North Carolina SB 876: Various Local Provisions X.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025

SESSION LAW 2026-25
SENATE BILL 876

*S876-v-7*
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO LOCAL LAWS IN NORTH CAROLINA.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I. ROWAN COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS VACANCIES
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 153A-27.1(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h) This section shall apply only in the following counties: Alamance, Alexander,
Alleghany, Avery, Beaufort, Brunswick, Buncombe, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Caswell,
Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Cumberland, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Guilford,
Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hyde, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell,
Mecklenburg, Moore, Onslow, Pender, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford,
Sampson, Stanly, Stokes, Transylvania, and Yancey."
SECTION 1.(b) This section applies to Rowan County only.
SECTION 1.(c) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to
vacancies filled on or after that date.

PART II. KANNAPOLIS ETJ RELINQUISHMENT
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 160D-202(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h) Relinquishment of Jurisdiction. – When a city relinquishes jurisdiction over an area
that it is regulating under this Chapter to a county, the city development regulations and powers
of enforcement shall remain in effect until (i) the county has adopted such development
regulation or (ii) a period of 60 90 days has elapsed following the action by which the city
relinquished jurisdiction, whichever is sooner. Prior to the transfer of jurisdiction, the county
may hold hearings and take other measures consistent with G.S. 160D-204 that may be required
in order to adopt and apply its development regulations for the area at the same time it assumes
jurisdiction."
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 160D-601(d) shall not apply to the adoption of development
regulations by the County of Rowan establishing jurisdiction over an area after relinquishment
of jurisdiction by the City of Kannapolis over that area in accordance with G.S. 160D-202, as
amended by this act.
SECTION 2.(c) This section applies only to Rowan County.
SECTION 2.(d) This section is effective when it becomes law and expires October
1, 2026.

PART III. CITY OF KANNAPOLIS – PARTISAN EVEN-NUMBERED YEAR
ELECTIONS
SECTION 3.(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 163-279 and the Charter of the City of
Kannapolis as adopted by the Kannapolis Charter Commission on December 11, 1984, regular
municipal elections shall be held at the time of the general election in each even-numbered year.
Except as otherwise provided, the election shall be held and conducted in accordance with the
uniform municipal election laws of North Carolina with the primary and election held and
conducted in accordance with the general laws governing primaries and elections for county

Page 2 Session Law 2026-25 Senate Bill 876
officers. The Mayor and members of the City Council shall be elected on a partisan basis. Any
candidate seeking nomination by petition for municipal office shall comply with the requirements
of Article 11 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, except that the date and
time petitions must be filed with the county board of elections shall be in accordance with
G.S. 163-122(a)(3).
SECTION 3.(b) No municipal elections shall be conducted in the City of Kannapolis
in 2027. The terms of office for the three council members serving on the effective date of this
section whose terms are set to expire in 2027 shall be extended by one year. The terms of office
for the Mayor and three council members serving on the effective date of this section whose
terms are set to expire in 2029 shall be extended by one year. Regular municipal elections in the
City of Kannapolis shall resume in even-numbered years beginning in 2028 with the same
staggering of terms as when elections were conducted in odd-numbered years.

PART IV. CITY OF ALBEMARLE – PARTISAN ELECTIONS
SECTION 4.(a) Section 3.1 of the Charter of the City of Albemarle, being Chapter
259 of the 1979 Session Laws, as amended by S.L. 2015-253 and Ordinance 19-35 adopted on
October 7, 2019, reads as rewritten:
"Section 3.1. Regular Municipal Elections; Conduct and Method of Election. Elections (a)
Regular municipal elections shall be held at the time of the general election in each
even-numbered year. Except as otherwise provided, the election shall be held and conducted in
accordance with the uniform municipal election laws of North Carolina. The Mayor and members
of the City Council shall be elected according to the nonpartisan plurality method as provided in
G.S. 163-292.on a partisan basis. The primary and election shall be held and conducted in
accordance with the general laws governing primaries and elections for county officers.
(b) Any candidate seeking nomination by petition for municipal office shall comply with
the requirements of Article 11 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, except
that the date and time petitions must be filed with the county board of election