North Carolina § 138A-45 - Violation consequences.

§ 138A-45. Violation consequences.

Violation of this Chapter by any covered person or legislative employee is grounds for disciplinary action. Except as specifically provided in this Chapter and for perjury under G.S. 138A-12 and G.S. 138A-24, no criminal penalty shall attach for any violation of this Chapter. The willful failure of any public servant serving on a board to comply with of this Chapter is misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance. In the event of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance, the offending public servant serving on a board is subject to removal from the board of which the public servant is a member. For appointees of the Governor and members of the Council of State, the appointing authority may remove the offending public servant. For appointees of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House of Representatives may remove the offending public servant. For appointees of the General Assembly made upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Governor at the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives may remove the offending public servant. For appointees of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate may remove the offending public servant. For appointees of the General Assembly made upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Governor at the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate may remove the offending public servant. For public servants elected to a board by either the Senate or House of Representatives, the electing house of the General Assembly shall exercise the discretion of whether to remove the offending public servant. For all other appointees, the Commission shall exercise the discretion of whether to remove the offending public servant. The willful failure of any public servant serving as a State employee to comply with of this Chapter is a violation of a written work order, thereby permitting disciplinary action as allowed by the law, including termination from employment. For employees of State departments headed by a member of the Council of State, the appropriate member of the Council of State shall make all final decisions on the manner in which the offending public servant shall be disciplined. For public servants who are judicial employees, the Chief Justice shall make all final decisions on the matter in which the offending judicial employee shall be disciplined. For legislative employees, the Legislative Services Commission shall make or refer to the hiring authority all final decisions on the matter in which the offending legislative employee shall be disciplined. For public servants appointed or elected for The University of North Carolina or the Community Colleges System, the appointing or electing authority shall make all final decisions on the matter in which the offending public servant shall be disciplined. For any other public servant serving as a State employee, the Governor shall make all final decisions on the manner in which the offending public servant shall be disciplined. The willful failure of any constitutional officer of the State to comply with of this Chapter is malfeasance in office for purposes of G.S. 123-5. The willful failure of a legislator, other than the Lieutenant Governor, to comply with of this Chapter is grounds for sanctions under G.S. 120-103.1. Nothing in this Chapter affects the power of the State to prosecute any person for any violation of the criminal law. The Commission may seek to enjoin violations of G.S. 138A-34. History (2006-201, s. 1; 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), (b).) Editor's Note. - This section was recodified as now former G.S. 163A-415 by Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3. Former G.S. 163A-415 was then re-recodified as this section by Session Laws 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), effective January 31, 2019. The historical citation from the former section has been added to this section as re-recodified. For effective date and applicability for this Chapter, see Editor's note at G.S. 138A-1. Session Laws 2013-156, s. 3, provides: "The State Ethics Commission may not require any individual serving on a metropolitan planning organization or rural transportation planning organization, who are not also members of the Board of Transportation, who has not yet complied with G.S. 138A-13 to complete ethics education as required by that statute, and may not apply Article 5 of Chapter 138A of the General Statutes to any of those individuals. The State Ethics Commission is authorized to destroy the statement of economic interest forms that were filed by individuals pursuant to G.S. 136-202(e) and G.S. 136-211(e) and any associated written evaluation of those forms if the filer does not have authority to give final approval for actions of the metropolitan planning organization or rural transportation planning organization on which the filer serves and is not otherwise a covered person required to file a statement of economic interest." Session Laws 2017-6, s. 22, provides in part: "Notwithstanding the recodification in Section 3 of this act, the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement shall not administer or enforce Part 1, Part 3, or Part 6 of Article 8 of Chapter 163A of the General Statutes, and the State Board shall maintain the authority to administer and enforce Articles 2, 4, and 8 of Chapter 120C of the General Statutes, as those Articles existed on May 1, 2017, until October 1, 2017." Session Laws 2018-146, s. 3.1(b), effective January 31, 2019, repealed Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3, which had recodified this section. Table of Comparable Sections for Chapter 138A . Table of Comparable Sections for Chapter 163A of the North Carolina General Statutes Re-recodified Into Chapter 138A Editor's Note. - The following table shows G.S. sections in Chapter 138A , and their former section numbers in Chapter 163A . Former Section Section Chapter 163A Chapter 138A Subchapter II Article 1 Article 5 138A-1 163A-150 138A-2 163A-151 138A-3 163A-152 138A-4 163A-153 Article 2 Article 1 138A-6 163A-1 138A-7 163A-2 138A-8 163A-3 138A-9 163A-5 Article 5 138A-10 163A-154 138A-11 163A-155 138A-12 163A-156 138A-13 163A-157 138A-13.5 Added by 2018-146 - no Chapter 163A counterpart 138A-14 163A-158 138A-15 163A-159 Article 3 Article 6 138A-21 163A-186 138A-22 163A-187 138A-23 163A-188 138A-24 163A-189 138A-25 163A-190 138A-26 163A-191 138A-27 163A-192 138A-28 163A-193 Article 4 Article 7 138A-31 163A-211 138A-32 163A-212 138A-33 163A-213 138A-34 163A-214 138A-35 163A-215 138A-36 163A-216 138A-37 163A-217 138A-38 163A-218 138A-39 163A-219 138A-40 163A-220 138A-41 163A-221 Article 5 Article 9 138A-45 163A-415