19-804. Vacancy in office of sheriff, how filled; person appointed shall be qualified elector when sworn in; duties and liabilities of undersheriff. Except in those counties operating under the provisions of consolidated law enforcement acts, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of sheriff of any county, the undersheriff of such county shall in all things execute the office of sheriff until a sheriff shall be appointed by the governor in the manner provided by law for filling vacancies in the office of member of the house of representatives. Any individual appointed to the office of sheriff shall be a qualified elector of the county on the day such individual is sworn in as sheriff of such county. If the vacancy occurs on or after May 1 of the second year of the term, the person so appointed shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term and until a successor is elected and qualified. If the vacancy occurs before May 1 of the second year of the term, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve until a successor is elected and qualified at the next general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Nomination and election of such successor shall be in the same manner as nomination and election of a sheriff for a regular term. Any default or misfeasance in office of such undersheriff in the meantime, as well as before such vacancy, shall be deemed to be a breach of the condition of the bond given by the sheriff who appointed the undersheriff, and also a breach of the condition of the bond executed by such undersheriff to the sheriff by whom the undersheriff was appointed.

History: G.S. 1868, ch. 25, § 102; L. 1870, ch. 111, § 1; R.S. 1923, 19-804; L. 1945, ch. 162, § 1; L. 1972, ch. 93, § 24; L. 1983, ch. 94, § 1; L. 1986, ch. 100, § 3; L. 2023, ch. 79, § 10; July 1.