Article 1.
The General Statutes.
§ 164‑1. Title of revision.
This revision shall be known as the "General Statutes of North Carolina" and may be cited in either of the following ways: "General Statutes of North Carolina"; or "General Statutes"; or "G.S."; or "N.C. Gen. Stat."; or "N.C.G.S." (1985, c. 609, s. 6.)
§ 164‑2. Effect as to repealing other statutes.
All public and general statutes not contained in the General Statutes of North Carolina are hereby repealed with the exceptions and limitations hereafter mentioned in this Chapter. No statute or law which has been heretofore repealed shall be revived by the repeal contained in any of the sections of the General Statutes of North Carolina or by the omission of any repealing statute from the General Statutes. All public and general statutes enacted at the regular session of the General Assembly of 1943 shall be deemed to repeal any conflicting provisions of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
§ 164‑3. Repeal not to affect rights accrued or suits commenced.
The repeal of the statutes described in G.S. 164‑2 shall not affect any act done, any right accruing, accrued or established, or any action or proceeding had or commenced in any case before the time when such repeal shall take effect, but the proceedings in any such case shall be conformed, when necessary, to the provisions of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
§ 164‑4. Offenses, penalties and liabilities not affected.
No offense committed, no penalty or forfeiture incurred, no liability arising, and no remedy availed of, under any of the statutes hereby repealed, before the time when such repeal shall take effect shall be affected by the repeal.
§ 164‑5. Pending actions and proceedings not affected.
No action or proceeding pending at the time of the repeal, for any offense committed, or for the recovery of any penalty or forfeiture incurred under any of the statutes hereby repealed shall be affected by such repeal, except that the proceedings in such action or proceeding shall be conformed, when necessary, to the provisions of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
§ 164‑6. Effect of repeal on persons holding office.
All persons who at the time the General Statutes of North Carolina becomes effective shall hold any office under any of the statutes hereby repealed shall continue to hold the same according to the tenure thereof.
§ 164‑7. Statutes not repealed.
The General Statutes of North Carolina shall not have the effect of repealing statutes or provisions of statutes which affect only a particular locality, public‑local or private statutes, statutes exempting pending litigation from operation of statutes, statutes relating to the boundary of the State or of any county, acts ceding or relating to the ceding of lands of the State to the federal government, statutes relating to the Cherokee lands, statutes relating to the construction or interpretation of statutes, statutes by virtue of which bonds have been issued and are outstanding on the effective date of the General Statutes, validating acts or curative statutes, or acts granting pensions to named individuals if such statutes were in force on the effective date of the General Statutes.
§ 164‑8. General Statutes of North Carolina effective December 31, 1943.
All provisions, chapters, subdivisions of chapters and sections contained in the General Statutes of North Carolina shall be in force from and after the thirty‑first day of December 1943.
§ 164‑9. Completion of General Statutes by Division of Legislative Drafting and Codification of Statutes.
The Division of Legislative Drafting and Codification of Statutes of the State Department of Justice, under the direction and supervision of the Attorney General, shall complete and perfect the General Statutes, as enacted by the General Assembly of 1943, by changing all references therein to the "Code," "North Carolina Code," "Code of 1943" or "North Carolina Code of 1943" to read "General Statutes," and by causing to be inserted therein all such general public statutes as may be enacted at the 1943 Session of the General Assembly and all amendments, in their proper places in sections under the appropriate chapter and subdivisions of chapters, and by deleting all sections or portions of sections found to be expressly repealed, or found to be repealed by virtue of the repeal of any cognate sections or parts of sections of the Consolidated Statutes or session laws, and by deleting repealed provisions and substituting in lieu thereof all proper amendments of the General Statutes or of cognate sections of the Consolidated Statutes or session laws; and the Division is hereby authorized to change the number of sections and chapters, transfer sections, chapters and subdivisions of chapters and make such other corrections which do not change the law, as may be found by the Division necessary in making an accurate, clear, and orderly statement of said laws. After the completion of such codification of the general and public laws of 1943, such laws, as they appear in the printed volumes of the General Statutes, shall be deemed an accurate codification of the statutes of 1943 contained therein. (1943, c. 15, s. 3.)
