Several months ago, I released a blog post on the new North Carolina law that prohibits local governments, state agencies, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch from allowing pornography to be viewed on their networks or devices (Section 7 of S.L. 2024-26). Since then, I’ve received a number of questions about how this law applies in the local government context. I’ll address a few frequently asked questions related specifically to local governments in this post. I encourage readers to go back to my earlier blog post for a more comprehensive discussion of the new law.

Does this law apply to units of local government, such as counties and municipalities?

Yes. The law applies to all public authorities and units of local government, as those terms are defined by G.S. 159-7. See G.S. 143‑805(g)(5). A “unit of local government” is defined as “a municipal corporation that is not subject to the State Budget Act…and that has the power to levy taxes…and all boards, agencies, commissions, authorities, and institutions thereof that are not municipal corporations.” As my colleague Kara Millonzi has noted in this blog post, this definition clearly includes counties and municipalities, as well as some “special purpose” local governments.

The law also applies to all State agencies and offices of the members of the Council of State (including all boards, departments, divisions, constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina, community colleges, and other units of government in the executive branch) and all public school units (as defined in G.S. 115C-5). Many elements of the new law also apply to the judicial branch and the legislative branch.

What is the deadline for creating the network and device usage policy required by the new law?

Each public agency (including each unit of local government) must adopt a policy governing the use of its network, as well as the use of devices owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by that public agency, no later than January 1, 2025. The same requirement and deadline apply to the judicial and legislative branches. See G.S. 143-805(c).

What language must be contained in the network and device usage policy?

The new law does not specify any particular language that must be in the required network and device usage policy, except that it must “delineate the disciplinary actions that will be taken in response to a violation of that policy.” Presumably, however, the policy should reflect G.S. 143-805(a)-(b):

• prohibiting the viewing of pornography by its employees on a network of that public agency; and
• prohibiting employees, elected officials, appointees, or students of the public agency to view pornography on any device owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by that public agency.

The terms “pornography,” “device,” and “network” should be defined in the policy as they are defined in G.S. 143-805(g). The policy should also include an exception for officials and employees who are engaged in certain activities in the course of their official duties, listed at G.S. 143-805(d) and discussed in more detail in my prior blog post. These exceptions are important to include since some local government employees, such as law enforcement officers and department of social services employees, will sometimes have to view material that would be considered “pornography” under the new law in order to carry out their official duties.

If a local government already has a policy regarding the use of its networks and devices (as many do), then that existing policy could be modified to include these new terms. In other words, the local government need not start from scratch by creating a brand new policy if it is able to simply modify and readopt an existing policy to comply with the law.

What disciplinary consequences must be included in the policy?

The law says the network and usage device policy must “delineate” disciplinary actions that will occur if the policy is violated, but it does not specify particular disciplinary consequences that must be included. For its employees, a local government may decide to incorporate or reference parts of its personnel policies that speak to disciplinary procedures into the network and usage device policy. A local government may also want to include this network and device usage policy as part of its personnel policies.

What disciplinary consequences could be delineated for elected and appointed officials? The policy could specify that elected officials will be subject to censure proceedings, and that appointees will be subject to removal from office by the entity or individual with appointment and removal authority over their position.

Does this law apply to employees’ personal devices? Does the answer change if a county or municipality gives the employee a stipend to use towards their cell phone bills?

Remember, the law requires local governments to institute two different prohibitions: 1) employees must be prohibited from viewing pornography on the government’s networks, and 2) employees, elected officials, appointees, and students must be prohibited from viewing pornography on devices owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by the local government.

Prohibition #1, regarding viewing pornography on a government’s networks, applies regardless of whether an employee is using their personal device or a government-owned device. An employee must not view pornography on any device if they are doing so via the government’s networks (e.g., the city or county’s Wi-Fi). The law does not, however, impact what an employee is allowed to view on their personal devices on other networks (e.g., on their home Wi-Fi or coffee shop Wi-Fi).

Prohibition #2, on the other hand, applies to viewing pornography on devices owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by the local government, regardless of where those devices are used or what network is used to connect them to the internet. It does not, however, apply to personal cell phones or other personal devices that are owned by an employee. Merely paying a stipend to an employee to help cover the cost of their personal phone bill does not transform an employee-owned device into a device “owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled” by a local government employer.

What is the deadline for removing pornography from government devices?

Employees, elected officials, appointees, and students of each “public agency” (including local governments and all the governmental entities described above) who have pornography (as that term is defined by the new law) saved to a device owned, leased, maintained, or otherwise controlled by the public agency must remove, delete, or uninstall that pornography no later than January 1, 2025. Once again, there is an exception for certain employees and officials who are engaged in certain activities in the course of their official duties, listed at G.S. 143-805(d) and discussed in more detail in my prior blog post. This removal requirement also does not apply to devices owned personally by an employee, official, appointee, or student.