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North Carolina House Bill H335

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H335 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-H 1
4-HOUSE BILL 335
3+H D
4+HOUSE BILL DRH40212-ND-78
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Expand Emergency Judge Eligibility. (Public)
8-Sponsors: Representatives G. Pierce, A. Jones, Morey, and Blackwell (Primary Sponsors).
9-For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10-Referred to: Judiciary 1, if favorable, State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules,
11-Calendar, and Operations of the House
12-March 10, 2025
13-*H335 -v-1*
9+Sponsors: Representative G. Pierce.
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRH40212 -ND-78*
1413 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1514 AN ACT TO EXPAND EMERGENCY JUDGE ELIGIBILITY BY ALLOWING JUDGES 2
1615 WHO SERVED AS BOTH A SUPERIOR COURT AND DISTRICT COURT JUDGE 3
1716 PRIOR TO RETIREMENT TO BE AN EMERGENCY JUDGE ON EITHER COURT . 4
1817 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
1918 SECTION 1. Article 8 of Chapter 7A of the General Statutes reads as rewritten: 6
2019 "Article 8. 7
2120 "Retirement of Judges of the Superior Court; Retirement Compensation for Superior Court 8
2221 Judges; Recall to Emergency Service of Judges of the District and Superior Court; Disability 9
2322 Retirement for Judges of the Superior Court. 10
2423 "§ 7A-50. Emergency judge defined. 11
2524 As used in this Article "emergency judge" means any judge of the superior or district court 12
2625 who has retired subject to recall to active service for temporary duty. 13
2726 … 14
2827 "§ 7A-52. Retired district and superior court judges may become emergency judges subject 15
2928 to recall to active service; compensation for emergency judges on recall. 16
3029 (a) Judges of the district court and judges of the superior court who have not reached the 17
3130 mandatory retirement age specified in G.S. 7A-40.1 and G.S. 7A-140.1, respectively, but who 18
3231 have retired under the provisions of G.S. 7A-51, or under the Uniform Judicial Retirement Act 19
3332 after having completed five years of creditable service, may apply as provided in G.S. 7A-53 to 20
3433 become emergency judges of the court or courts from which they retired. the judge retired or on 21
3534 which the judge previously served. From the commissioned emergency district, superior, and 22
3635 special superior court judges, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall create two lists of 23
3736 active emergency judges and two lists of inactive emergency judges. For emergency superior and 24
3837 special superior court judges, the active list shall be limited to a combined total of 10 emergency 25
3938 judges; all other emergency superior and special superior court judges shall be on an inactive list. 26
4039 For emergency district court judges, the active list shall be limited to 25 emergency judges; all 27
4140 other emergency district court judges shall be on an inactive list. There is no limit to the number 28
4241 of emergency judges on either inactive list. In the Chief Justice's discretion, emergency judges 29
4342 may be added or removed from their respective active and inactive lists, as long as the respective 30
4443 numerical limits on the active lists are observed. The Chief Justice is requested to consider 31
4544 geographical distribution in assigning emergency judges to an active list but may utilize any 32
4645 factor in determining which emergency judges are assigned to an active list. The Chief Justice of 33
47-the Supreme Court may order any emergency district, superior, or special superior court judge 34 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48-Page 2 House Bill 335-First Edition
49-on an active list who, in the Chief Justice's opinion, is competent to perform the duties of a judge 1
50-and to hold regular or special sessions of the court or courts from which the judge retired, retired 2
51-or on which the judge previously served, as needed. Order of assignment shall be in writing and 3
52-entered upon the minutes of the court or courts to which the emergency judge is assigned. An 4
53-emergency judge shall only be assigned in the event of a: 5
54-… 6
55-"§ 7A-53. Application to the Governor; commission as emergency judge. 7
56-No retired judge of the district or superior court may become an emergency judge except 8
57-upon the judge's written application to the Governor certifying the judge's desire and ability to 9
58-serve as an emergency judge. If the Governor is satisfied that the applicant qualifies under 10
59-G.S. 7A-52(a) to become an emergency judge and the applicant is physically and mentally able 11
60-to perform the official duties of an emergency judge, the Governor shall issue to the applicant a 12
61-commission as an emergency judge of the court or courts from which the applicant retired. retired 13
62-or on which the applicant previously served. The commission shall be effective upon the date of 14
63-its issue and shall terminate when the judge to whom it is issued reaches the maximum age for 15
64-judicial service under G.S. 7A-40.1 or G.S. 7A-140.1, whichever is applicable. 16
65-…." 17
66-SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to emergency 18
67-judges serving on or after that date. 19
46+the Supreme Court may order any emergency district, superior, or special superior court judge 34
47+on an active list who, in the Chief Justice's opinion, is competent to perform the duties of a judge 35
48+and to hold regular or special sessions of the court or courts from which the judge retired, retired 36
49+H.B. 335
50+Mar 6, 2025
51+HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
52+Page 2 DRH40212-ND-78
53+or on which the judge previously served, as needed. Order of assignment shall be in writing and 1
54+entered upon the minutes of the court or courts to which the emergency judge is assigned. An 2
55+emergency judge shall only be assigned in the event of a: 3
56+… 4
57+"§ 7A-53. Application to the Governor; commission as emergency judge. 5
58+No retired judge of the district or superior court may become an emergency judge except 6
59+upon the judge's written application to the Governor certifying the judge's desire and ability to 7
60+serve as an emergency judge. If the Governor is satisfied that the applicant qualifies under 8
61+G.S. 7A-52(a) to become an emergency judge and the applicant is physically and mentally able 9
62+to perform the official duties of an emergency judge, the Governor shall issue to the applicant a 10
63+commission as an emergency judge of the court or courts from which the applicant retired. retired 11
64+or on which the applicant previously served. The commission shall be effective upon the date of 12
65+its issue and shall terminate when the judge to whom it is issued reaches the maximum age for 13
66+judicial service under G.S. 7A-40.1 or G.S. 7A-140.1, whichever is applicable. 14
67+…." 15
68+SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to emergency 16
69+judges serving on or after that date. 17