North Carolina Court of Appeals

The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina, cited as N.C. Ct. App. It has fifteen judges who hear cases in rotating panels of three, arranged so that every judge sits with every colleague about equally often, and a ruling of one panel binds the other panels and the lower courts until the Supreme Court overrules it. The General Assembly created the court in 1967, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1965 to relieve pressure on the state Supreme Court. It began with six judges, grew to nine in 1969, twelve in 1977 and fifteen in 2000. Judges are elected statewide for eight-year terms, and the court forms the Appellate Division of the state court system together with the Supreme Court.