Chapter 121

This Article shall be known as the North Carolina Archives and History Act. (1973, c. 476, s. 48.)

(a) Designated Employees Commissioned Special Peace Officers by Governor. - Upon application by the Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources, the Governor is hereby authorized and empowered to commission as special peace officers such employees of the Department of Natural and…

In consideration of the public purpose thereby achieved, the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources may assist any county, city, or other political subdivision, corporation or organization, or private individual in the acquisition, maintenance, preservation, restoration, or…

(a) Protection of Properties on National Register. - It shall be the duty of the Historical Commission, meeting at such times and according to such procedures as it shall by rule prescribe, to provide an advisory and coordinative mechanism in and by which State undertakings of ev…

Requests for funding may be submitted by these organizations to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. If received by any other department of State government except the General Assembly they shall be forwarded to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. All s…

During the term of office of each Governor of this State and at least six months prior to its expiration, the Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources is directed to select a skilled artist to paint a portrait of such Governor, and have the same suitably framed. Upon the paint…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is hereby authorized and empowered to accept gifts of real or personal property from any source for the restoration of Tryon's Palace at New Bern, North Carolina, and administer the same. All gifts of moneys received by the Departm…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is hereby authorized and directed to acquire the necessary property in New Bern, North Carolina, for the restoration of Tryon's Palace, when as much as two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or securities in said amount as …

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, within the limits and amounts appropriated by the General Assembly and any funds available from donations or otherwise, when the conditions set forth in G.S. 121-15 of this Article have been met, is hereby granted the power and au…

The Governor as Director of the Budget shall have full authority and discretion to approve the acceptance of donations of cash or securities irrevocably deposited with a trustee in lieu of any requirement that funds provided by outside sources be turned over to the State, and fun…

Whereas the said Tryon's Palace and grounds originally included all of that area in the City of New Bern known and designated as George Street between Pollock and South Front Streets, and the title thereto is in the State of North Carolina, subject to the easement for use of said…

For the purposes of this Article: (1) "Agency" shall mean any State, county, or municipal office, department, division, board, commission or separate unit of government created or established by constitution or law. (2) "Commission" shall mean the North Carolina Historical Commis…

(a) In addition to exercising the powers and duties imposed upon the Tryon Palace Commission by Chapter 791 of the Session Laws of 1945 and Chapter 233 of the Session Laws of 1949, the Tryon Palace Commission is hereby fully authorized and empowered to receive and expend and disb…

The Tryon Palace Commission is hereby authorized to adopt an official flag, seal, and other emblems appropriate in connection with the management and operation of the Tryon Palace Restoration, and to copyright the same in the name of the State. The Commission, with the approval o…

(a) Fund. - The Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens Fund is hereby created as a special, interest-bearing, and nonreverting fund in the Division of Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens. The Fund shall be treated as a special trust fund and shall be used for repair, renovat…

Subject to Chapter 82 of the General Statutes, entitled "Wrecks" and to the provisions of Chapter 210, Session Laws of 1963, and to any statute of the United States, the title to all bottoms of navigable waters within one marine league seaward from the Atlantic seashore measured …

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is the custodian of shipwrecks, vessels, cargoes, tackle, and underwater archaeological artifacts to which the State has title under G.S. 121-22. The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources may adopt rules necessary to preserv…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is also authorized to establish a professional staff for the purpose of conducting and/or supervising the surveillance, protection, preservation, survey and systematic underwater archaeological recovery of underwater materials as d…

(a) Any qualified person, firm or corporation desiring to conduct any type of exploration, recovery or salvage operations, in the course of which any part of a derelict vessel or its contents or other archaeological site may be removed, displaced or destroyed, shall first make ap…

(a) The following definitions apply to this section: (1) Applicant. - A person or entity applying for a permit or license under G.S. 121-25 to conduct any type of exploration, recovery, or salvage operations of any part of a derelict vessel or its contents or other archaeological…

Any funds which may be paid to or received by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources under the terms of G.S. 121-25 hereof may be allocated for use by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for continuing its duties under this Article, subject to the approval …

All law-enforcement agencies and officers, State and local, are hereby empowered to assist the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in carrying out its duties under this Article. (1967, c. 533, s. 6; 1973, c. 476, s. 48; 2015-241, s. 14.30(s).)

Any person violating the provisions of this Article or any rules or regulations established thereunder shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1967, c. 533, s. 8; 1993, c. 539, s. 917; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).) §

The archival and historical agency of the State of North Carolina shall be the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. (1945, c. 55; 1955, c. 543, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 48; 2015-241, s. 14.30(s).)

The title of this Article shall be known as the "Conservation and Historic Preservation Agreements Act." (1979, c. 747, s. 1; 2004-195, s. 1.3.)

