Chapter 128

No person who shall hold any office or place of trust or profit under the United States, or any department thereof or under this State, or under any other state or government, shall hold or exercise any other office or place of trust or profit under the authority of this State, o…

(a) Any person who holds an appointive office, place of trust or profit in State or local government is hereby authorized by the General Assembly, pursuant to Article VI, Sec. 9 of the North Carolina Constitution, to hold concurrently one other appointive office, place of trust o…

Except when the resolution of appointment provides otherwise, whenever the governing body of a county or city appoints one of its own members or officials to another board or commission, the individual so appointed is considered to be serving on the other board or commission as a…

When an official of a county, city or town is liable upon his bond for unlawfully and wrongfully retaining by virtue of his office a fund, or a part thereof, to which the county, city or town is entitled, any citizen and taxpayer may, in his own name for the benefit of the county…

Any sheriff, treasurer or other officer of any county, city, town or other political subdivision of the State, receiving, by virtue of his office, public money or money to be held by him in trust shall keep or deposit such money or the credits or other evidence thereof separate a…

It shall be the duty of the director of the Local Government Commission to report to the district attorney of the district any violation of G.S. 128-11 of which he may have knowledge, and any violation of such section shall be unlawful and shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor. …

Every clerk of the superior court, register of deeds, sheriff, coroner, surveyor, or other county officer, whose compensation or services performed shall be derived from fees, shall render to the board of county commissioners of their respective counties, on the first Monday in D…

Every field agent or deputy of the various State departments who is authorized to collect money, audit books, inspect premises of individual or business firms and/or any other field work pertaining to the department which he represents, shall be furnished with an identification c…

(a) It shall be the policy of the State of North Carolina that, in appreciation for their service to this State and this country during a period of war, and in recognition of the time and advantage lost toward the pursuit of a civilian career, veterans and eligible members of the…

In every case where a State board or commission is authorized by statute to appoint the executive head of a State agency or institution, that board or commission may appoint an acting executive head of that agency or institution to serve (1) During the physical or mental incapaci…

There shall be no discrimination in the hiring policies of the State Human Resources system against any applicant for employment based upon any physical defect or impairment of the applicant unless the defect or impairment to some degree prevents the applicant from performing the…

Any sheriff or police officer shall be removed from office by the judge of the superior court, resident in or holding the courts of the district where said officer is resident upon charges made in writing, and hearing thereunder, for the following causes: (1) For willful or habit…

The complaint or petition shall be entitled in the name of the State of North Carolina, and may be filed upon the relation of any five qualified electors of the county in which the person charged is an officer, upon the approval of the county attorney of such county, or the distr…

The accused shall be named as defendant, and the petition shall be signed by some elector, or by such officer. The petition shall state the charges against the accused, and may be amended, and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which …

Upon the filing of the petition in the office of the clerk of the superior court, and the presentation of the same to the judge, the judge may suspend the accused from office if in his judgment sufficient cause appear from the petition and affidavit, or affidavits, which may be p…

If any person presumes to hold any office, or place of trust or profit, or is elected to a seat in either house of the General Assembly, contrary to Article VI, Sec. 9 of the North Carolina Constitution, he shall forfeit all rights and emoluments incident thereto. (1790, c. 319, …

In the trial of the cause in the superior court the cause shall be advanced and take precedence over all other causes upon the court calendar, and shall be heard at the next session after the petition is filed, provided the proceedings are filed in said court in time for said act…

The following definitions apply in this Article, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context: (1) "Accumulated contribution" shall mean the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the annuity saving…

A Retirement System is hereby established and placed under the management of the Board of Trustees for the purpose of providing retirement allowances and other benefits under the provisions of this Article for employees of those counties, cities and towns or other eligible employ…

(a) Pursuant to the favorable vote of a majority of the employees of any incorporated city or town, the governing body may, by resolution legally adopted and approved by the Board of Trustees, elect to have its employees become eligible to participate in the Retirement System, an…

(a) An employer shall be considered an inactive employer if all of the following criteria are met: (1) The employer has no employees that qualify for membership in the Retirement System. (2) The employer has made no employer contributions for at least one month. (3) The employer …

The membership of this Retirement System shall be composed as follows: (1) All employees entering or reentering the service of a participating employer after the date of participation in the Retirement System of the employer. On and after July 1, 1965, new extension service emplo…

(a) Each person who becomes a member during the first year of his or her employer's participation, if and only if that participation begins prior to November 1, 2015, and who was an employee of the same employer at any time during the year immediately preceding the date of partic…

(a) Only for the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits accruing under this Article, creditable service standing to the credit of a member of the Legislative Retirement System, Consolidated Judicial Retirement System, or the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement Syst…

(a) General Purchases of Service Credit. - Any member in service with five or more years of membership service may purchase creditable service authorized under this subsection by paying a lump sum amount to the Annuity Savings Fund. The amount payable shall be equal to the full l…

Redesignated as G.S. 128-26.1 by Session Laws 2025-19, s. 7.4; 2025-25, s. 37, both effective June 26, 2025.

