If the State Treasurer's Retirement and Health Benefits Division gets a request from someone other than the retirement system member, asking for information from that specific member's individual retirement account, does the Division have to turn over the records, or can it withhold them based on its internal rule that says individual retirement benefits won't be publicly disclosed?
Plain-English summary
The Director of the Retirement and Health Benefits Division of the State Treasurer's Department asked the AG whether the Division had to disclose individual retirement account information when the request came from someone other than the account holder. The Division had been operating under an internal rule (20 NCAC 2B.0209) that said the Retirement System would not publicly disclose individual retirement benefits. But the State's Public Records Act, Chapter 132, gave anyone the right to ask for public records, with limited exceptions.
The 1979 AG sided with the Public Records Act.
The opinion has a tight three-step structure.
Step one: are individual account records "public records" under G.S. 132-1? Yes. The statute defines public records broadly to include "all documents, papers, letters, electronic data-processing records, or other documentary material" made or received pursuant to law in connection with the transaction of public business. Information in a Retirement System member's account is documentary material that the Division creates and maintains in the course of its public business of administering state-funded retirement benefits. It fits within the statutory definition.
Step two: who can ask for them? Anyone. G.S. 132-9 gives any person, "without regard to whether such person has an interest in the records or a particular need for the records," the right to apply for a court order compelling disclosure when access is denied. The AG read this as a clear legislative statement that public records access is open to anyone, not just to interested parties or affected persons. The intent of Chapter 132 is that public records "shall be available to anyone for inspection, examination, and copying at reasonable times and places."
Step three: do any other statutes carve out retirement records? No. The AG explicitly checked: "There is no statutory provision relating to any of the state-administered retirement systems which makes those records, or any part of those records, confidential or exempt from the Public Records Act." Absent a statute that exempts retirement records (the General Assembly could have enacted one but did not), the default rule of Chapter 132 controls. The records are public.
That holding applies even where the request is for "information relating to an individual member's retirement account" that the member personally "might desire and expect to be treated as private or confidential information." Subjective expectations of privacy do not override the statute. The General Assembly drew the public-records line where it drew it; the AG's role is not to re-draw the line.
The internal rule cannot save the situation. The Division's regulation, 20 NCAC 2B.0209, said the Retirement System would not publicly disclose individual retirement benefits. The AG concluded that "that rule cannot control over legislation duly enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly." An agency rule cannot exempt records that the statute makes public. The regulation is unenforceable to the extent of the conflict.
So the operational answer for the Retirement Division was: when a non-member requests information about a specific member's account, the Division must produce it (subject to reasonable time, place, and copying-cost arrangements), and the internal rule cannot be invoked to refuse.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1979. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. North Carolina's Public Records Act (Chapter 132) has been amended to add specific exemptions, and the General Assembly has enacted privacy protections for certain personnel and financial information that may now affect retirement records. The state-administered retirement systems' enabling statutes may also now contain confidentiality provisions that did not exist in 1979. Anyone evaluating a current request for retirement records should check the current text of Chapter 132 and the current retirement system enabling statutes for exemptions and exceptions.
Historical context: what the AG concluded
The opinion is a clean illustration of the AG's role in resolving statute-versus-rule conflicts.
The Division was facing a real administrative tension. Retirement system members reasonably expected that their individual financial records (contributions, account balances, designated beneficiaries, accrued benefits) would be treated as private. The Division's internal rule reflected that expectation. But the General Assembly had enacted a very broad public records regime in Chapter 132 with very few exemptions. If the legislature had wanted to exempt retirement records, it could have done so by statute; it did not.
The AG's reasoning has three textual pillars.
The breadth of "public records." G.S. 132-1 defines public records to include all documentary material made or received "in connection with the transaction of public business." Retirement account administration is undeniably public business. The records fit the definition. There is no narrow reading of "documentary material" that could exclude retirement account information.
The breadth of who may ask. G.S. 132-9 expressly authorizes any person to seek disclosure, regardless of whether that person has an interest or particular need. The AG read this as foreclosing any argument that access could be limited to the account holder or to persons with a specific interest in the records.
The absence of any retirement-specific exemption. The AG searched for an exemption and found none. The state-administered retirement systems' enabling statutes did not, in 1979, contain a confidentiality provision. Without such a provision, the general default of Chapter 132 controlled.
The rule versus statute conflict resolution. Agency rules cannot enlarge or contract the reach of a statute they implement. An agency's interpretive or operational regulation that conflicts with the statute is not enforceable to the extent of the conflict. 20 NCAC 2B.0209 was an agency's choice to keep retirement information private; that choice did not have the force of legislation, and could not override Chapter 132.
