NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 900
SENATE BILL 631

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE NORTH CAROLINA AGENCY FOR PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Article 9 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Part 20 to read as follows:
"PART 20.
"NORTH CAROLINA AGENCY FOR PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS.
"§ 143B-422.1.  Definitions. — As used in this Part, except where the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1)	'Agency' means the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications.
(2)	'Board' means the Board of Public Telecommunications Commissioners.
(3)	'Telecommunications' means any origination, creation, transmission, emission, storage-retrieval, or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds, or intelligence of any nature, by wire, radio, television, optical or other electromagnetic systems.
"§ 143B-422.2.  North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications; creation; membership; appointments, terms and vacancies; officers; meetings and quorum; compensation. — The North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications is created. It is governed by the Board of Public Telecommunications Commissioners, composed of 27 members as follows:
(1)	a Chairman appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the Governor;
(2)	10 at-large members, appointed by the Governor from the general public;
(3)	two members of the North Carolina House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(4)	two members of the North Carolina Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate;
(5)	the Secretary of Administration, ex officio;
(6)	the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The University of North Carolina Center for Public Television (if and when established), ex officio;
(7)	the Chairman of the State Board of Education, ex officio;
(8)	the Chairman of the North Carolina Privacy and Freedom of Information Commission (if and when established), ex officio;
(9)	the Chairman of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, ex officio;
(10)	the Director of the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, ex officio;
(11)	the Chairman of the Public Radio Advisory Committee of the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications, ex officio;
(12)	the Superintendent of Public Instruction, ex officio;
(13)	the President of The University of North Carolina, ex officio;
(14)	the President of the Department of Community Colleges, ex officio; and
(15)	two members ex officio who shall rotate from among the remaining heads of departments enumerated in G.S. 143A-11 or G.S. 143B-6, appointed by the Governor.
The 10 at-large members shall serve for terms staggered as follows: four terms shall expire on June 30, 1980; and three terms shall expire on June 30 Sand three terms shall expire on June 30, 1984. Thereafter, the members at large shall be appointed for full four-year terms and until their successors are appointed and qualified. In making appointments of members at large, the Governor shall seek to appoint persons from the various geographic areas of the State including both urban and rural areas; persons from various classifications as to sex, race, age, and handicapped persons; and persons who are representatives of the public broadcast, commercial broadcast nonbroadcast distributive systems and private education communities of the State.
The terms of the ex officio members are coterminous with their respective terms of office. In the event that any of the offices represented on the Board ceases to exist, the successor officer to the designated member shall become an ex officio member of the Board; if there shall be no successor then the position on the Board shall be filled by a member to be appointed by the Governor from the general public. The ex officio members shall have the right to vote.
The terms of the members of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate are coterminous with their terms in office and until their successors are appointed and qualified.
The terms of the rotating ex officio members shall be of one-year duration, and the schedule of rotation is determined by the Governor.
Each State official who serves on the Board may designate a representative of his department, agency or institution to sit in his place on the Board and to exercise fully the official's privileges of membership.
The Secretary of Administration or his designee serves as secretary of the Board.
Ad interim appointments to fill vacancies on the Board are for the balance of the unexpired term and are made in the same manner as was the original
The Governor may remove any member of the Board from office in accordance with the provisions of G.S.143B-16.
The Board meets quarterly and at other times at the call of the Chairman or upon written request of at least six members.
A majority of the Board members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
"§ 143B-422.3.  Purpose of Agency. — The North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications shall serve as an instrumentality of the State of North Carolina for the accomplishment of the following general purposes:
(1)	to advise the Governor, the Council of State, the principal State departments, The University of North Carolina, the Genera1 Assembly and all other State agencies and institutions on all matters of telecommunications policy as may affect the State of North Carolina and its citizens;
(2)	to foster and stimulate the use of telecommunications programming, services and systems for noncommercial educational and cultural purposes by public agencies for the improvement of the performance of governmental services and functions; .