(a) Service Retirement Benefits. - (1) Any member may retire upon electronic submission or written application to the Board of Trustees setting forth at what time, as of the first day of a calendar month, not less than one day nor more than 120 days subsequent to the execution an…

(a) Vested in Board of Trustees. - The general administration and responsibility for the proper operation of the Retirement System and for making effective the provisions of this Article are vested in the Board of Trustees. All expenses in connection with the administration of th…

(a) Vested in Board of Trustees. - The Board of Trustees shall be the trustee of the several funds created by this Article as provided in G.S. 128-30. (b) Annual Allowance of Regular Interest. - The Board of Trustees annually shall allow regular interest on the mean amount for th…

All bargains, bonds and assurances made or given for the purchase or sale of any office whatsoever, the sale of which is contrary to law, shall be void. (5 and 6 Edw. VI, c. 16, s. 3; R.C., c. 77, s. 2; Code, s. 1871; Rev., s. 2366; C.S., s. 3202.)

(a) Funds to Which Assets of Retirement System Credited. - All of the assets of the Retirement System shall be credited according to the purpose for which they are held to one of three funds, namely, the annuity savings fund, the pension accumulation fund, and the expense fund. (…

(a) Except for the applications of the provisions of G.S. 110-136, and G.S. 110-136.3 et seq., and in connection with a court-ordered equitable distribution under G.S. 50-20, the right of a person to a pension, an annuity, or a retirement allowance, to the return of contributions…

Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of this Retirement System in any attempt to defraud such System as a result of such act shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Should any change or error in…

(a) If a member fails to respond within 120 days after preliminary option figures and the Form 6-E or Form 7-E are transmitted to the member, or if a member fails to respond within 120 days after the effective date of retirement, whichever is later, then the Form 6 or Form 7 shal…

Subject to the provisions of Article 2 of Chapter 135 of Volume 17 of the General Statutes, as amended, no other provision of law in any other statute which provides wholly or partly at the expense of any county, city or town for pensions or retirement benefits for employees of t…

(a) The following definitions apply in this section: (1) Employment-related information. - As defined in G.S. 126-22(b)(3). (2) Personal information. - As defined in G.S. 126-22(b)(3). (3) Retirement file. - Any employment-related, retirement-related, or personal information of m…

(a) Any member of the North Carolina Governmental Employees' Retirement System who leaves the service of his employer and enters the service of another employer participating in the North Carolina Governmental Employees' Retirement System shall maintain his status as a member of …

The maintenance of annuity reserves and pension reserves as provided for, and regular interest creditable to the various funds as provided in G.S. 128-30, and the payment of all pensions, annuities, retirement allowances, refunds and other benefits granted under the provisions of…

Nothing in this Article shall have the effect of repealing any public-local or private act creating or authorizing the creation of any officers' or employees' retirement system in any county, city or town or prohibiting the enactment of any public-local or private act creating or…

Under such rules and regulations as the Board of Trustees shall establish and promulgate, the boards of county commissioners of any group of counties composing a district health department, or the governing board of any public health authority, or the board of county commissioner…

Under such rules and regulations as the Board of Trustees shall establish and promulgate, the board of county commissioners of any county may elect that employees of the county social services department may be members of the North Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retiremen…

(a) In order to participate in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System after October 1, 2015, the charter or articles of incorporation of fire departments must include a provision that provides that the governing body of the local government entity that holds the cont…

The General Assembly reserves the right at any time and from time to time, and if deemed necessary or appropriate by said General Assembly in order to coordinate with any changes in the benefit and other provisions of the Social Security Act made after January 1, 1955, to modify …

In the event of the termination or partial termination of the Retirement System or in the event of complete discontinuance of contributions under the Retirement System, the rights of all affected members to benefits accrued to the date of such termination, partial termination, or…

(a) The following words and phrases as used in this section, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, have the following meanings: (1) "Board of Trustees" means the Board of Trustees established by G.S. 128-28. (2) "Internal Revenue Code" means the Internal …

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, compensation for any calendar year after 1988 in which employee or employer contributions are made and for which annual compensation is used for computing any benefit under this Article shall not exceed the higher o…

(a) Any beneficiary who is a member of a domiciled employees' or retirees' association that has at least 2,000 members, the majority of whom are active or retired employees of employers as defined in G.S. 128-21(11), may authorize, in writing, the periodic deduction from the bene…

(a) Death Benefit Plan. - There is established the Local Governmental Death Benefit Plan, a group life insurance plan that is an employee welfare benefit plan that is separate and apart from the Retirement System. (b) Benefit Trust. - The Death Benefit Plan shall be part of the B…

(a) Provisions Applicable. - The Death Benefit Plan is administered by the Board of Trustees. The provisions of G.S. 128-28 and G.S. 128-29 are applicable to the Death Benefit Plan. (b) Effect of Vote Related to Contributory Death Benefit. - No decision of the Board of Trustees r…

(a) Participation. - Benefits under this section are only available to an otherwise eligible in-service member if that member's employer has opted to participate in the Death Benefit Plan or if the member is a law enforcement officer. All of the following apply: (1) If an employe…