Office of the Governor of North CarolinaGovernment

The Office of the Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive authority of the State of North Carolina, supporting the Governor as head of the executive branch and commander-in-chief of the state military forces. Operating out of the State Capitol in Raleigh, its constitutional mandate is to execute state laws, prepare and recommend the state budget, grant pardons and reprieves, and supervise state departments alongside the independently elected Council of State. Established in 1776 under North Carolina's first state constitution during the American Revolution, with Richard Caswell elected as the state's inaugural governor, the office was historically notable for having no legislative veto power until a statewide constitutional referendum finally granted gubernatorial veto authority in 1996.