Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

H.B. 1017
                         GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                                                                                           May 2, 2024
                                     SESSION 2023                                     HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
     H                                                                                              D
                                   HOUSE BILL DRH40576-LU-176
     Short Title:   Even-Yr. Elections/City of Jacksonville.                                   (Local)
     Sponsors:      Representative Cleveland.
     Referred to:
                                    A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT REGULAR MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF
     JACKSONVILLE SHALL BE HELD IN EVEN-NUMBERED YEARS.
 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
              SECTION 1. Article II of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville, being Chapter 911
 of the Session Laws of 1967, as amended by Town Ordinance No. 89-21 adopted on 4-26-89 and
 Ordinance No. 06-59 adopted on 11-21-06, reads as rewritten:
     "Sec. 2-1. Composition. The officers of said the city shall consist of a mayor and six
 councilmembers to be elected as set out in section 2-8 by the qualified voters of said the city
 biennially on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each of the
 odd-numbered even-numbered years.
     …
     "Sec. 2-8. Election of Mayor and Council – Generally. At a regular election to be held by
 the Onslow County Board of Elections on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November,
 there shall be elected a mayor and six councilmembers, councilmembers to serve staggered
 four-year terms, all of whom shall reside within the city and who shall run and be elected in
 the following manner: Two of the councilmembers shall run at large and four of the
 councilmembers shall be elected from the wards established by the City of Jacksonville under
 this ordinance and map published herewith or as such wards may hereafter be constituted, and
 there shall be elected only one councilmember from each ward who shall be a resident of the
 ward for which he is elected and shall be voted on by the qualified voters of such ward. The
 candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the office of councilmember from the ward
 of his residence shall be declared elected to that office. The two candidates running at large
 shall be voted on by all qualified voters of the city and the two candidates running at large who
 receive the highest number of votes for the office of councilmember shall be declared elected
 to that office. The candidate for mayor shall be elected by the electors of the city at large. The
 candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the office of mayor shall be declared
 elected mayor.
     Effective December 27, 2006, at the next regular municipal election following
 pre-clearance of this Charter Amendment by the Department of Justice, if said pre-clearance
 occurs on or before the last day of the filing period for said election, the candidates receiving
 the highest number of votes for the Office of Mayor and the candidates receiving the highest
 number of votes for Ward 3 and Ward 4 (minority ward) Council Members shall be elected for
 an initial four (4) year term; and the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for
 At-Large Council Members and the candidates receiving the highest number of votes for Ward
 1 (minority ward) and Ward 2 Council Members shall be elected for an initial two (2) year
                                  *DRH40576-LU-176*
     General Assembly Of North Carolina                                                  Session 2023
 term. Subsequent elections for the Mayor and all City Council Members shall be for four-year
 terms and until their successors are elected and qualified.In 2026, and quadrennially thereafter,
 two at-large members, a member for Ward 1 (minority ward), and a member for Ward 2 shall
 be elected to each serve a four-year term. In 2028, and quadrennially thereafter, a mayor, a
 member for Ward 3, and a member for Ward 4 (minority ward) shall be elected to each serve
 a four-year term.
     …."
             SECTION 2. Section 8-1 of the Charter of the City of Jacksonville, being Chapter
 911 of the Session Laws of 1967, reads as rewritten:
     "Sec. 8-1. – When held. All regular elections shall be held biennially in the odd even years
 on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Each regular election for the city shall be
 held in accordance with this Act and the General Statutes of North Carolina."
             SECTION 3. No municipal elections shall be conducted in the City of Jacksonville
 in 2025. The terms of office for the two at-large council members and the council members for
 Ward 1 and Ward 2 serving on the effective date of this act whose terms are set to expire in 2025
 shall be extended by one year. The terms of office for the mayor and council members for Ward
 3 and Ward 4 serving on the effective date of this act whose terms are set to expire in 2027 shall
 be extended by one year. Regular municipal elections shall be conducted in the City of
 Jacksonville in 2026.
             SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections held
 on or after that date.
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