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Public: Recent News

RALEIGH – Special ceremonies are scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, January 31, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Court of Appeals courtroom on Morgan Street in Raleigh as the state’s second highest court celebrates the beginning off its fifth decade of service.

Former members of the court and employees have been invited back to visit and several special guest will speak on the history of the Court. WRAL-TV in Raleigh will offer the ceremony live on it’s website by streaming video. Immediately following the ceremony in the courtroom, a reception will follow in the rotunda of the State Capitol across the street from the Court.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Supreme Court of North Carolina was one of the busiest in the country. Faced with an increasing number of cases dealing with its customary judicial business and a number of post-conviction appeals based on constitutional issues resulting from recent United States Supreme Court decisions, the court was becoming overburdened.

This situation led the 1965 General Assembly to submit a proposed amendment to Article IV of the North Carolina Constitution The new amendment authorized the creation of an intermediate court of appeals to relieve pressure on the N.C. Supreme Court by sharing the appellate caseload.

The voters overwhelmingly approved this recommendation in the November, 1965, election. The 1967 General Assembly enacted the necessary legislation establishing the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the court became operational on October 1, 1967.

The Court of Appeals opened with nine judges to be elected for eight-year terms. Three more seats came in 1977 and in 2000 the number was increased to fifteen judges. They sit in panels of three thus allowing the court to deal with five separate cases at the same time. Today, eight of the judges are men and seven are women.

The Governor names a replacement for any vacancy and that judge must run at the next general election. The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals is appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. All judicial races in North Carolina are non-party elections.

Each year the Court of Appeals will hear about 2,000 cases, most from the trial courts throughout the state. Cases before the Court of Appeals in which one of the three judges’ does not agree will go up to the Supreme Court of North Carolina as well as all first-degree murder cases involving the death penalty.

Dick Ellis
Public Information Office
N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts