North Carolina Cabinet and Council of State

The North Carolina Cabinet and the North Carolina Council of State are two separate bodies of top officials in the executive branch of the state government.

• The North Carolina Cabinet, analogous to the United States Cabinet, consists of heads of executive departments that are not elected by the people. All are appointed by the Governor. In addition, the President of the state Community College System is sometimes considered a member of the Governor's Cabinet. The President, however, is appointed not by the Governor, but by the state Board of Community Colleges.
• The North Carolina Council of State consists of nine executive officers that are elected state-wide by the voters. The term harks back to the colonial-era Governor's Council, which was essentially the upper house of the legislature, and then to a Council of State in the early years of statehood, which was appointed by the legislature and which curtailed the governor's power.