AN ACT to provide for the partisan election for members of the jackson county board of education.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 5(a) of S.L. 2024‑14 reads as rewritten:

SECTION 5.(a)  The Jackson County Board of Education shall consist of five members elected from five single‑member residency districts to serve staggered four‑year terms. One member shall be elected from each residency district by the qualified voters of the entire county. No person shall be eligible to file or be elected to the Jackson County Board of Education unless the person is a qualified voter and resident of the residency district in which the candidate seeks to be elected. Elections for the Jackson County Board of Education shall be held in even‑numbered years at the time of the general election with results determined by the nonpartisan plurality method in accordance with G.S. 163‑292. on a partisan basis as terms expire. Candidates for election to the Jackson County Board of Education shall be nominated at the same time and manner as other county officers. Members shall take office on the first Monday in December following the election. Members shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified. Except as otherwise provided by this section, the election shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Chapter 115C and 163 of the General Statutes. All vacancies on the Jackson County Board of Education shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 115C‑37.1.

SECTION 2.  This act does not affect the term of office of any member elected in 2024 to the Jackson County Board of Education. Any vacancy on the Jackson County Board of Education for a member elected in 2024 shall be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the Jackson County Board of Education to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Each member of the Jackson County Board of Education elected in 2024, or any member appointed to fill a vacancy in 2024, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.

SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑37.1(d) reads as rewritten:

(d)      This section shall apply only to the Hickory City Board of Education and the Newton‑Conover City Board of Education and in the following counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Beaufort, Brunswick, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Craven, Dare, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Harnett, Henderson, Hyde, Iredell, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Polk, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Vance, Washington, and Yancey.

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective the first Monday in December of 2026, and elections in 2026 and thereafter shall be conducted accordingly.