The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently issued a decision in State v. Barthel (N.C. Ct. App. Nov 05, 2025) that may have significant consequences for how local governments handle criticism, personal insults, and profanity in public meetings. Read on … Read more

On December 3, 2025, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a statement (hereinafter, the “announcement”) on the agency’s interest in protecting parental rights when it comes to medical … Read more

Mobile homes present all sorts of problems for local property tax assessors and collectors.  They are the only properties that can move between real property and personal property status without physical changes to the property. That status affects both appraisal … Read more

When local government utilities face a crisis, help usually starts close to home. After floods, droughts, or cyberattacks, neighboring systems are often the first to respond. Not every challenge rises to the level of a declared disaster, though. A plant … Read more

Every local government and public authority begins the fiscal year with an annual budget ordinance. The ordinance shows the unit’s best estimate of the revenue it expects to receive and the expenditures it expects to make during the year. These … Read more

On October 31, I published a blog post explaining some of the changes around SNAP benefits in North Carolina, including immediate impacts of the federal government shutdown and more long-term impacts from changes in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” … Read more

Local governments in North Carolina are beginning to encounter a practical challenge in collecting cash payments as pennies become harder to obtain. The United States Mint has stopped producing new pennies, and many of the pennies already in circulation are … Read more

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been the focus of many news stories this week.  Due to the federal government shutdown that began October 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that approximately 42 million individuals across the … Read more

A town is contracting for the purchase of a firetruck. The vendor requests this clause to be included in the contract: “The Town will be responsible for any unforeseen tariff/surcharge from suppliers.” Should the town agree? The answer is no. … Read more

Through the FY 2025 Disaster Supplemental Grant Program (DSGP), the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has made available $1.45 billion in federal grant money to help communities recover from natural disasters occurring in 2023 and 2024. The EDA has a … Read more

The term “extraterritorial jurisdiction” (usually referred to as “ETJ” to save a few syllables) might at first seem confusing. Moreover, it sounds a bit like a description of the United Federation of Planets (that would be extraterrestrial jurisdiction, though). ETJ … Read more

Earlier this year, the North Carolina legislature appropriated moneys to fund two grant programs that support the ongoing Helene recovery efforts: This post outlines the program requirements for each of these grant programs. But first, I want to announce NEW … Read more

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be a focal point for policy debates, legal disputes, and legislative action over the past year, both in North Carolina and across the United States. The pace of AI development keeps accelerating exponentially, forcing lawmakers, … Read more

This post was authored by School of Government Faculty Member Shea Denning. This legislative session the General Assembly authorized cities and counties to use automated traffic cameras and speed sensors to enforce speed limits in school zones. Enforcement of traffic … Read more

This is my third post discussing S.L. 2025-16, the Fostering Care in NC Act. The various sections of this significant 32-page session law have different effective dates: June 26, 2025, October 1, 2025, December 1, 2025, and April 1, 2026. … Read more

A neighbor calls the local zoning office to complain: “My neighbor’s causing a ruckus. Y’all need to get out here and shut it down!” Or a property owner got a site plan approved and now they are not building according … Read more

No local government employee or official is more familiar with the litigation process (and its toll) than the local government lawyer, whose role is to counsel and advocate on behalf of the local government unit. A sampling of municipal and … Read more

Since the rise of social media, every national political event produces multiple examples of government employees being disciplined for on-line comments about that event. The shooting of Charlie Kirk is no exception. A Google search reveals dozens of stories about … Read more

In my last blog post about the confidentiality of adult protective services (APS) information, I described a five-step framework for determining when a department of social services (DSS) may release APS information (see flowchart here). The first step in that … Read more

As discussed in a previous post, local governments in North Carolina have a range of options for working together to provide water and wastewater services. At one end of this spectrum is the ability to create a separate legal entity … Read more