STATE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

GOVERNOR Head of the executive branch Responsibilities include: Executive/administrative : carries out state laws; appoints officials prepares a budget Legislative : proposes legislation, approves or vetoes legislation Commander in chief : in charge of the military force of the state Judicial : offers pardons, grants paroles Ceremonial : greets important visitors, represents the state Party leader : leads the political party in the state

TERMS AND QUALIFICATIONS 1 term = 4 years Limited to 2 consecutive (back-to- back) terms You can drop out and come back Qualifications Must be 30 years old Must have been a US citizen for at least 5 years immediately before the election Must have lived in NC for at least 2 years immediately before election Pat McCrory (R) Elected 2012

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR First in line of succession to governor Serves as president of the Senate and serves on various commissions and boards 1 term = 4 years Qualifications Same as governor since they would replace him/her if they could no longer serve Dan Forest (R) Elected 2012

FEDERAL VS. STATE President and Vice President run on the same election “ticket” Governor and Lt. Governor run on SEPARATE election “tickets” Like the president, the governor has a group of 10 appointed administrators called a Cabinet that oversee separate departments Council of State 8 heads of state agencies that are elected to unlimited 4 year terms

STATE JUDICIAL BRANCH

TRIAL COURTS Hear the evidence and the arguments of the parties in a case and issue a decision Two NC Trial Courts (lowest courts) 1.District Courts One in every county (100 NC counties) 2.Superior Courts State is divided into 8 judicial divisions Each division has several courts within

APPELLATE COURTS Hears disputes about whether the decision of a trial court should be overturned Looks at questions of law and procedure Do NOT look at questions of facts

NC SUPREME COURT Highest (and final level) court in the state 7 elected members (1 chief justice; 6 associate justices) All decisions here are final unless overruled by the US Supreme Court Landmark court cases are a result of key decisions made on important issues

STATE V. MANN, 1830 John Mann charged and found guilty for beating and wounding a slave named Lydia NC Supreme Court decided to overturn the lower courts ruling NC law at the time said slave holders could not be prosecuted for attacking the enslaved Established NC law as the supreme law of the state

THE LEANDRO CASE Filed because the state was not giving adequate or equal education in low-wealth counties NC Supreme Court said the state constitution does not require equal funding of education Hoke v. State Superior Court said at-risk children required more resources, time and focused intervention in order to learn, which is the state’s responsibility to provide NC Supreme Court decided in 2004 Some parts of the Hoke decision agreeing that at-risk students had been denied a sound basic education As a result NC proposed new programs and new streams of funding