§ 141-6. Eastern boundary of State; jurisdiction over territory within littoral waters and lands under same. - North Carolina Statutes

§141‑6.  Eastern boundary of State; jurisdiction over territory withinlittoral waters and lands under same.

(a)        The Constitution ofthe State of North Carolina, adopted in 1868, having provided in Article I,Sec. 34, that the "limits and boundaries of the State shall be and remainas they now are," and the eastern limit and boundary of the State of NorthCarolina on the Atlantic seaboard having always been, since the Treaty of Peacewith Great Britain in 1783 and the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776,one marine league eastward from the Atlantic seashore, measured from theextreme low‑water mark, the eastern boundary of the State of NorthCarolina is hereby declared to be fixed as it has always been at one marineleague eastward from the seashore of the Atlantic Ocean bordering the State ofNorth Carolina, measured from the extreme low‑water mark of the AtlanticOcean seashore aforesaid.

(b)        The State of NorthCarolina shall continue as it always has to  exercise jurisdiction over theterritory within the littoral waters and ownership of the lands under the samewithin the boundaries of the State, subject only to the jurisdiction of thefederal government over navigation within such territorial waters.

(c)        The Governor andthe Attorney General are hereby directed to take all such action as may befound appropriate to defend the jurisdiction of the State over its littoralwaters and the ownership of the lands beneath the same. (1947,c. 1031, ss. 1‑3; 1969, c. 541, s. 1.)