess the same authority conferredupon the chairman pursuant to G.S. 163‑23.
A county director of electionsmay be suspended, with pay, without warning for causes relating to personalconduct detrimental to service to the county or to the State Board ofElections, pending the giving of written reasons, in order to avoid the unduedisruption of work or to protect the safety of persons or property or for otherserious reasons. Any suspension may be initiated by the Executive Director butmay not be for more than five days. Upon placing a county director of electionson suspension, the Executive Director shall, as soon as possible, reduce towriting the reasons for the suspension and forward copies to the countydirector of elections, the members of the county board of elections, the chairof the county board of commissioners, and the State Board of Elections. If noaction for termination has been taken within five days, the county director ofelections shall be fully reinstated.
Termination of any countydirector of elections shall comply with this subsection.
(c) Compensation ofDirectors of Elections. Compensation paid to directors of elections in allcounties maintaining full‑time registration (five days per week) shall bein the form of a salary in an amount recommended by the county board ofelections and approved by the Board of County Commissioners and shall becommensurate with the salary paid to directors in counties similarly situatedand similar in population and number of registered voters.
The Board of CountyCommissioners in each county, whether or not the county maintains full‑timeor modified full‑time registration, shall compensate the director ofelections at a minimum rate of twelve dollars ($12.00) per hour for hoursworked in attendance to his or her duties as prescribed by law, including rulesand regulations adopted by the State Board of Elections. In addition, thecounty shall pay to the director an hourly wage of at least twelve dollars($12.00) per hour for all hours worked in excess of those prescribed in rulesand regulations adopted by the State Board of Elections, when such additionalhours have been approved by the county board of elections and such approval hasbeen recorded in the official minutes of the county board of elections.
In addition to thecompensation provided for herein, the director of elections to the county boardof elections shall be granted the same vacation leave, sick leave, and pettyleave as granted to all other county employees. It shall also be theresponsibility of the Board of County Commissioners to appropriate sufficientfunds to compensate a replacement for the director of elections when authorizedleave is taken.
(d) Duties. Thedirector of elections may be empowered by the county board of elections toperform such administrative duties as might be assigned by the board and thechairman. In addition, the director of elections may be authorized by thechairman to execute the responsibilities devolving upon the chairman providedsuch authorization by any chairman shall in no way transfer the responsibilityfor compliance with the law. The chairman shall remain liable for properexecution of all matters specifically assigned to him by law.
The county board of electionsshall have authority, by resolution adopted by majority vote, to delegate toits director of elections so much of the administrative detail of the electionfunctions, duties, and work of the board, its officers and members, as is now,or may hereafter be vested in the board or its members as the county board ofelections may see fit: Provided, that the board shall not delegate to a directorof elections any of its quasi‑judicial or policy‑making duties andauthority. Such a resolution shall require adherence to the duties delegated tothe county board of elections pursuant to G.S. 163‑33. Within thelimitations imposed upon the director of elections by the resolution of thecounty board of elections the acts of a properly appointed director ofelections shall be deemed to be the acts of the county board of elections, itsofficers and members.
(e) Training andCertification. The State Board of Elections shall conduct a training programconsisting of four weeks for each new county director of elections. Thedirector shall complete that program. Each director appointed after May 1995shall successfully complete a certification program as provided in G.S. 163‑82.24(b)within three years after appointment or by January 1, 2003, whichever occurslater. (1953,c. 843; 1955, c. 800; 1963, c. 303, s. 1; 1967, c. 775, s. 1; 1971, c. 1166, s.2; 1973, c. 859, s. 1; 1975, c. 211, ss. 1, 2; c. 713; 1977, c. 265, s. 21; c.626, s. 1; c. 1129, s. 1; 1981, cc. 84, 221; 1983, c. 697; 1985, c. 763; 1991,c. 338, s. 2; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 16; 1995, c. 243, s. 1; 1999‑426,s. 7(a); 2001‑319, ss. 1(a), 1(b), 11; 2004‑203, s. 58; 2009‑541,ss. 3, 4(a).)