page_title: North Carolina Supreme Court
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Carolina Supreme Court / History
caption_attribution_description: English: North Carolina Supreme Court building in Raleigh, NC
context_page_description: The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists of six associate justices and one chief justice, although the number of justices has varied from time to time. The primary function of the Supreme Court is to decide questions of law that have arisen in the lower courts and before state administrative agencies.
context_section_description: The first North Carolina appellate court, created in 1799, was called the Court of Conference and consisted of several North Carolina Superior Court (trial) judges sitting en banc twice each year to review appeals from their own courts.  In 1805 it was named the Supreme Court, and a seal and motto were to be procured.
  From the time the North Carolina General Assembly created the Court as a distinct body in 1818 until 1868, the members of the Court were chosen by the General Assembly and served for life, or "during good behavior."  The legislature appointed John Louis Taylor, Leonard Henderson, and John Hall as the first Supreme Court judges.  The three judges were allowed to select their own Chief Justice, and they chose Taylor.  The Court first met on January 1, 1819.
  Since the adoption of the 1868 state constitution, each justice has been elected (separately, including a distinct Chief Justice position) by the people to an eight-year term.  There are no term limits.  The General Assembly made Supreme Court elections non-partisan starting with the 2004 elections, but later made them partisan again after the 2016 elections.
  Susie Sharp became the court's first female justice in 1962 (and later, she became its first female chief justice). In 2011, the court had a female majority for the first time (that majority ended in 2014 with the retirement of Chief Justice Sarah Parker).
  The Supreme Court is housed in the Law and Justice Building, located across from the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. The building was built in 1940 and underwent major renovations in 2005–2007.
  In 1975, a new seal was adopted.  The old Latin phrase Suum cuique was amended to Suum cuique tribuere.
caption: Justice Building in Raleigh, NC
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