3.2 Civics North Carolina government

• Created by Article VII, Section 1 of NC Constitution which states that the General Assembly shall provide for the organization and government of counties, cities and towns

• Many important government offices exist at the county level

• County commissioners - elected representatives - job is to make sure the needs of the county are being met within the boundaries of the state law

• Board of Commissioners appoints a county manager - acts as county's chief administrator and makes sure policies are being properly implemented

• Article VII, Section states that each county must have an elected sheriff

• Sheriff serves as the county's chief law enforcement

• Criminal and Civil Authority

• Elected to 4 year terms

Besides County governments, governments oversee cities, townships, and special districts

• larger than town governments

• cover residential, industrial, and business areas

• cities with population of half a million is a metropolis

• elected mayor - chief executive officer

• Mayor shares power with city council

• member of City Council in larger cities is called an alderman

• Cities with mayor and city council have the mayor-council plan

• Others have a council-manager plan

• Citizens elect council then hires a city manager

• even in a council-manager system, there can still be a mayor

• Mayor ceremonial where the manager can be hired and fired by the City Council

• Utilized by larger cities

• cities do not rely on sheriffs and elect a police chief who answer to mayor or city manager

• Townships - towns are smaller than cities and are governed by town councils (elected officials)

• Some bodies of government for specific services ex. School districts

• local Board of Education - special district

• made up of elected representatives

• main duty - oversee public education in a given district

• Changes to NC Constitution must occur by voters in a referendum

• Local laws can be amended by a similar process - local act

• local act puts the change before lcoal voters and if approved adopted as law