(3)	to serve State government, local governments and other public agencies and councils in the following ways:
(a)	to provide a clearinghouse of information about innovative projects, programs or demonstrations in telecommunications;
(b)	to provide advice on the acquisition, location and operation of telecommunications systems, equipment, and facilities and to provide particularly such advice as may foster compatibility of systems, equipment and facilities and as may reduce or eliminate duplication or mismatching of systems and facilities;
(c)	to provide advice on the disposition of excess or unused telecommunications equipment;
(d)	to provide information and advice on new telecommunications developments and emerging technologies;
(e)	to provide advice on procurement matters on all purchases and contracts for telecommunications systems, programming and services;
(f)	to provide information and advice on the most cost-effective means of using telecommunications for management, operations and service delivery;
(g)	to provide advice and assistance in the evaluation of alternative media programming so that the most efficient and effective products may be developed and used;
(h)	to provide advice and assistance in the identification of various methods of distributing programs and materials;
(4)	to study the utilization of the frequency spectrum and to advise appropriate authorities as to effective frequency management;
(5)	to assist in the development of a State plan or plans for the best development of telecommunications systems, both public and private, to insure that all citizens of North Carolina will enjoy the benefits which such systems may deliver;
(6)	in addition to and not in place of the programs, projects, and services of The University of North Carolina Center for Public Television (or its functional predecessor), to develop and provide media programs and programming materials and services of a noncommercial educational, informational, cultural or scientific nature;
(7)	to undertake innovative projects in interactive telecommunications and teleconferencing whenever such projects might serve to improve services, expand opportunities for citizen participation in government and reduce the costs of delivering a service;
(8)	to serve as a means of acquiring governmental and private funds for use in the development of services through telecommunications;
(9)	to serve as a means of distributing State funds and awarding grants for any purpose determined to be in furtherance of the purposes of this Part;
(10)	to operate such telecommunications facilities or systems as may fall within the purview of this Part or as may be assigned to the Agency by the the Governor, by the General Assembly, or by the Secretary of Administration consistent with the provisions of G.S. 143-340(14);
(11)	to review, assess and report to the Governor on an annual basis on the telecommunications needs and services of State and local government and on the production capabilities and services, the nonproduction services, and the research and development services offered by the Agency and by all other agencies of State government;
(12)	to review, assess and report to the Governor, after a period of not less than two years and not more than three years after the enactment of this Part, on the telecommunications statutes, plans and operations in State government, including those resulting from the enactment of this Part and from revision of statutes pertaining to telecommunications in the Department of Administration;
(13)	to serve as liaison between State government and local governments, regional organizations, the federal government, foundations and other states and nations on common telecommunications concerns;
(14)	to study and evaluate all existing or proposed statutes, rules or regulations at all levels of government touching upon or affecting telecommunications policy, services, systems, programming, rates or funds and to advise the appropriate officials, agencies and councils;
(15)	to acquire, construct, equip, maintain, develop and improve such facilities as may be necessary to the fulfillment of the purpose of the Part;
(16)	to provide information and advice on any related matter which may be referred to it by any agency or council of State or local government;
(17)	and in general to do and perform any act or function which may tend to be useful toward the development and improvement of telecommunications services within State government and which may increase the delivery of services through telecommunications programs or systems.
The enumeration of the above purposes shall not limit or circumscribe the broad objective of developing to the utmost the possibilities of telecommunications programming, services and systems in the State of North Carolina.
