2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 7A-375. Judicial Standards Commission.

Article 30.

Judicial Standards Commission.

§ 7A‑375.  Judicial Standards Commission.

(a)       The Judicial Standards Commission shall consist of: one Court of Appeals judge, one superior court judge, and one district court judge, each appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; two members of the State Bar who have actively practiced in the courts of the State for at least 10 years, elected by the State Bar Council; and two citizens who are not judges, active or retired, nor members of the State Bar, appointed by the Governor. The Court of Appeals judge shall act as chair of the Commission.

(b)       Terms of Commission members shall be for six years, except that, to achieve overlapping of terms, one of the judges, one of the practicing members of the State Bar, and one of the citizens shall be appointed initially for a term of only three years.  No member who has served a full six‑year term is eligible for reappointment.  If a member ceases to have the qualifications required for his appointment, he ceases to be a member. Vacancies are filled in the same manner as the original appointment, for the remainder of the term.  Members who are not judges are entitled to per diem and all members are entitled to reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses at the rate applicable to members of State boards and commissions generally, for each day engaged in official business.

(c)       If a member of the Commission who is a judge becomes disabled, or becomes a respondent before the Commission, the Chief Justice shall appoint an alternate member to serve during the period of disability or disqualification.  The alternate member shall be from the same division of the General Court of Justice as the judge whose place he takes.  If a member of the Commission who is not a judge becomes disabled, the Governor, if he appointed the disabled member, shall appoint, or the State Bar Council, if it elected the disabled member, shall elect, an alternate member to serve during the period of disability.  In a particular case, if a member disqualifies himself, or is successfully challenged for cause, his seat for that case shall be filled by an alternate member selected as provided in this subsection.

(d)       A member may serve after expiration of his term only to participate until the conclusion of a formal proceeding begun before expiration of his term. Such participation shall not prevent his successor from taking office, but the successor may not participate in the proceeding for which his predecessor's term was extended. This subsection shall apply also to any judicial member whose membership on the Commission is automatically terminated by retirement or resignation from judicial office, or expiration of the term of judicial office. (1971, c. 590, s. 1; 1973, c. 50; 1975, c. 956, s. 13; 1997‑72, s. 1.)