§ 164‑10. Supplements to the General Statutes; rearrangement of laws, and correction of errors.
The Legislative Services Office shall have the following duties and powers with regard to the supplements to the General Statutes:
(1) Within six months after the adjournment of each General Assembly, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Legislative Services Office shall cause to be published under its supervision, cumulative supplements to the General Statutes, and any replacement or recompiled volumes thereof, which shall contain an accurate transcription of all laws of a general and permanent nature enacted by the General Assembly, the material contained in the next preceding supplement, complete and accurate annotations to the statutes, appendix and other material accumulated since the publication of the next preceding supplement, and a cumulative index of said material.
(2) Periodically, every six months after the publication and issuance of a cumulative supplement following a session of the General Assembly, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Legislative Services Office shall cause to be published an interim supplement containing all pertinent annotations and other material found by the Legislative Services Office to be necessary and proper, accumulating since the publication of the said cumulative supplement or the last interim supplement.
(3) In the preparation of the general and permanent laws enacted by the General Assembly the Legislative Services Office is hereby authorized:
a. To rearrange the order of chapters, subchapters, articles, sections and other divisions or subdivisions;
b. To provide titles for any such divisions or subdivisions and section titles or catchlines when they are not provided by such laws;
c. To adopt a uniform system of lettering or numbering sections and the various subdivisions thereof and to reletter or renumber sections and section subdivisions in accordance with such uniform system;
d. To rearrange definitions in alphabetical order;
e. To rearrange lists of counties in alphabetical order; and
f. To make such other changes in arrangement and form that do not change the law as may be found by the Legislative Services Office necessary for an accurate, clear and orderly codification of such general and permanent laws. (1945, c. 863; 1947, c. 150; 1951, c. 1149, s. 1; 1957, c. 1013; 2011‑97, s. 3.)
§ 164‑11. Supplements prima facie statement of laws; method of citation.
(a) The supplements to the General Statutes of North Carolina, or to any replacement or recompiled volumes of the General Statutes, when printed under the supervision of the Legislative Services Office shall establish prima facie the general and permanent laws of North Carolina contained in said supplements.
(b) The cumulative pocket supplement may be cited as "G.S., Supp. 19 _____" and the interim supplement may be cited as _____ G.S. In. Supp. 19 _____," the blank in front of "G.S." to be filled in with the number of the interim supplement for that year. (1945, c. 863; 1951, c. 1149, s. 2; 2011‑97, s. 4.)
§ 164‑11.1. Cumulative Supplements prima facie evidence of laws.
The 1945, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, and 1957 Cumulative Supplements to the General Statutes of North Carolina, or to any replacement or recompiled volumes of the General Statutes as compiled and published by The Michie Company under the supervision of the Department of Justice of the State of North Carolina, are hereby constituted and declared to be prima facie evidence of the laws of North Carolina contained in said supplements. (1949, c. 45; 1951, c. 1149, s. 3; 1953, c. 140; 1955, c. 53; 1957, c. 371.)
§ 164‑11.2. Adoption of 1950 Volumes 2A, 2B and 2C of the General Statutes.
The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, now comprising Volume 2 of the General Statutes of North Carolina and the Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 26‑1 through 105‑462 now in force as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Volumes 2A, 2B and 2C, respectively, of the General Statutes of North Carolina: Provided, that this enactment of Volumes 2A, 2B and 2C shall not include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments, cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material collateral or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body thereof. (1951, c. 900.)
§ 164‑11.3. Adoption of 1952 Volumes 3A, 3B and 3C of the General Statutes.
The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 3 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 106‑1 through 166‑13, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Volumes 3A, 3B and 3C respectively of the General Statutes of North Carolina. This reenactment of Volumes 3A, 3B and 3C shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1953 Session of the General Assembly, prior to February 18, 1953, nor shall this reenactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1955, c. 43.)
