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2 <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />Page 2 <br />May 2, 2005 <br />Hillsborough Township and the Efland precinct and the other <br />consisting of Bingham Township, Cedar Grove Township, Little <br />River Township and Cheeks precinct. House Bill 913 presents a <br />structural change available to Orange County under the general <br />law, However, the general law provides that any structural <br />change in the board of commissioners be initiated by resolution <br />of the Board of County Commissioners not by Act of the General <br />Assembly. <br />There have been, in recent years, other instances of the <br />Legislature restructuring boards of commissioners. However, <br />according to the General Counsel of the North Carolina <br />Association of County Commissioners, these other instances <br />facilitated board of commissioner restructuring at the request <br />of the board of county commissioners to be restructured. The <br />legislation requested, in a number of instances, avoided the <br />referendum required by general law. <br />I have enclosed copies of several recent Acts of the <br />General Assembly which redistrict and restructure county boards <br />of commissioners, They include Chapter 80 of the 1995 Session <br />Laws relating to redefining district boundaries in Chatham <br />County, Chapter 136 of the 1991 Session Laws expanding and <br />redistricting the Guilford County Board of Commissioners and <br />Chapter 43 of the 1981 Session Laws creating a district system <br />in Randolph County whereby the members of the board of <br />commissioners reside in the districts but are nominated and <br />elected countywide. <br />North Carolina law has made available to boards of <br />commissioners alternate structure options, with significant <br />flexibility, for many years. North Carolina General Statute § <br />153A-58 provides: <br />1, A board of commissioners may consist of any odd number <br />of members, not less than three, <br />2. The terms of office of board members may be two years <br />or four years, <br />3, The terms of office can be staggered or not, If the <br />board consists of two year terms and four year terms, all of the <br />members of the board must be nominated and elected by the voters <br />