Moving A County Courthouse – Moving A County Seat

Each county in our state has a county seat, which contains the district court and sometimes other county offices. For many towns, especially in rural areas, being the county seat is a point of pride, marking the town’s identity. Historically, county seats were located near the geographic center of the county to accommodate trial goers and business dealings with government officials. While such geographical considerations are now largely obsolete, the county is still obligated to provide courtrooms and other judicial facilities for the operation of the courts.GS 7A-302). Can the county build a new courthouse at a location other than the county seat? Can the county manually move the county seat to another location? What exactly is the county seat? A search in the North Carolina Statutes yielded only a handful of references to the term “county town,” none of which actually defines what a county seat is, nor does it provide how a location or town may be located. such designated town. Based on the nomenclature in some of the older local activities of the General Assembly establishing the counties, Professor Jim Drennan suggests that the term “county seat” developed as an abbreviation for the county’s “headquarters of justice”, meaning the place or place where the court was summoned (in other words, the location of the court) district court). Indeed, many local acts established counties that specifically designated a particular location for the seat of the district court, sometimes calling this location the “county seat.” For example, when Avery County was created in 1911, its permissive legislation established a special commission to recommend to county commissioners two or more locations for the “county seat, where the courts and houses are located.” prison will be erected,” with the final position chosen by voters in countywide elections. (SL 1911-33, s. 11). The High Court in the County of Scotland was specifically required to sit in the Town of Laurinburg along with “several necessary offices to be kept in the court.” (SL 1899-127, s. 8). The Hoke County Courthouse is located “within the corporate limits of the Town of Raeford.” (SL 1911-24, s. 11). And, in Lee County, the special “building” is located at “Lee Avenue, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets, almost doable between Union Passenger Terminal in Sanford Town and Coast Railroad Stations.” the Atlantic Ocean in Jonesboro Town. ” (SL 1907-624, s. 10) Read: what is the county seat All these local acts (as well as all other acts that originally established the county) before promulgation GS Chapter 153A in 1973. GS 153A-169 grants county trustees broad authority in the care and use of county property, including county buildings. Under this statute, the board may designate and redesign the location of any county department and location to any county building, including the district court. Although there is no mention of “county capital” in GS 153A-169, it is clear that county committees could redesign the location of the district court. Add Doa, GS 153A-443 also gives the board of trustees the power to designate a new location for the court (and other parts of the court) if the “traditional location [of the courthouse] has become unsuitable or inconvenient” for the performance of functions and postings of notices required by law to be conducted or posted in court (such as on “court doors” or “court doors”. court step”). But what if the location of a particular court is determined by local action? Can a committee relocate the court to a location other than that prescribed by the General Assembly? Which body controls – the general authority of the commissioner under GS 153A-169 and -443, or the more specific action of the General Assembly? The North Carolina Supreme Court answered precisely this question in 1998 when the decision to move the Harnett County court was challenged. In Bethune v Harnett County, 349 NC 343, 507 SE2d 40 (1998), Commissioner Harnett County proposed the construction of a new courthouse at a site that would remain within the business limits of the Town of Lillington (county capital), , outside the original town boundaries as they existed when the town became county seat in 1859 by a vote of the county residents authorized by local statute (SL 1859-5, s. 5). The plaintiffs argued that the original local statute required the position of the court, and that subsequent enactment of GS 153A-169 did not replace the original local statute. Court disagreed, based on GS 153A-3 (d) as a necessary expression of legislative intent to override local acts that had previously limited the powers granted to counties and their councils of commissioners under Chapter 153A. To the extent that the previous local action limited or limited the powers of the board of directors under Chapter 153A, that local action will be superseded. Since the 1859 regulatory position of the Harnett county court limited the council’s authority under GS 153A-169 to redesign the district court location, the court held that this locality was superseded. If any other county board decided to relocate its courthouse, a challenge to that decision would probably be met with the same outcome. Bethune made it clear that a county commission may relocate the court anywhere in the county regardless of restrictions to the contrary or specified in previous local actions. There is no legal requirement for a county to designate a particular town as its county seat, only the county to provide court facilities (in fact, counties like Currituck do not have incorporated municipalities). the designation cannot be attached to a town, and thus the designation attaches to the location of the court). As Jim Drennan suggests, the designation of the county seat most likely evolved as a brief description of the location of the court (“judicial district”). Therefore, if the county moves its court, the county will, in effect, also move its county seat. It is the location of the court that determines the location of the county seat, not vice versa. designate the new court location as the new county seat. Such designation would be prudent when there are other statutory references to the “county seat” for various court operations, such as requiring the county to provide offices for the clerk of the court. at “court or other appropriate place in the county seat” (GS 7A-100 (b)), requires that the district court be located in the county seat (GS 7A-130), and provisions for conducting superior court in locations other than the county seat (GS 7A-42) .When redesigning a court site, the board must publish notice of its intention to do so at least every four weeks prior to the meeting at which the redesign will be carried out (GS 153A-169). This procedural requirement is a far cry from that required in the early 1868 version of today’s GS 153A-169. Under that older version, the relocation of a county building required a unanimous vote of all members of the board of trustees at the council’s regular meeting in September, with public notice. statements are published in “the County printed newspaper, if any, and published in one or more public places in each Town for the next three months immediately preceding the annual meeting at which the final vote on the Proposed changes will be made. ” (SL 1868-20, s. 8). And, the new site may not be more than one mile from the old site without special approval from the General Assembly (i.e. a local statute). Times have certainly changed. Courts also serve as venues for a number of legally required functions and activities outside of court operations, such as posting public notices (literally at the court’s door in some cases). cases) and do some sales and auctions (literally on court steps in some cases). GS 153A-443 authorizes the board to designate a new location for these functions if the board determines that the court has become “unfit or inconvenient” to perform these functions. The board can take this action even if it does not relocate the district court. If the governing board relocates the court, it must determine whether these functions will continue to be performed in the old court or move to the new court. Most likely these functions will be performed in the new court (unless a completely different location is chosen). If so, GS 153A-443 asks the board to adopt an ordinance designating the new court (or any other location) as the place to perform these functions. The ordinance must be published at least once within 30 days of its adoption and posted in the old court for 60 days. Read more: What were the factors that led to 331. Disclose a notice of intent to relocate the court once at least four weeks before the meeting at which the board will act on relocation (GS 153A-169) .2. During the meeting (the statutes do not specify the type of meeting, so perhaps the board could consider the matter in a regular or special meeting), pass an ordinance designating the new court as the venue for the meeting. points for acts and notices required by law. conducted or posted in court (GS 153A-443). If the new court’s location is not within the existing county seat, the new location should be designated as the county seat (this can be done in the relocation ordinance). Once the ordinance is passed, publish it at least once within 30 days of its passage and post it for 60 days at the current court location (GS 153A-443). acts and notices required by law to be performed or posted in court, steps #2 and #3 are unnecessary. However, the council should still designate the new court site as the county seat if the new location is not within the existing county seat. problem, as the basis for this blog post. Thanks also to Alex Hess, Librarian of the School of Government, for his assistance in researching and retrieving old session law. Read more: What does fishing in the dark mean.

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