North Carolina § 147-36 - Duties of Secretary of State.

§ 147-36. Duties of Secretary of State.

It is the duty of the Secretary of State: To perform such duties as may then be devolved upon the Secretary by resolution of the two houses of the General Assembly or either of them. To attend the Governor, whenever required by the Governor, for the purpose of receiving documents that have passed the great seal. To receive and keep all conveyances and mortgages belonging to the State. To distribute annually the statutes and the legislative journals. To distribute the acts of Congress received at the Secretary's office in the manner prescribed for the statutes of the State. To keep a receipt book, in which the Secretary shall take from every person to whom a grant shall be delivered, a receipt for the same; but may enclose grants by mail in a registered letter at the expense of the grantee, unless otherwise directed, first entering the same upon the receipt book. To issue charters and all necessary certificates for the incorporation, domestication, suspension, reinstatement, cancellation and dissolution of corporations as may be required by the corporation laws of the State and maintain a record of the charters and necessary certificates issued. To issue certificates of registration of trademarks, labels and designs as may be required by law and maintain a record of those certificates of registration. To maintain a Division of Publications to compile data on the State's several governmental agencies and for legislative reference. To receive, enroll and safely preserve the current edition of the State Constitution and all amendments to that edition and to transfer previous editions of the State Constitution and amendments to those editions to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for preservation and safekeeping in the State Archives. To serve as a member of such boards and commissions as the Constitution and laws of the State may designate. To administer the Securities Law of the State, regulating the issuance and sale of securities, as is now or may be directed. To receive and keep all oaths of public officials required by law to be filed in the Secretary's office, and as Secretary of State, to administer official oaths to any public official of whom an oath is required. To receive and maintain a journal of all appointments made to any State board, agency, commission, council or authority that is filed in the office of the Secretary of State. To regulate the solicitation of contributions pursuant to Chapter 131F of the General Statutes. To apply for and accept grants from the federal government and its agencies and from any foundation, corporation, association, or individual in order to effectuate the purposes of the Nonprofit Corporation Act, Chapter 55A of the General Statutes, and to further aid in the operation and development of nonprofit corporations. The Secretary shall comply with the terms, conditions, and limitations of grants applied for and accepted and shall expend grant funds pursuant to Chapter 143C of the General Statutes, The State Budget Act. History (1868-9, c. 270, s. 45; 1881, c. 63; Code, s. 3340; Rev., s. 5345; C.S., s. 7654; 1941, c. 379, s. 6; 1943, cc. 480, 543; 1967, c. 691, s. 53; 1973, c. 1379, s. 1; 1995, c. 20, s. 9; 1998-212, s. 12.14(c); 1999-316, s. 1; 2006-203, s. 115; 2015-170, s. 4(a); 2015-241, s. 14.30(c).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1995, c. 20, s. 17, provided that sections 1 through 16 of that act would become effective only if the constitutional amendments proposed by Session Laws 1995, c. 5, ss. 1-2 were approved as provided by Session Laws 1995, c. 5, ss. 3-4, and if so approved, sections 1 through 16 would become effective with respect to bills and joint resolutions passed in either house of the General Assembly on or after January 1, 1997. Those constitutional amendments were approved by the voters at the November 1996 election, and certification of the approval was provided to the Secretary of State on November 26, 1996. Session Laws 2015-170, s. 1, provides: "This act shall be known as the Cultural History Artifact Management and Patriotism Act of 2015." Session Laws 2015-170, s. 4(b), provides: "The Secretary of State shall transfer to the Department of Cultural Resources [now Department of Natural and Cultural Resources] all previously adopted editions of the State Constitution and amendments to the State Constitution, other than the current edition and amendments to that edition, and ratified amendments to the United States Constitution. The Secretary of State shall, at the request of the Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, provide timely, on-site access to the Department staff for study and review of all other documents to determine their historical significance. If, during these periodic reviews, the Department identifies historical documents that are no longer legally necessary to remain in the possession of the Secretary of State, the Secretary shall make arrangements to transfer these historical documents to the Department in a timely fashion for preservation and safekeeping in the State Archives. The Department of Cultural Resources shall provide the Secretary with duplicate copies of all documents transferred from the Secretary to the Department." Session Laws 2015-170, s. 4(c), provides: "In 2016, the Department of Cultural Resources [now Department of Natural and Cultural Resources] shall arrange for public displays of, and programs related to, the United States Constitution and amendments and related historical materials to commemorate the 240th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 2016, the Department also shall arrange for public displays of, and programs related to, the State Constitutions and amendments, to coincide with the 240th anniversary of the ratification of North Carolina's first Constitution by the Fifth Provincial Congress. The Department also may consider taking all or part of the displays on a tour of the State. The Department is authorized to accept non-State funds including donations, fund-raising sponsorships, and funding from other sources to defray the costs of these exhibits." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(c), effective July 1, 2015, provides: "The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is renamed the Department of Environmental Quality. All references to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the Department of Cultural Resources in acts of the 2015 General Assembly taking effect on or after the effective date of this section and in the Committee Report described in Section 33.2 of this act shall be construed to refer to the Department of Environmental Quality or the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, respectively. References to duties or requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with respect to entities transferred under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be construed as duties or requirements of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as reorganized by this section." Pursuant to this authority, "Department of Natural and Cultural Resources" was substituted for "Department of Cultural Resources" in subdivision (10). Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-142, s. 2(a)-(d), provides: "(a) There is established the Joint Legislative Study Commission on Efficiency and Cost-Savings in State Government (Commission). "(b) The Commission shall be composed of 10 members appointed as follows: "(1) Five senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. "(2) Five representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. "Vacancies on the Commission shall be filled by the appointing authority. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each designate a cochair. A quorum of the Commission shall be a majority of its members. "The Commission may meet at any time upon call of the chairs. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building. The Commission may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120-32.02. "The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all powers provided for under G.S. 120-19 and G.S. 120-19.1 through G.S. 120-19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them, and the power to subpoena witnesses and documents. "The Legislative Services Commission, through the Legislative Services Officer, shall assign other professional staff to assist the Commission in its work. The House of Representatives' and Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants shall assign clerical staff to the Commission, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Commission. Members of the Commission shall receive subsistence and travel expenses at the rates set forth in G.S. 120-3.1. "(c) The Commission shall use a zero-based budgeting review process to study whether there are obsolete programs, cost-reduction opportunities, or any cases where existing funds can be redirected to meet new and changing demands for public services in the Department of the Secretary of State ("the Department"). The Commission may require the Department to submit written information in a form specified by the Commission by a specified time. The Commission may accept or reject any or part of any information submitted and require revision or resubmission. The Commission may require information as follows: "(1) Identification of decision units. - The Department shall identify decision units representing any group of services with a common set of objectives or comprising a Departmental program or administrative support unit. "(2) Impact of discontinuing each decision unit. - The Department shall provide a quantitative estimate of any adverse impacts that could reasonably be expected should the State discontinue a decision unit, together with a full description of the methods by which the adverse impact is estimated. "(3) Division of decision units into decision packages. - The Department shall divide each decision unit into the following four discrete decision packages: "a. Minimum. - A quantitative estimate of any adverse impacts that could reasonably be expected and an itemized account of expenditures that would be required to maintain the activity at the minimum level of service required by any statutory authorization and below which would effectively eliminate all services, together with a concise statement of the resulting quantity and quality of services. This service level shall be below the level described by sub-subdivision b. of this subdivision. "b. Reduced. - A quantitative estimate of any adverse impacts that could reasonably be expected and an itemized account of expenditures that would be required if funding were reduced by the percentage or amount specified by the Commission below the current level as defined by sub-subdivision c. of this subdivision and a concise statement of the resulting quantity and quality of services. "c. Current. - A quantitative description of benefits from and an itemized account of expenditures that would be required to maintain the activity at the current level of service, together with a full description of the methods by which the current level is determined and a concise statement of the resulting quantity and quality of services. "d. Enhanced. - A quantitative estimate of benefits that could reasonably be expected and an itemized account of expenditures that would be required to increase the current level of service, together with a full description of the methods by which the enhanced level is estimated and a concise statement of the resulting quantity and quality of services. "(4) Service delivery alternatives. - For each decision package, a description of alternative methods for delivering services, which may include, but not be limited to, shedding one or more services and relying upon the free market for delivery, delegation to another level of government, using Requests for Information or competitive selection to outsource to private for-profit or nonprofit organizations, in whole or in part, including franchising, assisting or providing incubator arrangements for current State employees to form non-State organizations to compete for outsourcing opportunities, or through methods used by other states or nations. "(5) Ranking. - As instructed by the Commission, a ranking of all decision packages compared with each other without ties. "(d) The Commission shall make an interim report to the 2018 Regular Session of the 2017 General Assembly and shall make a final report to the 2019 General Assembly. The report shall include any proposed legislation. The Commission shall terminate upon filing its final report or upon the convening of the 2019 General Assembly, whichever is earlier." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-203, s. 115, effective July 1, 2007, and applicable to the budget for the 2007-2009 biennium and each subsequent biennium thereafter, substituted "Chapter 143C of the General Statutes, The State Budget Act" for "Article 1 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, The Executive Budget Act" at the end of subdivision (16). Session Laws 2015-170, s. 4(a), effective December 1, 2015, substituted "that" for "which" in subdivision (2); substituted "enclose" for "inclose" in subdivision (6); added "of the charters and necessary certificates issued" at the end of subdivision (7); substituted "of those certificates of registration" for "thereof" at the end of subdivision (8); rewrote subdivision (10); deleted "is fully empowered" following "and as Secretary of State" in subdivision (13); substituted "that" for "which" in subdivision (14); and made some minor stylistic changes throughout the section. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(c), effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Department of Natural and Cultural Resources" for "Department of Cultural Resources" in subdivision (10). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "North Carolina's Heritage Protection Act: Cementing Confederate Monuments in North Carolina's Landscape," see 94 N.C.L. Rev. 2176 (2016).