RALEIGH — Outgoing North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Governor-elect Josh Stein have filed two lawsuits against provisions in a recent law passed by the General Assembly after a veto override in December.
Session Law 2024-57 (Senate Bill 382) contains $254 million in Hurricane Helene relief funding as well as a long list of administrative, regulatory and state agency changes.
The legislative leaders named in both lawsuits are outgoing House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden).
The first lawsuit was filed Dec. 12 over changes to the appointment of the head of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. The filing argues that the new law essentially would lock in the current State Highway Patrol (SHP) commander, Freddy L. Johnson, for a five-year term, limiting the governor’s constitutional authority to appoint and remove the patrol’s leadership.
The plaintiffs argue that the Legislative Commander Provision violates the North Carolina Constitution’s separation of powers principle and the exclusive privileges clause. The complaint highlights that historically, the SHP’s leadership has been subject to gubernatorial appointment and removal, and this new provision disrupts that long-standing practice.
In a press release, Stein called the provision a “dangerous power grab.”
“Today, Governor Cooper and I have taken legal action to stop the legislature’s unconstitutional and dangerous power grab,” Stein said. “This law threatens public safety, fractures the chain of command during a crisis, and thwarts the will of voters. Our people deserve better than a power-hungry legislature that puts political games ahead of public safety.”
Cooper offered remarks centered on the separation of powers.
“It’s fundamental to our constitution that the legislature can not both make the laws and then choose the leaders who enforce them,” Cooper said in a press release on the SHP lawsuit. “Breaking the executive branch chain of command in law enforcement or any other executive branch agency is unconstitutional and it weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and keep the public safe.”
The second lawsuit was filed Dec. 23 over the law transferring authority of the N.C. State Board of Elections (NCSBE) to the N.C. State Auditor’s Office. The provisions in the law also give incoming State Auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican, the power to appoint members of the NCSBE.
The lawsuit claims this is legislative leaders’ sixth attempt in eight years to restructure control of the State Board of Elections. The previous five attempts were struck down by courts, rejected by voters or are currently enjoined.
Similar to the SHP lawsuit, Cooper and Stein allege that the NCSBE provisions contained in Section 3A of the law violate the state constitution under the separation of powers clause and also under the faithful execution clause.
“We have had the same structure for our state board of elections for nearly a century and it has served North Carolina well, with fair and secure elections across our state through every cycle,” Cooper said in a joint statement on the second lawsuit. “These blatantly partisan efforts to give control over elections boards to a newly elected Republican will create distrust in our elections process and serve no legitimate purpose.”
“In recent years, these legislative leaders have repeatedly tried and failed to seize control of the State Board of Elections for their own partisan gain,” Stein said in the joint statement. “This latest move insults the voters who rejected their power grab, violates our constitution, and must not stand.”
Legislative leaders have yet to comment on the lawsuits.
