New Election Procedures for School Board
School board elections will now be held all at once, with the new election cycle starting in 2016. Since 1981, members of the board were elected in staggered four-year races, but this year’s elections will be the last to follow such a format. Districts 1, 2, 7, and 9 will be elected to special two-year terms and members elected in 2011 will have their terms expire as scheduled in time for 2016 elections. The number of board members will remain the same, but now seven members will serve four-year terms from seven numbered districts and two members will serve two-year terms from two at-large districts. New district maps were also drawn for the changes. Republicans won the measure 70 to 42 in the House and 33 to 15 in the Senate, with Gov. Pat McCrory’s signature settling the debate.
Copy of the new school board law.
Lethal Injection Modifications Nearly Law
The Senate bill ensuring medical practitioners could not be penalized by their respective professional boards made its way to Gov. McCrory’s desk Thursday. Should he sign it into law, doctors and other health care professionals called on to perform lethal injections at Central Prison could not receive any kind of reprimand from organizations such as the North Carolina Medical Board or the North Carolina Board of Nursing. In fact, because of the bill’s language, lethal injection would not even be considered a surgical procedure or medical practice. If it does become law, the task of setting an execution date would no longer be the sentencing judge’s responsibility – that duty would go to the Department of Public Safety. Both House and Senate were split staunchly along party lines, with vote counts coming in at 77 to 39 and 33 to 15 respectively.
