September 23, 1993
Ms. Emily Parker, President 17A Judicial District 220 East Meadow Road, Suit 1 Eden, North Carolina 27288
Re: Advisory Opinion; district bar nominations to vacant district court judgeship
Dear Ms. Parker:
This is in response to your request for an advisory opinion on who may participate in the nominating process to determine the names of the persons to be submitted to the Governor for appointment to a District Court seat that will become vacant around November 1, 1993.
The facts are as follows. District court district 17A, composed of Rockingham and Caswell Counties, was in existence prior to January 1, 1987, and it had three judges, two who were residents of Rockingham County and one who was a resident of Caswell County. Chapter 321 of the 1993 session laws of the General Assembly was ratified July 9, 1993. Section 200.4(e) of Chapter 321 removed Caswell County from district court district 17A and placed it, along with Person County, into a new district court district 9A. The number of judgeships in district 17A was reduced from three to two. Two new district court judgeships for District 9A were created. One of the two seats was to be filled by the district court judge from former district 17A who resided in Caswell County. The act becomes effective November 1, 1993, or whenever subsection (e) is approved under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, whichever is later. As of the date of this letter, it has not been precleared but preclearance was requested August 9, 1993, by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
Judge Philip W. Allen, a resident of Rockingham County and one of the three district court judges in District 17A, has announced that he will retire November 1, 1993. Judge Allen’s retirement will create a vacancy. The Governor fills the vacancy from nominations submitted by the bar of the judicial district. The question is who comprises the bar of the judicial district that will make the nominations of the replacement candidates.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-142 (Supp. 1992) provides, in pertinent part: "A vacancy in the office of district court judge shall be filled for the unexpired term by appointment of the Governor from nominations submitted by the bar of the judicial district as defined in G.S. 84-19." (emphasis added) N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-19 (Supp. 1992) reads, in its entirety, as follows: "For purposes of this Article, the term ‘judicial district’ means a judicial district as in existence on January 1, 1987, and the term ‘district bar’ means the bar of a judicial district as defined by this section." (emphasis added) We can find nothing that has been enacted by the General Assembly that modifies the statutes quoted above nor any cases or opinions of the Attorney General that have construed these statutes.
The current wording of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-19 was put in place by Chapter 316, section 3, of the 1987 Session Laws, ratified June 8, 1987. The current wording of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-142 containing the reference to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-19 was put in place by Chapter 1056, section 7, of the 1988 Session Laws, almost a year later. It seems clear, therefore, that the General Assembly, for whatever reason, intended to freeze judicial district bars that select nominees for appointment to vacant district judgeships to judicial districts as configured and in existence as of January 1, 1987. Accordingly, under this statute, because Caswell County was a part of the 17A Judicial District on January 1, 1987, the members of its bar have a right to participate in the nominating process for the new judge in Rockingham County. Under the same reasoning, the Rockingham County Bar would have a right to participate in the nomination of a replacement for a Caswell County Judgeship that in the future might become vacant before the end of the term.
Ann Reed Senior Deputy Attorney General
Charles M. Hensey Special Deputy Attorney General