"§ 143B-422.4.  Powers of Agency. — In order to enable it to carry out the purposes of this Part, the Agency:
(1)	has the powers of a body corporate, including the power to sue and be sued, to make contracts, to hold and own copyrights and to adopt and use a common seal and to alter the same as may be deemed expedient;
(2)	may make all necessary contracts and arrangements with any parties which will serve the purposes and facilitate the business of the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications; except that, the Agency may not contract or enter into any agreement for the production by the Agency of programs or programming materials with any person, group, or organization other than government agencies; principal State departments; public and noncommercial broadcast licensees;
(3)	may rent, lease, buy, own, acquire, mortgage, or otherwise encumber and dispose of such property, real or personal; and construct, maintain, equip and operate any facilities, buildings, studios, equipment, materials, supplies and systems as said Board may deem proper to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Part;
(4)	may establish an office for the transaction of its business at such place or places as the Board deems advisable or necessary in carrying out the purposes of this Part;
(5)	may apply for and accept loans and grants of money from any federal agency or the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof or from any public or private sources for any and all of the purposes authorized in this Part; may extend or distribute the funds in accordance with directions and requirements attached thereto or imposed thereon by the federal agency, the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof, or any public or private lender or donor; and may give such evidences of indebtedness as shall be required, but no indebtedness of any kind incurred or created by the Agency shall constitute an indebtedness of the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof, and no such indebtedness shall involve or be secured by the faith, credit or taxing power of the State of North Carolina or any political subdivision thereof. At no time may the total outstanding indebtedness of the Agency, excluding bond indebtedness, exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) without approval of the Advisory Budget Commission;
(6)	may pay all necessary costs and expenses involved in and incident to the formation and organization of the Agency and incident to the administration and operation thereof, and may pay all other costs and expenses reasonably necessary or expedient in carrying out and accomplishing the purposes of this Part;
(7)	subject to the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission and under such conditions as the Board may deem appropriate to the accomplishment of the purposes of this Part, may distribute in the form of grants, gifts, or loans any of the revenues and earnings received by the Agency from its operations;
(8)	may adopt, alter or repeal its own bylaws, rules and regulations governing the manner in which its business may be transacted and in which the power granted to it may be exercised, and may provide for the creation of such divisions and for the appointment of such committees, and the functions thereof, as the Board deems necessary or expedient in facilitating the business and purposes of the Agency;
(9)	the Board shall be responsible for all management functions of the Agency. The Chairman shall serve as the chief executive officer and shall have the responsibility of executing the policies of the Board. The Executive Director shall be the chief operating and administrative officer and shall be responsible for carrying out the decisions made by the Board and its Chairman. The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Board and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The salary of the Executive Director shall be fixed by the Governor subject to the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission. Subject to the approval of the Board, the Executive Director may appoint, employ, dismiss and fix the compensation of such administrative, clerical and other employees as the Board deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this Part; but the salaries of all employees designated by the Board as professional personnel shall be fixed by the Governor; and any employee who serves as the director of any division of the agency which may be established by the Board shall be appointed with the additional approval of the Secretary of Administration. There shall be an executive committee consisting of three of the appointed members and three of the ex officio members elected by the Board and the Chairman of the Board, who shall serve as chairman of the executive committee. The executive committee may do all acts which are authorized by the bylaws of the Agency. Members of the executive committee shall serve until their successors are elected;
(10)	may do any and all other acts and things in this Part authorized or required to be done, whether or not included in the general powers in this section; and
(11)	may do any and all things necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Part.
Nothing herein authorizes the Agency to exercise any control over any public noncommercial broadcast licensee, its staff or facilities or over any community antenna television system (Cable TV; CATV), its staff, employees or facilities operating in North Carolina, or the Police Information Network (PIN), its staff, employees or facilities or the Judicial Department.
The property of the Agency shall not be subject to any taxes or assessments.
"§ 143B-422.5.  Public Radio Advisory Committee; policy; creation; duties; members. — It is the policy of the State of North Carolina that at least one public radio signal shall be made available to every resident of North Carolina, that there be diversity in the kinds of public radio licensees, that there be a uniform policy for extending State financial aid to stations eligible to participate in federal funds for public radio, that State financial support shall constitute less than one half of the operating budget of any station, that program content shall not be influenced by the State by virtue of State financial support to the stations, and that technical facilities be established and operated to achieve station interconnection.
The Public Radio Advisory Committee of the North Carolina Agency on Public Telecommunications is created. That Committee shall advise the Board on the distribution of State funds to public radio licensees in North Carolina and on any other matter which the Board may refer to it. There shall be nine - members of said Committee; three of whom shall be representatives selected by the public radio broadcast licensees in the State; six of whom shall be at-large members chosen by the Governor from the general public. The members shall choose one of the at-large members to serve as Chairman of the Committee; and that Chairman shall serve ex officio as a member of the Board. The terms of the members of the Committee shall be established by the Board.
