New NC Chief Justice Newby Issues Emergency Directive

Chief Justice Paul Newby who defeated former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley in November has issued his first Emergency Directive allowing local courthouse leadership to determine the appropriate preventative measures to combat the threat of COVID-19. Some emergency directives from the December 14th directive will remain, however, the directives limiting summary ejectment and the 30-day extension to calendar summary ejectment hearings have expired. This does raise certain questions about how Clerks will schedule hearings moving forward and if the CARES Act Affidavit will still be required. AANC has reached out to the Chief Justice office and was directed to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) for updates and clarifications. As this plays out, the AANC will be monitoring local courts closely to see how this will impact summary ejectment hearings.