North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 106. Agriculture § 106-516.1. Carnivals and similar amusements not to operate without permit

Every person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of a carnival company or a show of like kind, including menageries, merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, riding devices, circus and similar amusements and enterprises operated and conducted for profit, shall, prior to exhibiting in any county annually staging an agricultural fair, apply to the sheriff of the county in which the exhibit is to be held for a permit to exhibit. The sheriff of the county shall issue a permit without charge; provided, however, that no permit shall be issued if he shall find the requested exhibition date is less than 30 days prior to a regularly advertised agricultural fair. Exhibition without a permit from the sheriff of the county in which the exhibition is to be held shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor: Provided, that nothing contained in this section shall prevent veterans' organizations and posts chartered by Congress or organized and operated on a statewide or nationwide basis from holding fairs or tobacco festivals on any dates which they may select if such fairs or festivals have heretofore been held as annual events.