CHAPTER 61 AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED SIX- TEEN, PUBLIC LAWS OF ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE, RELATING TO THE GENERAL COUNTY COURT IN WILSON COUNTY. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That chapter two hundred sixteen, Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred twenty-three, be amended as follows: (a) Summons in civil actions shall issue out of the General County Court and be returnable thereto, as summons is issued out of and returnable to the Superior Court. (b) If the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of two hundred dollars ($200.00), summons may issue out of the General County Court to any County in the State under the seal of the said Court. (c) Complaints shall be filed as is provided for the filing of the complaints in the Superior Court; answers shall be filed as is provided in the filing of answers in the Superior Court; provided, the judge shall not extend the time in which to answer, except upon an affidavit from the defendant or defendants showing good cause and such time shall not exceed twenty days from the time allowed by law, and only one extension shall be granted. (d) If a demurrer shall be filed to the complaint or to the answer or to any other pleadings, the same shall be heard and determined by the judge within ten days from the filing thereof. If the demurrer is overruled, the party demurring shall have thirty days thereafter within which to plead to the pleadings to which the demurrer was filed. (e) The judge shall of his own motion and as a matter of course enter judgment by default, final or inquiry, as may be proper, upon the expiration of the time within which to answer, demur, or otherwise plead if no demurrer, answer or other pleading has been filed. _(f) Either party shall be entitled to a trial by jury in civil cases upon demand made in his pleadings. If the plaintiff fails to demand a trial by jury in the complaint, it shall be deemed a waiver by the plaintiff of the right of trial by jury. If the defendant fails to demand a trial by jury in his answer, the defendant shall be deemed to have waived his right of trial by jury. If either party demands a trial by jury, it shall not be necessary for the other party to make demand, and failure to make a demand in such case shall not be deemed a waiver by said party, and the other party cannot thereafter waive the right of trial by jury without the consent of the adversary party. If neither party demands a trial by jury, or if trial by jury is waived by both parties, the judge shall hear the case, find the facts and render the judgment thereon. (g) Civil actions shall stand for trial at the second term next succeeding the filing of the answer, and shall be tried during that term unless good and sufficient cause shall be shown by affidavit for a continuance. The judge shall at such term call the cases for trial in their order and if the plaintiff is not ready for trial in the absence of good cause shown by affidavit, the action shall be dismissed as of nonsuit, according to the course and practice of the Superior Court. (h) The General County Court shall have jurisdiction to try actions for divorces, according to the course and practice of the Superior Court in such actions. (i) The judge of the Court shall appoint a Court Reporter who shall be a competent stenographer, said appointment may be made for a term or may be made from Court to Court. In all civil actions the Clerk shall require of the plaintiff a deposit of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50), which he shall hold as a fund with which to pay the Reporters compensation. In the event the plaintiff in a civil action shall recover judgment, the sum of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) required to be deposited shall be taxed against the defendant as part of the cost for the use of the plaintiff. The Court shall fix the compensation of the Reporter and at the end of each term shall issue an order on the Clerk for the payment of such compensation from the funds in the hands of the Clerk hereinafter provided for. The Judge, in the exercise of his discretion and upon consideration of the pleadings and the evidence may require an additional deposit, one-half to be paid by each party, for the compensation of the Reporter, which additional deposit shall be paid to the Clerk in the same manner as herein provided and shall be taxed as cost against the party against whom the cost is cast. In the event of an appeal to the Superior Court, the Reporter shall make and file a transcript in triplicate of said proceedings of the General County Court, which shall be filed with the record and for such services shall receive no compensation. The plaintiff or plaintiffs and defendant or defendants shall each be entitled to the use of one copy of such transcript and the other copy shall be for the use of the Superior Court. In each and every criminal action in the General County Court in which by the judgment of the Court the defendant shall be required, upon his conviction, to pay the cost of the Court, there shall be taxed against each of such defendants, as a part of the cost of the case, two dollars ($2.00), which sum shall be collected by the Clerk and held by him as a part of the fund from which the compensation of the Reporter is to be paid. (j) The Judge of the General County Court shall not practice in any of the courts of this State.