The Ordinance Voting Statutes and the Meaning of the “Date of Introduction”
Legislature Decriminalizes Local Ordinances
Immediate Disclosure of Body-Worn Cameras Related to Death or Serious Bodily Injury
Public Meetings After the Lifting of the State-Level State of Emergency
Clarification of Rules for Remote Meetings Under State Level State of Emergency: No More Waiting 24 Hours After Public Hearings!
Where (and Just What) is the “Personnel File”?
New Rules for Meetings of Public Bodies During State-Level Declared Emergencies
Meetings and Public Hearings Under the Coronavirus State of Emergency
City Obligations for Providing Services to Annexed Areas
Is That All There Is? Strategies for Proving a Negative When a Person Alleges That Their Request for Records Has Not Been Fulfilled
Retention Schedules for Local Governments: Five Things You Should Know
Settlements Under the North Carolina Public Records Law
The First Amendment Keeps the “Social” in Government Social Media
Answers to Questions About the Mayor Pro Tem.
How to Approve Minutes and General Accounts of Closed Sessions
Formulating Plans for Responding to School Violence in Closed Session: Who Can Attend?
Mediation of Public Records Disputes is Jurisdictional
Satellite Area Boundaries are Corporate Limits, But Not for Purposes of Contiguous Annexation or ETJ.
It’s Campaign Season: What Are the Rules About What City and County Officials May Say and Do?
Prayer at Local Government Meetings: An Evolving Jurisprudence
Excusing Board Members from Voting on the Budget
New Rules for Online Access to Databases and Other Records
Open Meetings Book: New Edition Now Available
Email as Public Record: Five Things You Should Know [Updated]
Local Acts Relating to Health and Sanitation: Supreme Court Weighs in On Asheville and Boone Cases
Post-Election Questions? Blog Posts Have Answers
The Peaceful and Orderly Transfer of Power: Answers to Questions About Organizational Meetings and Swearing In New Board Members
Board Majorities Attending External Events or Meetings: When is Notice Required?
Answers to Questions About North Carolina’s Body-Worn Camera Law
The Latest on North Carolina Body-Worn Camera Legislation
Legislative Proposal Regarding Body-Worn Cameras
Requests For Public Records Under FOIA: How Should Local Governments Respond?
Public Comment Period Policies: What’s Legal?
The “Government Speech” Doctrine and Local Government Meetings: Can the Government Take Sides?
Setting Salaries and Closed Sessions
Two New Exceptions to the Public Records Law Protect Citizen Information
Legislative Transfer of Asheville Water System Is Constitutional
New Public Records Exceptions for Security and Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) Information
Annexation Agreements for Economic Development – Not an Option
AOC Database is Not Subject to the Public Records Act
Trial Court Review of Closed Session Minutes
The North Carolina Criminal Self-Dealing Statute (G.S. 14-234): Five Things You Should Know
Removing Members of Appointed Boards
Donating Property: Beware of Constitutional Constraints
When Board Members Won’t Talk Back
Using Private Email for Public Business: Is it Illegal in North Carolina?
Law Enforcement Video Camera Records: An Ongoing National Debate About Transparency
County and Municipal Government in North Carolina: New Edition is Now Available
Custodians of Public Records
Selecting and Appointing a New City or County Attorney: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
How Public Are Law Enforcement Vehicle or Body Camera Videos? (Not Very, in North Carolina.)
Attorneys’ Fees For Acting Outside the Scope of Authority (G.S. 6-21.7)
Privacy, Privatization, and Transparency: 2014 Public Records and Open Meetings Legislation
Locally Adopted Voting Rules
Who Has Access to Applicant Information?
Recording Closed Sessions
Is a Quorum Necessary for a Public Hearing?
Anonymous Tips: Can They Really Be Anonymous? [Revised]
Quick-Reference Guide for Closed Sessions
Databases Under the Public Records Law
Canceling Meetings and Hearings Because of Inclement Weather
Approving Minutes of Meetings You Didn’t Attend
Giving and Receiving Gifts
Who May Attend a Closed Session?
