143B-426.9. North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications - Creation; membership; appointments, terms and vacancies; officers; meetings and quorum; compensation.

The North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications is created. It is governed by the Board of Public Telecommunications Commissioners, composed of 26 members as follows:

(1) A Chairman appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the Governor;

(2) Ten at-large members, appointed by the Governor from the general public;

(3) Two members appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance with G.S. 120-121;

(4) Two members appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in accordance with G.S. 120-121;

(5) The Secretary of Administration, ex officio;

(6) The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The University of North Carolina Center for Public Television (if and when established), ex officio;

(7) The Chairman of the State Board of Education, ex officio;

(8) The Chairman of the OPEN/net Committee, ex officio, so long as such person is not a State employee;

(9) The Chairman of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, ex officio;

(10) The Director of the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, ex officio;

(11) Repealed by Session Laws 2011-266, s. 1.13(b), effective July 1, 2011.

(12) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, ex officio;

(13) The President of the University of North Carolina, ex officio;

(14) The President of the Community Colleges System, ex officio; and

(15) Two members ex officio who shall rotate from among the remaining heads of departments enumerated in G.S. 143A-11 or G.S. 143B-6, appointed by the Governor.

The 10 at-large members shall serve for terms staggered as follows: four terms shall expire on June 30, 1980; and three terms shall expire on June 30, 1982; and three terms shall expire on June 30, 1984. Thereafter, the members at large shall be appointed for full four-year terms and until their successors are appointed and qualified. In making appointments of members at large, the Governor shall seek to appoint persons from the various geographic areas of the State including both urban and rural areas; persons from various classifications as to sex, race, age, and handicapped persons; and persons who are representatives of the public broadcast, commercial broadcast, nonbroadcast distributive systems and private education communities of the State.

The terms of the ex officio members are coterminous with their respective terms of office. In the event that any of the offices represented on the Board ceases to exist, the successor officer to the designated member shall become an ex officio member of the Board; if there shall be no successor, then the position on the Board shall be filled by a member to be appointed by the Governor from the general public. The ex officio members shall have the right to vote.

The initial members appointed to the Board by the General Assembly shall serve for terms expiring June 30, 1983. Thereafter, their successors shall serve for two-year terms beginning July 1 of odd-numbered years.

The terms of the rotating ex officio members shall be of one-year duration, and the schedule of rotation is determined by the Governor.

Each State official who serves on the Board may designate a representative of his department, agency or institution to sit in his place on the Board and to exercise fully the official's privileges of membership.

The Secretary of Administration or his designee serves as secretary of the Board.

Vacancies in appointments made by the General Assembly shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 120-122. Other vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

The Governor may remove any member of the Board from office in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 143B-16.

The Board meets quarterly and at other times at the call of the chairman or upon written request of at least six members.

A majority of the Board members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.