Government

North Carolina’s government is divided into three branches: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch.  The Executive Branch is led by the governor of the state.  She has lots of responsibilities, such as enforcing state laws, proposing or vetoing laws, planning a budget, and commanding the state military.  

The Legislative Branch makes all the laws.  The laws focus on education, roads, healthcare, crime, and other things.  The people that make these laws are part of the General Assembly.  The General Assembly is divided into two houses:  The House of Representatives, which has 120 members; and the Senate, which has 50 members.

The Judicial Branch is the court system, and it interpret laws.  First, there are the District Courts which handle small cases.  Second, the Court of Appeals handles larger cases and has twelve judges.  The last one, the Supreme Court, handles the biggest cases, and it has seven judges.  All of the judges are elected by the people living in the state.  

The three branches of our state government are similar to the branches of the federal government.  Having three branches of governments preserves our system of checks and balances.