A supervisor overhears one employee tell another that her mother has developed breast cancer.  In that inadvertent way, the supervisor—and therefore the employer—has acquired genetic information about the employee.  Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), the acquisition of genetic … Read more

The basic concept behind North Carolina public records law is simple:  all government records are “property of the people.”  As such, they must be made available upon request for free or minimal cost unless a statute specifically exempts a particular … Read more

As Hurricane Irene barreled toward the eastern seaboard and North Carolina’s coast, local communities and state and local officials braced for a potentially significant hit.  Hyde County declared a local state of emergency. Under its declaration it ordered a mandatory … Read more

UPDATE September 2013: During the 2013 legislative session, the General Assembly modified the distribution of Powell Bill funds to municipalities. See S.L. 2013-183. For which of the following projects may Powell Bill funds be expended?  1. The Village of Pothole … Read more

A frequently asked question if there ever was one. It would be nice if the statutes that govern local government activities were consistent and clear about what specific decisions or activities require governing board approval. No such luck. But there … Read more

UPDATE September 2013:  In 2013 the General Assembly expanded the scope of the bona-fide-farm exemption in several respects.  S.L. 2013 – 347 amends G.S. 153A-340 to provide that exempt activity includes agricultural activity associated with a farm “and any other … Read more

A massive hurricane is bearing down on the coast.  Coates County issues a state of emergency declaration ordering a mandatory evacuation and prohibiting alcohol sales (just to be on the safe side).  Citizens in the Town of Albert start calling … Read more

Mayor Juanita Beasley was stuck in the checkout lane at the supermarket. She was wondering why she always managed to pick the slowest line when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find her old high school … Read more

Recently, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2011-164 (SB 8) to remove the 100-school cap on the total number of charter schools that could be authorized in the State. Before its enactment, SB 8 went through a number of iterations. Several … Read more

The 2011 General Assembly completed its second session last week, the contentious redistricting and veto-override session, and has scheduled its third session of the year for September 12th.  At the top of the list of approved topics for the fall … Read more

As summarized in this post, the new annexation reform law requires cities to extend water and sewer services to annexed areas if the owners of a majority of properties in the area request service. The law requires the city to offer … Read more

First Amendment analysis of government employee speech is seldom a precise exercise.  The law is complicated.  The courts are firm in their notion that the cases turn on their facts and hard-and-fast rules are not really available. Let’s look at … Read more

As the economy continues to drag, more and more local governments are relying on foreclosures to improve their tax collections.  I’ve blogged previously about the foreclosure process here and here.  Today’s post responds to a couple of interesting questions attorneys and … Read more

One of the bills enacted by the General Assembly this session, S.L. 2011-376 (HB 648),  imposed new requirements for “owner-contractor” building construction projects.  Since the law’s enactment, a number of questions arose about these new requirements.  This post answers those … Read more

A county’s board of commissioners (BOC) has the power and responsibility to “develop() and direct() the fiscal policy of the county government.” G.S. 153A-101. The board adopts the annual county budget ordinance, as well as capital project ordinances, and has … Read more

Today, the Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Liebes v. Guilford County Department of Public Health, one of two cases challenging provisions of the 2009 law that banned smoking in restaurants and bars. The law exempts non-profit private clubs … Read more

Several significant changes to the laws governing environmental health programs were made during the 2011 General Assembly’s regular session. The state Division of Environmental Health was abolished and its programs were transferred to other agencies or eliminated. New laws changed … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: In 2012, the legislature replaced the petition process described below with a referendum requirement. The current law is summarized here. Nearly 40 annexation-related bills were introduced during this legislative session. Included in this number were identical House … Read more

Municipal annexations have been the subject of much debate recently.  My colleague Frayda Bluestein expertly analyzes S.L.  2011-396 (H.B.  845) the one bill that became law among dozens on the topic introduced during the current legislative session here.  My post today focuses on the two major property tax implications of this new law. … Read more

You want to run for city council, but you or your company has a contract with the city (or maybe you want to run to be a county commissioner and the contract is with the county).  Can you be a … Read more