Subject to any additional definitions contained in this Article, or unless the context otherwise requires: (1) A "conservation agreement" means a right, whether or not stated in the form of a restriction, reservation, easement, covenant or condition, in any deed, will or other in…

(a) This Article shall apply to all conservation and preservation agreements falling within its terms and conditions. (b) This Article shall not be construed to make unenforceable any restriction, easement, covenant or condition which does not comply with the requirements of this…

Subject to the conditions stated in this Article, any holder may, in any manner, acquire, receive or become a party of a conservation agreement or a preservation agreement. (1979, c. 747, s. 4.)

(a) No conservation or preservation agreement shall be unenforceable because of (1) Lack of privity of estate or contract, or (2) Lack of benefit to particular land or person, or (3) The assignability of the benefit to another holder as defined in this Article. (b) These agreemen…

(a) Conservation or preservation agreements may be enforced by the holder by injunction and other appropriate equitable relief administered or afforded by the courts of this State. Where appropriate under the agreement, damages, or other monetary relief may also be awarded either…

(a) Easements secured by the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, including perpetual agricultural conservation easements and forest land easements, military base protection and flyway easements regardless of funding source, or any other agricultural con…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall have the following powers and duties: (1) To accept gifts, devises, and endowments for purposes which fall within the general legal powers and duties of the Department. Unless otherwise specified by the donor or testator, the…

(a) The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources may establish, expand, and maintain a North Carolina Register of Historic Places composed of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in North Carolina history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, an…

For purposes of taxation, land and improvements subject to a conservation or preservation agreement shall be assessed on the basis of the true value of the land and improvement less any reduction in value caused by the agreement. (1979, c. 747, s. 7.)

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, conservation agreements shall be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of the county or counties in which the subject land or improvement is located, in the same manner as deeds are now recorded. (b) Releases or …

(a) State Archival Agency Designated. - The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall be the official archival agency of the State of North Carolina with authority as provided throughout this Chapter and Chapter 132 of the General Statutes of North Carolina in relation t…

(a) The State Historical Records Advisory Board, which was constituted in 1975 in accordance with 44 U.S.C. § 2501; 36 C.F.R. § 1206 is continued under State law and shall be located administratively in the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The Board shall consist of …

The General Assembly finds and declares that the growth and maintenance of collections in museums and archives repositories, both public and private, is a matter of general public interest to the citizens of North Carolina. Museums and archives repositories of all kinds depend up…

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Address. - A description of the location of the lender as shown on a museum or archives repository's records that is sufficient for delivery by mail. (2) Archives repository. - An archives repository shall have the same meaning…

(a) A museum or archives repository may acquire the title to documented property loaned to the museum or archives repository if (i) the term of the loan has expired and at least seven years have passed without written or other contact between the lender and the museum or archives…

(a) If the Department determines that the claim of ownership is not valid and rejects the claim to the artifact, the claimant may appeal the determination as provided by Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The burden shall be on the claimant to prove that the claimant is the le…

(a) Lender's Responsibilities. - In all cases, it shall be the responsibility of the owner of loaned property to notify the museum or archives repository in writing of the owner's identity and current address. It shall be the responsibility of any new owner acquiring loaned prope…

(a) When the lender of loaned property is known, a museum or archives repository may charge the lender expenses for the reasonable care of loaned property unclaimed after the expiration date of the loan. (b) When the lender of loaned property is unknown, a museum or archives repo…

(a) Property in the possession of a museum or archives repository that the museum or archives repository has reason to believe may be on loan and for which the museum or archives repository does not know the owner or have any reasonable means of determining the owner becomes the …

The provisions of this Article shall control the procedure and disposition of any property to which it applies in lieu of any other procedure prescribed by law. (2015-218, s. 2.)

(a) General Provisions. - It shall be the duty of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to promote and encourage the writing of North Carolina history and to collect, edit, publish, print, and distribute books, pamphlets, papers, manuscripts, documents, maps, and other…

(a) The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall maintain and administer State historic sites and museums under the management of the Office of Archives and History for the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of authentic artifacts and other historical mater…

Notwithstanding Article 3A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, G.S. 143-49(4), or any other law pertaining to surplus State property, the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with the approval of the North Carolina Historical Commission, may sell, lease, donate, trad…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall assume from the Southport Maritime Museum, Inc., the administration of the Southport Maritime Museum in Brunswick County and shall operate it as a branch of the North Carolina Maritime Museum. (1999-237, s. 26.1(a); 2015-241,…

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources may charge a reasonable admission and related activity fee to the Roanoke Island Festival Park and any historic site or museum administered by the Department. Admission and related activity fees collected under this section are rec…