Does the State Controller's statutory duty to 'exercise general coordinating authority for all telecommunications matters relating to the internal management and operations' of state agencies under G.S. 143B-426.35 cover the University of North Carolina system and its constituent campuses, or are the universities outside the State Controller's reach?

Plain-English summary

The AG addressed whether the State Controller's general coordinating authority for telecommunications under N.C.G.S. § 143B-426.35 reaches the University of North Carolina system and its constituent universities. Senior Deputy AG Ann Reed and Special Deputy AG John R. Corne said yes.

The framework. G.S. § 143B-426.35(14) makes the State Controller responsible, with respect to State agencies, for "general coordinating authority for all telecommunications matters relating to the internal management and operations of these agencies." Within that responsibility, the Controller may, in cooperation with affected agency heads, provide for the establishment, management, and operation, through state ownership or commercial leasing, of telecommunications systems and services including:

• Central telephone systems and telephone networks
• Teleprocessing systems
• Teletype and facsimile services
• Satellite services
• Closed-circuit TV systems
• Two-way radio systems
• Microwave systems
• Other systems based on telecommunications technologies

The Controller may, with the approval of the Information Resource Management Commission (the opinion notes the statute's reference to the predecessor name "Information Technology Council"), coordinate the development of cost-sharing systems among user agencies; assist in developing coordinated telecommunications services within and among state agencies; recommend cooperative utilization by aggregating users; establish telecommunications specifications and designs to promote compatibility (per G.S. § 143-49); coordinate review of agency telecommunications procurement requests (G.S. §§ 143-49 and 143-50); coordinate review of property acquisitions, dispositions, or construction for telecommunications system requirements (G.S. § 143-341 and Chapter 146); and assist in developing policies and long-range plans for telecommunications acquisition and use.

The definition question. The Controller's authority applies to "State agencies." G.S. § 143B-426.35(3) defines "State agency" by reference to G.S. § 147-64.4(4), which provides:

"Any department, institution, board, commission, committee, division, bureau, officer, official or other entity for which the State has oversight responsibility, including but not limited to, any university, mental or speciality hospital, community college, or clerk of court."

The AG concluded that "any university" plainly includes the UNC system and its constituent campuses. The system is a state institution under state oversight; the constituent universities are state institutions under state oversight. Both fit comfortably within the cross-referenced definition.

The practical consequence. UNC system and constituent campus telecommunications procurement, design, and operations are subject to the Controller's coordinating authority. That does not mean the Controller can override campus-level decisions unilaterally (the statute uses "in cooperation with affected State agency heads") but it does mean the campuses are not exempt from the statewide coordination framework. Compatibility standards, cost-sharing arrangements, and procurement review processes apply to the universities the same way they apply to other state agencies.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1995. 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.

The framework for statewide information technology and telecommunications coordination has been substantially reorganized since 1995. The Information Resource Management Commission (and its successor entities), the State CIO position, and the various IT-procurement and coordination statutes have all gone through major rewrites. The general principle that "State agency" definitions in cross-referenced statutes pick up the UNC system and constituent universities remains common, but specific procurement and coordination authority over UNC telecommunications today is governed by the current statutes (including Chapter 143B as amended and successor provisions like Chapter 143 Article 3D for IT). Any current question should be checked against the current State CIO statutes, current procurement statutes, and any later AG opinions or court decisions on UNC's relationship to the statewide IT coordination apparatus.

Common questions

Q: What does the State Controller actually do with this coordinating authority?
A: The statute frames it as cooperation and coordination, not direct command. The Controller can set telecommunications specifications and designs to promote compatibility, review and approve agency procurement requests, develop cost-sharing systems for shared infrastructure (with Commission approval), and otherwise rationalize the state's telecommunications spending. The aim is to prevent agency-by-agency duplication and incompatibility in state telecommunications systems.

Q: Why does this matter to a constituent UNC campus?
A: Because UNC campuses are large telecommunications buyers (phone systems, networks, video distribution, research data networks). If those purchases fall outside any statewide coordination, the state cannot aggregate purchasing power, enforce compatibility, or rationalize shared infrastructure. The 1995 opinion confirms the campuses are inside the coordination framework, so campus procurement and design decisions get the same review and coordination treatment that other state agencies do.

Q: What is G.S. § 147-64.4(4) and why does it pop up so often?
A: It is one of the standard cross-referenced definitions of "State agency" in NC law. Many statutes that grant authority over "State agencies" (audit, procurement, IT coordination, financial reporting) pull their scope from § 147-64.4(4) by reference. The express inclusion of "any university" is what brings the UNC system inside the scope of those statutes by default, unless a specific statute carves the universities out.

Q: Does the General Assembly ever exempt UNC from this kind of coordination?
A: Sometimes. NC has historically given the UNC system more autonomy than other state agencies in some areas (academic governance, faculty appointments, certain personnel matters), but in operational and infrastructural matters the universities have typically been inside the general state-agency framework. Specific exemptions exist in specific statutes; the 1995 opinion confirms that no exemption applied to the Controller's telecommunications coordinating authority.

