Downtown Durham is packed this week with county commissioners and staff from across North Carolina, as the Durham Convention Center and the adjacent Durham Marriott City Center host the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' 119th Annual Conference from Thursday through Saturday. The three-day gathering brings together local elected officials for policy sessions, training workshops, and statewide networking under the theme “Driving County Innovation.”
Durham County Government announced the milestone in a Facebook post Thursday, welcoming hundreds of commissioners and staff to the city. The NCACC, founded in 1908, serves as the official, non-partisan advocacy organization and legislative voice for all 100 North Carolina counties before the General Assembly, Congress, and administrative agencies, according to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. At last year's conference in Pitt County, the organization drew more than 650 registered attendees representing over 90 counties, a benchmark that underscores the scale of this week's Durham gathering.
Attendees can track schedule updates throughout the conference at conference.ncacc.org, and organizers are encouraging photo-sharing under the hashtag #NCACC119. The conference's marketing leans into a vintage baseball card aesthetic that casts Durham landmarks as hometown all-stars, tying the host city's identity directly into the event's branding.
A New President Takes the Gavel
The conference culminates Saturday with a leadership transition: Hoke County Commissioner Allen Thomas, currently NCACC President-Elect, will be sworn in as NCACC President during the President's Banquet by N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, according to a Facebook post from Allen Thomas. The ceremony marks the formal handoff of statewide leadership for the association representing all 100 North Carolina counties.
Local governing boards around the state treated the conference as official business, with Chatham, Burke, Greene, and Jackson counties each scheduling formal designations for their commissioners to attend as voting delegates. That mechanic reflects how individual county governments across North Carolina participate directly in the association's governance decisions, rather than simply sending representatives as observers.
Workshops Target Property Taxes, Ethics, and Disaster Response
Beyond the ceremonial elements, the conference agenda is heavy on technical training. Educational sessions cover ethics and open government compliance, property tax reappraisals, county budget management, trauma-informed workforce strategies, and disaster declaration procedures, giving commissioners and senior staff practical tools to bring back to their home counties.
The gathering also doubles as a venue for statewide legislative advocacy. NCACC's priorities for local governments include pushing for recurring state funding for the Workforce Housing Loan Program, expanding rural broadband access, and increasing county resources for behavioral health and substance abuse treatment — issues likely to surface repeatedly across the three days of sessions.
Durham Puts Its Own Projects on Display
As host county, Durham is using the conference to showcase its own initiatives through off-site educational tours. Scheduled stops include the East Main Street Redevelopment affordable housing project, a behind-the-scenes look at the Durham County Main Library, and a visit to the Knox St. Studios economic development hub.
Durham's turn as host follows a geographic rotation that has taken the annual conference to Pitt County in 2025, Forsyth County in 2024, and Wake County in 2023. The rotation gives counties across different regions of the state a chance to spotlight local programs to visiting peers, a pattern Durham is leaning into this week as it puts its housing and economic development work in front of hundreds of fellow county officials.
