Yesterday, the General Assembly overrode Governor Cooper’s veto to enact S.L. 2024-57 (S 382). The legislation, which was focused in part on disaster recovery following Hurricane Helene, impacts the court system in several notable ways: It appropriates $8.2 million to the Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) to ensure timely payments to private assigned counsel representing indigent defendants (Section 2D.3); It creates two new special superior court judgeships to be filled by legislative appointment (Section 2D.4(a)); It eliminates, as of January 1, 2029, two superior court districts, one in Wake County and one in Forsyth County (Section 2D.5); It modifies the process for filling vacancies on the appellate courts (Section 3C.1); It abolishes the Courts Commission (Section 3C.2); It provides for appointment of senior resident superior court judges by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (Section 3C.3); and It authorizes the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to employ or retain counsel to represent judicial branch officers and employees (Section 3D.2). IDS appropriation. The News and Observer reported in September that without legislative action, IDS would likely run out of money in the spring to pay private assigned counsel. IDS Director Mary Pollard openly worried that the estimated $39 million budget shortfall would drive away more attorneys from the dwindling number who remain willing to accept court-appointed cases. S 382 filled a portion of the forecasted budgetary gap by appropriating $8.2 million in nonrecurring funds “to be used to provide timely payments to private assigned [...]
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