The open meetings law requires all official meetings of public bodies to be open to the public. G.S. 143-318.10(a). However, government bodies can hold closed-door meetings, called closed sessions, under certain limited circumstances. This post focuses on the personnel matters … Read more

This post was co-authored with SOG faculty member Phil Dixon Jr. A version of this post is also available on the School of Government’s North Carolina Criminal Law blog. When and how can state and local government officials and employees … Read more

The Town of Ticketmaster is holding a particularly contentious regular meeting this evening that will draw a much larger crowd than usual. The council wants to require tickets for entry to prevent overcrowding. Meanwhile, in the neighboring County of Corona, … Read more

[UPDATE: Section 4.31 of Session Law 2020-3 enacted new G.S. 166A-19.24, which imposes a variety of procedural requirements on remote meetings held by public bodies during a state of emergency declared by the Governor or General Assembly. As defined by … Read more

[Update 11/18/2020: Section 5.2(a) of the Governor’s Executive Order 169 (extended by Executive Order 176) generally exempts “government operations” from the order’s prohibitions on mass gatherings.  The NC Department of Public Safety interprets “government operations” to include local government board meetings. Section … Read more