The North Carolina Cabinet is the group of unelected heads of the executive departments of the

Government of North Carolina The government of North Carolina is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the Council of State (led by the Governor), the bicameral legislature (called the General Assembly), and the state court system ...

. It is separate and distinct from the

North Carolina Council of State The North Carolina Council of State is the collective body of ten elective executive offices in the state government of North Carolina, all of which are established by the state constitution. The Council of State includes the Governor, Lieut ...

, the members of which are elected statewide, and which makes up the rest of the executive leadership of the government. All cabinet secretaries are appointed by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

History

On June 26, 1972, North Carolina Governor Robert W. Scott created the "Executive Cabinet," an advisory body consisting of the members of the

, the appointed secretaries of the state's executive departments, and miscellaneous members appointed by the governor. The Cabinet's size decreased by two on Jan. 1, 2012, when three Cabinet-level agencies, the

North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety The North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) is an umbrella agency that carries out many of the state's law enforcement, emergency response and homeland security functions. The department was created in 1977 as the Department of Crime Co ...

, the

North Carolina Department of Correction The North Carolina Department of Correction (NCDOC) is the agency responsible for corrections in the U.S. state of North Carolina. NCDOC merged with several departments in 2012, and now falls under the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. ...

and the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, were merged to become the

North Carolina Department of Public Safety The North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) is an umbrella agency that carries out many of the state's law enforcement, emergency response and homeland security functions. The department was created in 1977 as the Department of Crime Co ...

. The Cabinet then expanded by two secretaries in 2015, with the creation of two new Departments: Information Technology, and Military and Veterans Affairs. Then the Cabinet increased by one in 2022, with the creation of the new Department of Adult Correction.

Current members

The current cabinet includes the following positions: The Governor also appoints senior staff who are not Cabinet "Secretaries," but hold posts with a similar rank as Cabinet officials: * Chief of Staff: Kristi Jones * Director of the Office of State Human Resources: Barbara Gibson * Budget Director: Kristin Walker

Advice and consent

Just before

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

took office as governor in 2017, the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

, breaking with longstanding tradition, added a provision to state law that Cabinet appointments require the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previo ...

of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

. Cooper challenged that law in court and said none of his nominees would wait for a Senate confirmation hearing to assume their duties.WRAL: Cooper taps business execs for Commerce, Administration posts
/ref> He announced on Jan. 27, 2017, that all but two cabinet secretaries had been sworn in and had taken office.Leaders sworn into Governor Cooper’s Cabinet
/ref> A three-judge panel issued a

temporary restraining order An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...

on Feb. 7, 2017, preventing the Senate from taking action to hold confirmation hearings, pending the outcome of the case challenging the constitutionality of the law. The panel later rescinded the order, but Cooper said he would hold off on submitting nominees to the Senate until after the trial could be held. After further court proceedings, the Senate issued a subpoena to Larry Hall to attend his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Military and Veterans Affairs, and Hall complied. The Senate later voted unanimously to confirm Hall. The

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...

ruled against the Governor and upheld the constitutionality of the law providing for advice and consent in November 2017.Cooper v. Berger
/ref>

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:North Carolina Cabinet United States state cabinets Governor of North Carolina