North Carolina SB 1032: Modify Emergency Judge Provisions.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 1032

Short Title: Modify Emergency Judge Provisions. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Mohammed (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
May 4, 2026
*S1032-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO EXPAND THE REASONS FOR WHICH AN EMERGENCY JUDGE MAY BE 2
ASSIGNED. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 7A-52(a) reads as rewritten: 5
"(a) Judges of the district court and judges of the superior court who have not reached the 6
mandatory retirement age specified in G.S. 7A-40.1 and G.S. 7A-140.1, respectively, but who 7
have retired under the provisions of G.S. 7A-51, or under the Uniform Judicial Retirement Act 8
after having completed five years of creditable service, may apply as provided in G.S. 7A-53 to 9
become emergency judges of the court from which they retired. From the commissioned 10
emergency district, superior, and special superior court judges, the Chief Justice of the Supreme 11
Court shall create two lists of active emergency judges and two lists of inactive emergency 12
judges. For emergency superior and special superior court judges, the active list shall be limited 13
to a combined total of 10 emergency judges; all other emergency superior and special superior 14
court judges shall be on an inactive list. For emergency district court judges, the active list shall 15
be limited to 25 emergency judges; all other emergency district court judges shall be on an 16
inactive list. There is no limit to the number of emergency judges on either inactive list. In the 17
Chief Justice's discretion, emergency judges may be added or removed from their respective 18
active and inactive lists, as long as the respective numerical limits on the active lists are observed. 19
The Chief Justice is requested to consider geographical distribution in assigning emergency 20
judges to an active list but may utilize any factor in determining which emergency judges are 21
assigned to an active list. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may order any emergency 22
district, superior, or special superior court judge on an active list who, in the Chief Justice's 23
opinion, is competent to perform the duties of a judge and to hold regular or special sessions of 24
the court from which the judge retired, as needed. Order of assignment shall be in writing and 25
entered upon the minutes of the court to which the emergency judge is assigned. An emergency 26
judge shall only be assigned in the event of a: 27
... 28
(7) Court coverage need (i) created by holdover sessions, administrative 29
responsibilities of the chief district court judge, or cases in which a judge has 30
a conflict or judicial educational responsibilities.responsibilities or (ii) as 31
determined by the chief district court judge." 32
SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Administrative 33
Office of the Courts the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in nonrecurring funds 34
for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to be used to pay for costs of emergency judges. 35

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 1032-First Edition
SECTION 3. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2026. The remainder of 1
this act is effective when it becomes law. 2