The secretary's office works primarily in an administrative capacity helping people start and register businesses, protect North Carolinians against scams and fraud, oversee trademarks and lobbyists among other jobs.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals handles cases appealed by lower state courts and deals only with whether the previous trials were conducted in line with the law. There are 15 judges who serve on the court of appeals with three open seats this November. Terms for these judges last eight years.