Do Mayors Have a Duty to Vote?
Board Members at Candidate Forums: Does the Open Meetings Law Apply?
Voluntary Annexation: An Overview
Removing an Elected Official by Amotion: Judge Says It Can Be Done
Remote Participation in Meetings
Can the Board Take Action in a Workshop Meeting?
Are Mug Shots Public Records?
Who Can Request Public Records?
Charging for Copies of Public Records
Can I See What’s in My Personnel File?
Now Therefore, Be It Resolved…
Criticizing Public Employees in Public
Are Security Videos Public Records?
Is North Carolina a Dillon’s Rule State?
Local Acts and General Laws: Another Look
Closed Session Minutes and General Accounts Under the Public Records Law
Annexation Reform: Referendum Replaces Petition to Deny
I Hereby Resign! Wait! I Changed My Mind!
A Road Trip, a Parking Lot Conversation, and a Site Visit: Are These Illegal Meetings?
Dealing With Massive Public Records Requests
Form, Format, and Medium: How Must Electronic Records Be Provided?
Draft Records Under the Public Records Law
Local Government Authority: Piecing it Together
Board Member Financial Interest: Mapping the Points on the Continuum
Canceling and Rescheduling Meetings
Open Meetings and the Public’s Right to Speak
Texting While Meeting: Is it Illegal for Local Government Officials?
Court Does Not Have Authority to Grant Public Access to Personnel Records
Are Cell Phone Bills Public Records?
Annexing Streets – Interpreting S.L. 2011-57, and Dealing With Half a Street
911 Calls and Protecting the Natural Voice – Mandatory or Optional?
Does the Board Have to Approve This?
Water and Sewer Extensions “At No Cost” – Analyzing the New Annexation Law
Annexation Reform: A Summary of the New Law
Email Subscriber Lists: A New Exception to the Public Records Law
Ask, Don’t Compel: Local Government Authority to Establish Rules For Public Records Requests
When Do Government Transparency Laws Apply to Private Entities?
Agreements to Petition for Voluntary Annexation: Do They Run With the Land?
The Whole Enchilada: NC Court of Appeals Rules on Access Requirements Under the Open Meetings Law
Self-Executing Constitutional Provisions
Records About Employment Actions: Clarifying What Is and Isn’t Public
Filling a Vacancy on the Town Council
Dismissals for Poor Performance: Legal Implications Under the Personnel Privacy Statutes
Is a Survey A Public Record? Another Application of the Framework for Analyzing Public Records Questions
Release of Personnel Records: What Rights Does An Employee Have?
Attorney General Opinion on 2010 Personnel Privacy Changes
About Town Administrators
A Reasonable Search of Employee Records: City of Ontario v. Quon
Waiting for Interpretations of the New Personnel Privacy Provisions: What Options Do Local Governments Have?
Access to Records or Lists of Information: What Does the Public Records Law Require?
Individual Board Member Access to Email
Public Records Mediation and Attorneys’ Fees Provisions
Personnel Privacy Law Changes
Are Local Government Employee Time Sheets Public Records? (Applying the Framework for Answering Questions About Public Records Requests)
Is This a Public Record? A Framework For Answering Questions About Public Records Requests
Voting and Taking Action in Closed Sessions
Getting Your Message Across: What Can Public Officials Say In Support of Pending Policies or Proposals?
Airing Dirty Laundry in Public: Does the Law Require It?
Citizen Participation Information as Public Record
Free Speech Rights in Government Social Media Sites
Answers to Questions About Committees
Board Members as Employees
What Happens in Closed Session, Stays in Closed Session…Or Does It?
Lame Ducks and Members-Elect: What Can They Do After the Election and Before Swearing In?
Postcards from Home Rule States
Monuments in Parks: Government Speech, Not Forum Analysis
“Official Conduct” – More on Excusing Board Members From Voting
Excusing Board Members From Voting
Conflicts of Interest: How Do The Voting Statutes Relate to the Criminal Statute?
Limited Public Forum Analysis Revisited
