Even though the State of North Carolina maintains that its Congressional maps are constitutional and remains confident the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately issue a stay, legislative leaders are taking steps to prepare for a possible special session to comply with a federal trial court’s ruling. These steps are necessary since the Supreme Court decision is expected to come within days of the lower court’s February 19 deadline to redraw the maps.

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) announced on Friday they have appointed members to the Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting.

The following Members will serve on the Committee:

Rep. David Lewis – Co-Chair
Sen. Bob Rucho – Co-Chair
Rep. Bert Jones – Vice Chair
Sen. Tom Apodaca – Vice Chair

Rep. Bill Brawley, Rep. Tricia Cotham, Rep. Ted Davis, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield, Rep. Mike Hager, Rep. Ed Hanes, Rep. Jon Hardister, Rep. Pat Hurley, Rep. Darren Jackson, Rep. Linda Johnson, Rep. Chuck McGrady, Rep. Mickey Michaux, Rep. Rodney Moore, Rep. Paul Stam, Rep. Sarah Stevens

Sen. Chad Barefoot, Sen. Dan Blue, Sen. Harry Brown, Sen. Ben Clark, Sen. Kathy Harrington, Sen. Ralph Hise, Sen. Brent Jackson, Sen. Michael Lee, Sen. Floyd McKissick, Sen. Shirley Randleman, Sen. Norman Sanderson, Sen. Jane Smith, Sen. Erica Smith-Ingram, Sen. Joyce Waddell, Sen. Trudy Wade, Sen. Andy Wells

The committee will hold public hearings at several sites across the state on Monday and a committee meeting to discuss the public feedback and consider next steps on Tuesday. These are the first steps to a special session that would potentially need to take place at the end of next week in the event the Supreme Court does not issue a stay. 

The following locations will host public hearings:

N.C. General Assembly – Legislative Office Building
Room 643
300 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 

Guilford Technical Community College
Jamestown Campus
Medlin Campus Center
The Guilford Room, Room 360
Jamestown, North Carolina 27282
Link to campus map: https://www.gtcc.edu/media/10954/jamestowncampusmap.pdf

Central Piedmont Community College
CPCC Central Campus
The Hall Building
Room 310
1112 Charlottetown Avenue
Charlotte, North Carolina 28235
Link to campus map: https://www.cpcc.edu/campuses/central/images/central_map

Fayetteville Technical Community College
Room 142
Health-Tech Ed Building
2201 Hull Road
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28303
Link to campus map: http://www.faytechcc.edu/campus-maps/main-campus/ 

Cape Fear Community College
North Campus
Room 338
The McKeithan Center
4500 Blue Clay Road
Wilmington, North Carolina 28401
Link to campus map: http://cfcc.edu/maps-directions/north-campus-map/

UNC Asheville
Robinson Hall
129 Steelcase Teleconference Center
Asheville, North Carolina
Link to campus map: https://maps.unca.edu/

All public hearings will start at 10:00 a.m. If the campus is closed due to inclement weather, the hearing will be canceled at that location and participants may submit their comments in writing.

All interested members of the public will have an opportunity to speak for five minutes. Written comments will also be accepted by email and on the General Assembly website, which will be available soon at: www.ncleg.net/redistricting

The General Assembly is seeking a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court of the federal trial court’s ruling in order to avoid the chaos and costliness associated with an eleventh hour delay of the primary election currently underway and still plans to exercise all avenues of appeal.

“Due to the extremely tight deadline imposed on us by the federal trial court, we are being forced to hope for the best but prepare for the worst,” said Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett) and Sen. Bob Rucho (R-Mecklenburg), co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting. “Hopefully, this is an unnecessary exercise since the overwhelming majority of times our redistricting plans have been reviewed, they have been validated as fair, legal and constitutional – and we remain confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a stay.”