The Mayor of Transparent City has called a special meeting to allow the city council to designate an interim manager following the former manager’s unexpected departure. In accordance with the open meetings law, the clerk posts a notice stating the … Read more

The doctrine of governmental immunity shields cities and counties from financial liability for tort claims arising from the performance of governmental functions. (A “tort” is wrongful conduct, such as negligence or assault, for which a victim may be able to … Read more

The General Assembly’s enactment of Session Law 2014-3 will eventually result in the elimination of nearly all local privilege license taxes. (My colleague Chris McLaughlin has blogged about the impact of S.L. 2014-3 on local governments here and here.) School … Read more

As I have previously explained here and here, governmental immunity bars tort claims (negligence, assault, trespass, etc.) against cities and counties for personal injuries or property damage caused by the carelessness or intentional wrongdoing of their personnel in the performance … Read more

In my last blog post I listed and discussed seven points that local governments should take away from King v. Town of Chapel Hill, perhaps the North Carolina Supreme Court’s most significant decision yet on the general police power of local … Read more

In King v. Town of Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued what could be its most significant decision yet on the general police power of local governments. Somewhat predictably, media coverage tended to focus on the portion of the court’s … Read more

In my last blog post, I concluded that all members in attendance at a meeting of a local government board should be deemed present for quorum purposes, even those who for whatever reason decline or aren’t permitted to deliberate or vote on … Read more

The Town of Bomont has a problem:  for several weeks now large numbers of teenagers have been meeting on downtown sidewalks every Saturday morning to form “dance mobs.”  The youths make it almost impossible for pedestrians to access many of … Read more

Peaceful Town is famous for being a quiet place to live.  The town has earned this reputation through strict enforcement of its noise ordinance, which bans the use of electronic devices to project sound that is plainly audible at a … Read more

Like other local governments, the Town of Hapless has adopted a minimum housing code pursuant to G.S. 160A-443 (for more on minimum housing codes, see Tyler Mulligan’s book here).  In March of this year the town’s inspection department received numerous … Read more