In this Article
- Overview of Senate Bill 9 as it relates to the Guilford County School Board
- Established case law and historical precedent to support the actions of the legislature
Overview of Senate Bill 9
Senate Bill 9 is a local bill that was passed by the North Carolina Legislature to resolve a multitude of local issues throughout the state. One of those issues this bill seeks to resolve is the Guilford County School Board situation, particularly in District 3.
In November 2022, Pat Tillman (R) stepped down from the District 3 seat after winning his election to county commissioner. The Guilford County Republican Party nominated Michael Logan (R) to replace him and finish out his term. After months of the democrat majority refusing to seat Mr. Logan, a bill was passed in early 2023 to force the Guilford County School Board to seat Mr. Logan.
When it came time to seat him however, the democrat majority colluded with a man named Bill Goebel to violate the state law and place him in Mr. Logan’s seat.
Fast forward to August 18, and you have Senate Bill 9. Senate Bill 9 not only fixes the so-called “loophole” that the democrat majority used to violate state law, it also includes this provision:
The term of office of any individual appointed by the Guilford County Board of Education to fill a vacancy occurring between December 1, 2022, and the effective date of this act shall expire on the effective date of this act.
Only one individual was appointed during this time period, Goebel.
Additionally, it includes this language:
If the vacating Board member was elected as the nominee of a political party, whether by countywide election or from an electoral district, then the Board shall consult with the county executive committee of that political party. The county political party executive committee shall provide the name of an individual qualified in accordance with subdivisions (1) and (2) of this section subsection in writing within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy to the Superintendent of Schools of Guilford County...
Essentially, what this means is that the District 3 seat is once again vacated and the Guilford County Republican Party gets to re-nominate a candidate to fill the seat. This time, however, the language has been fixed to preclude any attempts by the democrat majority to create a “loophole” to violate the law.
Is Senate Bill 9 constitutional?
While it would appear that Mr. Goebel intends to challenge the law’s constitutional muster, it would appear highly likely that the answer is yes, Senate Bill 9 is constitutional.
In 1925, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state legislature’s “unlimited authority” to terminate the terms of Hyde County commissioners and replace them in State ex rel. O’Neal v. Jennette, 190 N.C. 96. Two of the most notable and relevant excerpts from the decision are:
It is settled by the decisions as well as the cited sections of the Constitution that the plaintiffs had no vested property or contract right to the office to which they had been elected of which they could not be deprived by the Legislature.
Counties are governmental agencies of the State, and where there is no constitutional inhibition, are subject to the unlimited control of the Legislature as to the manner of their exercising their proper functions or the selection of agencies therein to be employed for the purpose.
The opinion that the removal of Goebel from the school board is constitutional is supported by the University of North Carolina’s School of Governance. By coincidence, the UNC School of Governance wrote a blog post in 2015 regarding a theoretical where the legislature passed a law to remove a school board member from the school board. The conclusion they came to was, yes, they could.