North Carolina has four statutory methods of municipal annexation. They are: 1. Voluntary annexation of contiguous areas (G.S. 160A-31 and -31.1). 2. Voluntary annexation of noncontiguous areas (G.S. 160A-58 through -58.8). 3. Involuntary annexation by cities of less than 5,000 (G.S. 160A-33 through -42). 4. Involuntary annexation by cities of 5,000 and more (G.S. 160A-45 through -54). In addition, the General Assembly retains the power to annex territory to a city. (Only the General Assembly has authority to deannex, or remove, property from a city.) The two voluntary annexation procedures are relatively noncontroversial, as opposed to the two involuntary annexation procedures, which indeed are quite controversial. It is the purpose of this website to provide information on how the various annexation procedures work, on the historical development of annexation legislation in North Carolina, on the policy arguments in favor of and in opposition to the involuntary annexation procedures, and on current annexation legislation before the North Carolina General Assembly. There is also a link to a short report that compares annexation procedures nationally. The site includes these features, each of which can be reached through the menu on the left side of this page.