Q: What is the Information Resource Management Commission referenced in the statute?
A: A state body responsible for overseeing IT and information resource management. The 1995 opinion notes that the statutory text used the older name "Information Technology Council" and signals (parenthetically) that it has been renamed the Information Resource Management Commission. The Controller needs Commission approval to coordinate cost-sharing systems for telecommunications shared infrastructure.

Q: Could a UNC constituent university argue it is exempt by some other statute?
A: The opinion does not address that question directly, but the plain-text reading it adopts of "any university" makes any such argument an uphill climb. A statute that specifically exempted the UNC system from the Controller's coordinating authority would likely have to say so directly. Without that, the default cross-referenced definition picks up the universities.

Background and statutory framework

NC's state-government IT and telecommunications coordination apparatus grew out of the recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s that agency-by-agency telecommunications buying was producing fragmentation, incompatibility, and lost economies of scale. Chapter 143B Article 7B (where G.S. § 143B-426.35 sat) gave the State Controller statewide coordinating authority for telecommunications matters, supported by the Information Resource Management Commission as the policy-approval body for shared infrastructure cost-sharing.

The recurring statutory technique is to define "State agency" through cross-reference to G.S. § 147-64.4(4), which is the State Auditor's definition. Pulling the auditor's definition into other authority statutes is convenient and produces consistent coverage across audit, procurement, and IT coordination. The express inclusion of "any university" in the auditor's definition is what brings the UNC system into the same coverage.

The 1995 opinion is a clean application of statutory text to definition cross-reference. The Controller's authority is broad ("general coordinating authority for all telecommunications matters"); the "State agencies" it reaches are broadly defined ("any department, institution, board, commission, committee, division, bureau, officer, official or other entity for which the State has oversight responsibility, including but not limited to, any university"). The two together cover the UNC system.

Citations

• G.S. § 143-49 (telecommunications specifications and designs; compatibility)
• G.S. § 143-50 (coordination of procurement of telecommunications systems or services)
• G.S. § 143-341 (state property acquisitions, dispositions, construction)
• Chapter 146 of the General Statutes (state property)
• G.S. § 143B-426.35 (State Controller's general coordinating authority over state telecommunications)
• G.S. § 143B-426.35(3) (definition of "State agency" via cross-reference to G.S. § 147-64.4(4))
• G.S. § 147-64.4(4) (State Auditor's "State agency" definition; includes any university, mental or specialty hospital, community college, or clerk of court)

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/authority-of-the-state-controller-to-coordinate-all-telecommunications-matters/

Original opinion text

The available extract begins with the statutory text and definition analysis; the opening salutation and the recitation of the requesting agency were not captured.

(14) With respect to State agencies, exercise general coordinating authority for all telecommunications matters relating to the internal management and operations of these agencies. In discharging that responsibility the State Controller may in cooperation with affected State agency heads, do such of the following things as he deems necessary and advisable:

a. Provide for the establishment, management, and operation, through either State ownership or commercial leasing, of the following systems and services as they affect the internal management and operation of State agencies:

• Central telephone systems and telephone networks;
• Teleprocessing systems;
• Teletype and facsimile services;
• Satellite services;
• Closed-circuit TV systems;
• Two-way radio systems;
• Microwave systems;
• Related systems based on telecommunications technologies.

b. With the approval of the Information Technology Council (sic) [Information Resource Management Commission], coordinate the development of cost-sharing systems for respective user agencies for their proportionate parts of the cost of maintenance and operation of the systems and services listed in item "a." of this subdivision.

c. Assist in the development of coordinated telecommunications services or systems within and among all State agencies and recommend, where appropriate, cooperative utilization of telecommunications systems by aggregating users.

e. Pursuant to G.S. 143-49, establish telecommunications specifications and designs so as to promote and support compatibility of the systems within State agencies.

f. Pursuant to G.S. 143-49 and G.S. 143-50, coordinate the review of requests by State agencies for the procurement of telecommunications systems or services.

g. Pursuant to G.S. 143-341 and Chapter 146 of the General Statutes, coordinate the review of requests by State agencies for State government property acquisitions, disposition, or construction for telecommunications systems requirements.

l. Assist and coordinate the development of policies and long-range plans . . . for the acquisition and use of telecommunications systems . . . .

(Emphasis added.)

G.S. § 143B-426.35(3) defines the term "State agency" as "any State agency as defined in G.S. 147-64.4(4)." G.S. § 147-64.4(4) specifically defines "State agency" as:

(4) Any department, institution, board, commission, committee, division, bureau, officer, official or other entity for which the State has oversight responsibility, including but not limited to, any university, mental or speciality hospital, community college, or clerk of court.

(Emphasis added.) The foregoing definition clearly includes the University of North Carolina system and, of course, its constituent universities.

Based on the plain language of the relevant statutory provisions, it is our opinion that the State Controller is required to exercise general coordinating authority for all telecommunications matters (e.g. central telephone systems and telephone networks) relating to the internal management and operations of State agencies, including the University of North Carolina system and its constituent universities.

Ann Reed
Senior Deputy Attorney General

John R. Corne
Special Deputy Attorney General