State Plan of Organization Opinion 2025-009

Date: April 23, 2025

Question From: Wake County Republican Party & Karyn Mulligan

Question(s) Presented:

1. What authority does the NCGOP Plan of Organization Committee have in
reviewing the County convention procedures?
2. What authority does the NCGOP Plan or Organization Committee have in
reviewing County Plans of Organization?
3. Did the Wake County Executive Committee have the authority to make
changes to the 2022 Wake County Plan of Organization during the 2024
calendar outside of the Convention and remove Region Chairs, Affiliated
Club Chairs and the Immediate Past Chair from the County Executive
Committee?

Answered by: Marshall Conrad on behalf of the NCGOP Plan of Organization
Committee.

Answer:

The Committee is consolidating questions 1 and 2 into a single inquiry for
consideration, as follows:
What authority does the North Carolina Republican Party Plan of Organization
provide to the NCGOP Plan of Organization Committee in reviewing County Plans
of Organization and the procedures of the County Executive Committee?
Article VII D.3.d provides for the responsibilities and duties of the Plan of
Organization Committee and empowers the Committee “as the final interpretive
body concerning questions related to the State Plan of Organization...” Further, Art.
VII D.3.d.2.c grants the authority of the Committee to decide questions of “conflicts
between the...County Plan of Organization and the State Plan of Organization...”
The Plan allows any Member or Party Committee to submit questions to the State
General Counsel and Plan of Organization Committee Chair for interpretation and
any decisions may be appealed to the full Plan of Organization Committee.

In reviewing County Executive Committee procedures, especially credentialing
procedures, the Plan of Organization Committee has a significant role. Since
Precinct Meetings and County Conventions determine the eligible Delegates for the
District and State Conventions, the State Party and thus the State Plan of
Organization Committee have a significant interest in ensuring a fair and open
process for the election of Delegates. Further, all County Executive Committees
and County Plans of Organizations are governed by specific provisions applicable to
them in the State Plan of Organization.
Consequently, the State Plan of Organization Committee has the authority to
review County Plans of Organization and Convention procedures and to hold that
those not consistent with the State Plan of Organization are invalid.
Question 3
No. Under Article X.A.4, outside of 1) correcting “spelling or typographical errors” or
2) temporarily amending the plan, with a two-thirds majority, in response to a
change in law or a change in the State Plan of Organization, County Plans of
Organization can only be amended by a majority vote of the Delegates present and
voting at the County Convention. Under Article III.A.2, a County Executive
Committee can only amend the County Plan of Organization if needed to bring it
into compliance with the State Plan of Organization and, otherwise, only if changes
by the County Executive Committee are permitted by the County Plan of
Organization. Nothing in the Wake County Plan of Organization permits the
amendments made by the Wake County Executive Committee. Thus, the County
Executive Committee lacks the authority to make changes to the County Plan of
Organization, apart from the above-mentioned reasons.
Under the factual circumstances here, the Committee finds it important to clarify
State Plan of Organization Opinion 2024-001. In Opinion 2024-001, the Committee
held that in addition to the officers elected by the County Convention, five or more
at-large members, and the County Finance Chair, the County Executive Committee
shall consist of other members as provided in the County Plan of Organization who
are elected by the County Executive Committee. No additional individuals, such as
those occupying ex officio positions or elected by groups other than the County
Executive Committee, are qualified to be members of the Committee. However, if a
County Plan provides for the election of additional members by the Committee,
those individuals can be elected.

The 2022 Wake County Plan of Organization provides additional positions on the
County Executive Committee, outside of those required under the State Plan. After
the publishing of Opinion 2024-001, the Wake County Executive Committee,
believing they were complying with the Opinion, unilaterally amended the County
Plan of Organization and removed the members elected by the County Executive
Committee. However, this move was in violation of the State Plan of Organization,
because the Committee was not authorized to amend the County Plan and because
it was not authorized to remove any member who had been properly elected and
who was not the subject of a removal proceeding under IX.A.6.
Based on the opinion above, and since the Wake County Republican Party
Convention has failed to amend or pass a new Plan of Organization since, the North
Carolina Plan of Organization Committee recommends the Wake County Executive
Committee take whatever actions necessary to comply with the 2022 Wake County
Plan of Organization as adopted.
Approved unanimously on April 23, 2025 by the North Carolina Plan of
Organization Committee. Committee member Mike Phillips of the 2nd District was
recused from deliberation and the vote.