All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the North Carolina Reports and North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the North Carolina Reports and North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative.

THOMAS WILLIAM HILL

v.

BOBBY MEDFORD, Individually and as Sheriff of Buncombe County; and WESTERN SURETY COMPANY

    Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 582 S.E.2d 325 (2003), affirming an order entered 8 May 2002 by Judge James Baker, Jr., in Superior Court, Buncombe County. Heard in the Supreme Court 18 November 2003.
    Long, Parker, Warren & Jones, P.A., by Robert B. Long, Jr., and W. Scott Jones, for defendant-appellants.

    Carter & Kropelnicki, P.A., by Steven Kropelnicki, Jr., for plaintiff-appellee.

    Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, P.L.L.C., by Mark A. Davis, for amicus curiae North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.

    PER CURIAM.

    For the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
    REVERSED.

*** Converted from WordPerfect ***