The AG was careful not to claim that retirement information ought to be public as a policy matter. The opinion does not opine on whether the General Assembly should consider adding a confidentiality exemption for retirement records. The AG's role was to state what the law was in 1979, not what it should be.
For the Division in 1979, the immediate consequence was that it had to revise its disclosure practices. Members making contributions, beneficiaries waiting on retirement payouts, and the public records community all needed clarity that individual retirement records were available on request. The opinion gave the Division a clear answer.
Common questions
Can anyone request the retirement account information of a North Carolina teacher or state employee?
Under the 1979 AG reading of Chapter 132, yes. G.S. 132-9 gives any person the right to apply for access without regard to whether the person has any interest in the records. No statutory exemption then in force protected retirement records.
Does the requester have to give a reason?
No, under the 1979 reading. G.S. 132-9 says any person may apply "without regard to whether such person has an interest in the records or a particular need for the records." The statute expressly disclaims a reason requirement.
Why doesn't the Division's own rule protect member privacy?
Because an agency rule cannot override a statute. The AG quoted the principle directly: "that rule cannot control over legislation duly enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly." Any provision of 20 NCAC 2B.0209 that conflicted with Chapter 132 was unenforceable.
Could the General Assembly fix this by adding a confidentiality exemption?
Yes. The opinion explicitly notes that there was no statutory provision making retirement records confidential. The General Assembly could enact one. The AG does not opine on whether it should, but flagging the absence implicitly invites the legislature to act if it disagrees with the result.
Does this opinion apply to the State Health Plan or to local government retirement systems?
The opinion is specifically about the state-administered retirement systems (the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System and similar state systems administered by the Retirement and Health Benefits Division). The AG's reasoning would extend to any records of a state agency for which no statutory confidentiality exemption exists, but local retirement systems and the State Health Plan may be governed by different statutory frameworks.
Background and statutory framework
The opinion engages two clusters of authority.
The Public Records Act. G.S. 132-1 defines public records broadly to encompass all documentary material made or received in connection with the transaction of public business. G.S. 132-9 authorizes any person to seek a court order compelling disclosure when access is denied, regardless of the requester's interest or need. Chapter 132 as a whole is structured to make public records broadly available, with exemptions enacted by specific statutory provisions.
The Retirement System framework. The Retirement and Health Benefits Division of the Department of State Treasurer administers the state retirement systems. The Division's regulation 20 NCAC 2B.0209 stated that the Retirement System would not publicly disclose individual retirement benefits. As of 1979, no statute enacted by the General Assembly made any portion of the state-administered retirement system records confidential or exempt from Chapter 132.
The hierarchy principle. A duly enacted statute prevails over an agency rule that conflicts with it. The 1979 opinion applies this principle to 20 NCAC 2B.0209 and Chapter 132, holding the rule unenforceable to the extent it conflicts with the statute.
Citations
- G.S. 132-1
- G.S. 132-9
- Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes (Public Records Act)
- 20 NCAC 2B.0209
Source
- Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/public-records-teachers-and-state-employees-retirement-system/
Original opinion text
Requested By: E. T. Barnes, Director Retirement and Health Benefits Division Department of State Treasurer
Question: Is the Retirement and Health Benefits Division of the Department of the State Treasurer required to disclose information in an individual Retirement System member's account to someone other than that member?
Conclusion: Yes.
Information contained in the Retirement System account of an individual member constitutes documents, papers, letters, electronic data-processing records, or other documentary material made or received pursuant to law in connection with the transaction of public business by the Retirement System. As such, such information clearly falls within the definition of "public records" contained in G.S. 132-1.
Under G.S. 132-9, any person, without regard to whether such person has an interest in the records or a particular need for the records, may apply for a court order compelling disclosure upon denial of access to public records for purposes of inspection, examination, or copying. Consequently, the clear intent of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes is that public records shall be available to anyone for inspection, examination, and copying at reasonable times and places.
There is no statutory provision relating to any of the state-administered retirement systems which makes those records, or any part of those records, confidential or exempt from the Public Records Act, Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes. Therefore, any person is entitled to request and receive access to public records for purposes of examination, inspection, and copying. This is true even though a person may request information relating to an individual member's retirement account and even though those matters may be ones which the individual member might desire and expect to be treated as private or confidential information.
The rules of the Retirement and Health Benefits Division include a regulation providing that the Retirement System shall not publicly disclose individual retirement benefits. 20 NCAC 2B.0209. However, that rule cannot control over legislation duly enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly. Since the rule providing that individual retirement benefits shall not be publicly disclosed conflicts with Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes, it cannot be enforced. Any person seeking information concerning individual retirement accounts is entitled to access to those records under G.S. § 132-1 and G.S. § 132-9.
Rufus L. Edmisten
Attorney General
Norma S. Harrell
Associate Attorney