Except as otherwise provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-300.4, upon request of an employee or former employee, the State may provide for the defense of any civil or criminal action or proceeding brought against him in his official or individual capacity, or both, on account of an act done or omission made in the scope and course of his employment as a State employee. (1967, c. 1092, s. 1.)