"§ 143B-422.6.  Approval of acquisition and disposition of real property — Any transaction relating to the acquisition or disposition of any estate or interest in real property by the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications shall be subject to prior review by the Governor and Council of State, and shall become effective only after the transaction has been approved by the Governor and Council of State. Upon the acquisition of an estate in real property by the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications, the fee title or other estate shall vest in and the instrument of conveyance shall name 'North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications' as grantee, lessee, or transferee. Upon the disposition of an interest or estate in real property, the instrument of lease conveyance or transfer shall be executed by the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications. The approval of any transaction by the Governor or Council of State shall be evidenced by a duly certified copy of excerpt of minutes of the meeting of the Governor and the Council of State, attested by the Governor or by the private secretary to the Governor, reciting the approval, affixed to the instrument of acquisition or transfer; the certificate may be recorded as a part of the instrument, and shall be conclusive evidence of review and approval of the subject transaction by the Governor and Council of State. The Governor, acting with the approval of the Council of State, may delegate the review and approval of such classes of lease, rental, easement or right-of-way transactions as he deems advisable, and he may likewise delegate the review and approval of the severance of buildings and timber from the land.
"§ 143B-422.7.  Issuance of bonds. — (a) As a means of raising the funds needed from time to time in the acquisition, construction, equipment, maintenance and operation of any facility, building, structure, telecommunications equipment or systems or any other matter or thing which the Agency is herein authorized to acquire, construct, equip, maintain, or operate, the Agency may, with the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission, at one time or from time to time issue negotiable revenue bonds of the Agency. The principal and interest of the revenue bonds shall be payable solely from the revenues to be derived from the operation of all or any part of the Agency's properties and facilities. A pledge of the net revenues derived from the operation of specified properties and facilities of the Agency may be made to secure the payment of the bonds as they mature. Revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this Part shall not be deemed to constitute a debt of the State of North Carolina or a pledge of the faith and credit of the State. The issuance of revenue bonds shall not directly or indirectly or contingently obligate the State to levy or to pledge any form of taxation whatever therefor or to make any appropriation for their payment. The bonds and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation within the State.
"§ 143B-422.8.  Exchange of property; removal of building, etc. — The Agency may exchange any property or properties acquired under the authority of this Chapter for other property or properties usable in carrying out the powers hereby conferred, and also may remove from lands needed for its purposes and reconstruct on other locations, buildings, facilities, equipment, telecommunications systems or other structures, upon the payment of just compensation.
"§ 143B-422.9.  Treasurer of the Agency. — The Board shall select its own treasurer from among the at-large members. The Board shall require a corporate surety bond of the treasurer in an amount fixed by the Board, and the premium or premiums thereon shall be paid by the Board as a necessary expense of the Agency.
"§ 143B-422.10.  Deposit and disbursement of funds. — All Agency funds shall be handled in accordance with the Executive Budget Act.
"§ 143B-422.11.  Annual audit; copies to be furnished. — At least once in each year the State Auditor shall cause to be made a detailed audit of all monies received and disbursed by the Agency during the preceding year. The audit shall show the several sources from which funds were received and the balance on hand at the beginning and end of the preceding year and shall show complete financial condition of the Agency. A copy of the audit shall be furnished to each member of the Board and to the officers thereof and to the Governor, the Department of Administration and the Attorney General.
"§ 143B-422.12.  Purchase of supplies, material and equipment. — All the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes relating to the purchase of supplies, material and equipment by the State government are applicable to the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications.
"§ 143B-422.13.  Liberal construction of Part. — It is intended that the provisions of this Part shall be liberally construed to accomplish the purposes provided for herein."
Sec. 2.  The costs incurred in providing facilities, equipment, staff, and operating expenses of the Agency for Public Telecommunications shall be paid from funds appropriated to the Department of Administration for that purpose.
Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon July 1, 1979.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 8th day of June, 1979.