§ 164‑11.4. Adoption of 1953 Volumes 1A, 1B and 1C of the General Statutes.
The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 1 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 1‑1 through 27‑59, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Volumes 1A, 1B and 1C respectively of the General Statutes of North Carolina. This enactment of Volumes 1A, 1B and 1C shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1955 Session of the General Assembly, prior to February 11, 1955, nor shall this enactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1955, c. 43.)
§ 164‑11.5. Adoption of 1958 Replacement Volumes 2C and 3B of the General Statutes.
(a) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 2C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 83‑1 through 105‑462, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Replacement Volume 2C of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 3B of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 117‑1 through 150‑34, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Replacement Volume 3B of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(c) This enactment of Replacement Volumes 2C and 3B shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1959 Session of the General Assembly, prior to February 24, 1959, nor shall this enactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1959, c. 12.)
§ 164‑11.6. Adoption of 1960 Replacement Volumes 2B and 3A of the General Statutes.
(a) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 2B of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 53‑1 through 82‑18, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as Replacement Volume 2B of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 3A of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 106‑1 through 116‑185, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated Replacement Volume 3A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(c) This enactment of Replacement Volumes 2B and 3A shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1961 Session of the General Assembly, prior to March 14, 1961, nor shall this enactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1961, cc. 38, 185; 2012‑156, s. 49; 2012‑194, s 53.)
§ 164‑11.7. Adoption of 1965 Replacement Volumes 2B, 2C and 2D and 1964 Replacement Volumes 3B, 3C and 3D of the General Statutes.
(a) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volumes 2B and 2C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 53‑1 to 105‑462, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as 1965 Replacement Volumes 2B, 2C and 2D of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volumes 3B and 3C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 117‑1 to 167‑3, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as 1964 Replacement Volumes 3B, 3C and 3D of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(c) This enactment of 1965 Replacement Volumes 2B, 2C and 2D and 1964 Replacement Volumes 3B, 3C and 3D shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1965 Session of the General Assembly, prior to May 14, 1965, nor shall this enactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to the said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1965, c. 544; 2012‑156, s. 50; 2012‑194, s 53.)
§ 164‑11.8. Adoption of 1965 Replacement Volumes 1C and 1D and 1966 Replacement Volumes 2A and 3A of the General Statutes.
(a) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising Volume 1C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 15‑1 to 27‑59, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as 1965 Replacement Volumes 1C and 1D of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising 1950 Recompiled Volume 2A of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 28‑1 to 52A‑20, now in force, as amended, is hereby reenacted and designated as 1966 Replacement Volume 2A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(c) The chapters, subchapters, articles and sections now comprising 1960 Replacement Volume 3A of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplements thereto, consisting of G.S. 106‑1 to 116‑211, now in force, as amended, is hereby reenacted and designated as 1966 Replacement Volume 3A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(d) This enactment of 1965 Replacement Volumes 1C and 1D and 1966 Replacement Volumes 2A and 3A shall not be construed to invalidate or repeal any acts which have been passed during the 1967 Session of the General Assembly, prior to the date of ratification, nor shall this enactment include any appended annotations, editorial notes, comments and cross references, legislative or historical references, or other material connected or supplemental to said chapters, subchapters, articles and sections, but not contained in the body hereof. (1967, c. 1266.)
§ 164‑11.9. Adoption of 1969 Replacement Volumes 1A and 1B of the General Statutes.
(a) The chapters and sections thereof now comprising Volume 1A of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 1‑1 through 1B‑8 now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as 1969 Replacement Volume 1A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) The chapters and sections thereof now comprising Volume 1B of the General Statutes of North Carolina and Cumulative Supplement thereto, consisting of G.S. 2‑1 through 14‑431, now in force, as amended, are hereby reenacted and designated as 1969 Replacement Volume 1B of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
This reenactment and designation shall not operate as ratification of the judgment of the editors in placing certain sections of this volume in the "1970 Interim Supplement" to Volume 1B. Such sections shall be treated in all respects as if they appear within the bound replacement volume. (1971, c. 135.)