(a) Officers. – The North Carolina Mining Commission shall have a chair and a vice-chair. The chair shall be designated by the Governor from among the members of the Commission to serve as chair at the pleasure of the Governor. The vice-chair shall be elected by and from the members of the Commission and shall serve for a term of two years or until the expiration of the vice-chair’s regularly appointed term.

(b) Alternate Leadership in Absence of Chair Designation. – If the Governor has not designated a chair by July 1 of the year following the expiration of the term of the previous chair, then the vice-chair shall exercise the powers and duties of the chair until the Governor designates a chair or the expiration of the vice-chair’s regularly appointed term, whichever first occurs. Upon the expiration of the vice-chair’s regularly appointed term, the Commission shall elect a new vice-chair in the manner described in subsection (a) of this section who shall act as chair as set forth in this subsection until the Governor designates a chair as set forth in subsection (a) of this section. (1973, c. 1262, s. 29; 1977, c. 771, s. 4; 1983, c. 279, s. 2; 1989, c. 727, s. 193; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 944, s. 1; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1039, s. 16; 2006-79, s. 5; repealed by 2012-143, s. (1)(a), effective August 1, 2012; reenacted by 2014-4, s. 5(a); 2021-180, s. 12.23(a).)