Magistrates in the State of North Carolina are required to complete certain biennial continuing legal education requirements during each of their term appointments. NC G.S. 7A-177(a) states that, "within six months of taking the oath of office as a magistrate for the first time, a magistrate is required to attend and satisfactorily complete a course of basic training of at least 40 (forty) hours in the civil and criminal duties of a magistrate." The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts contracts with the UNC School of Government to provide this training to newly appointed magistrates twice each calendar year. Newly appointed magistrates, their Clerks of Court and Chief District Court Judges are notified of upcoming basic training classes via U.S. mail.

The Conference of Chief District Court Judges also requires that each magistrate complete a minimum of 12 (twelve) hours of approved continuing education (CE) each biennium. The UNC School of Government sponsors conferences and training sessions each year which satisfy this requirement. Continuing education opportunities conducted by private organizations may be approved on an individual basis however, any training session not sponsored by the NCAOC or SOG requires prior approval before CE credit will be awarded. The most important tool in determining CE credit is accessibility to magistrates statewide and applicability of the training to the role of magistrate - all training sessions must be directly related to helping magistrates carry out the responsibilities of their position. CE credit is awarded on an hour-for-hour basis of actual instruction; credit is not awarded for welcome/registration sessions, breaks or business meetings.

When registering for CE courses, regardless of sponsor, magistrates are to use their name as is appears on their paycheck; the reporting system requires that full names be used in order to correctly award CE credit. Should a magistrate register or sign in using other than their full name as it appears on their paycheck, CE credit will not be awarded for attendance.

Reporting of CE hours is maintained by the NCAOC Training and Services Division. Sponsoring agencies are responsible for verifying attendance at training sessions and submitting rosters in writing to NCAOC Training and Services. Magistrate CE status reports are updated weekly and available through the employee's Learning Center portal.