North Carolina Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in North Carolina, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Does the State Budget Manual, which dictates how agencies prepare and execute the budget, count as 'rules' under North Carolina's Administrative Procedures Act, and if so does it have to be filed with the Attorney General and go through the standard rulemaking procedure?
Yes to both, with exceptions. The 1979 AG concluded that portions of the Budget Manual that are 'rules' under G.S. 150A-58 must be filed with the Attorney General (under Article 5, Publication of Admi…
Three configurations: (1) Can public assistance pay for care in a rest home owned by an employee of a State Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center? (2) Same, but the home is owned by a corporation where the employee is officer or shareholder? (3) The home is rented from an employee of an area mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse authority?
No, No, and Yes. The 1979 AG concluded that G.S. 108-65.2's prohibition reaches State Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center employees (they are DHR employees) whether they own the home directly or through a…
Can a North Carolina city be served with a garnishment for child support when the noncustodial parent is a city employee, or does sovereign immunity protect the city from garnishment proceedings?
Cities are not immune. The 1979 AG concluded that the general rule (governments cannot be garnished without statutory authorization) does not control under G.S. 110-136, because the statute starts wit…
When a sheriff's deputy or police officer serves or tries to serve a civil summons, does North Carolina law require the court to add a process fee to the case costs and collect it, then send the money to the right governmental unit?
Yes. The 1979 AG concluded that G.S. 7A-311(a)(1) requires the fee to be assessed, collected and remitted whether the officer successfully serves the process or only attempts to serve it. The legislat…
In a worthless check prosecution, can the prosecuting witness get the new $5 witness fee added to costs if the witness wasn't actually present when the magistrate took payment or when the defendant pleaded guilty in court?
No. The 1979 AG concluded that the witness must be in actual attendance on the court to be entitled to the fee. G.S. 14-107(5)'s new fee provision (added by Chapter 837, Session Laws of 1979) is an ex…
When the State of North Carolina is the majority stockholder of a railroad company chartered as a private corporation, can the railroad sell or buy land on its own, or does it need the Governor and Council of State to sign off first?
Sales (dispositions) need Governor and Council approval; ordinary purchases (acquisitions) do not. The 1979 AG read G.S. 124-5 as covering only dispositions, leases, mortgages, and other encumbrances …
When a person under 18 with no prior convictions has three misdemeanor charges consolidated for trial and gets a sentence within the limit for a single offense, can the judge expunge the whole batch under G.S. 15-223?
Yes. The 1979 AG concluded that consolidated misdemeanor charges receiving a single-offense sentence should be treated as one misdemeanor for expungement purposes. The statute is remedial and should b…
Can a North Carolina parent satisfy the state's compulsory attendance law by teaching her child at home, either under the new 1979 nonpublic-school deregulation statutes (Articles 32A and 32B) or under the longstanding 'private school' provision in G.S. 115-166?
No to both. The 1979 AG concluded that home instruction was not a 'school of religious charter' or a 'nonpublic school' under Articles 32A and 32B, which were intended to reach only established educat…
Can an attorney who sits on the local Area Mental Health Board be paid for legal services he renders to a private nonprofit group home that has a service contract with the Area Authority his board governs?
No. The 1979 AG concluded that the arrangement would violate G.S. 14-234, the public-officials self-dealing bar. While prior AG opinions had distinguished between (a) a board member who was a partner,…
Can North Carolina use its uniform reciprocal enforcement of support law to enforce child support obligations between NC residents and residents of West Germany, the same way it enforces support orders across state lines within the U.S.?
Yes. The 1979 AG concluded that the 1975 amendment to N.C. Gen. Stat. 52A-3(13) expanded the definition of 'State' under URESA to include 'any foreign jurisdiction in which this or a substantially sim…
Under the 1977 rewrite of the North Carolina statutes governing Area Mental Health Authorities, does a satellite unit operated by an Area Mental Health Authority require its own license? What about a private agency that contracts with the Area Mental Health Authority to provide services that are statutorily required of the Authority?
Yes to both. The 1979 AG concluded that under G.S. 122-35.51 (effective July 1, 1977) every 'area mental health facility' operated under Chapter 122 must obtain a license issued by the Department of H…
After the 1975 reorganization of North Carolina state government, who actually runs the Office of State Personnel, the Secretary of Administration or the State Personnel Director?
The State Personnel Director. The 1979 AG concluded that the Office of State Personnel was a largely independent agency placed under the Department of Administration only for organizational purposes. …
When a driver crashes into someone because the driver did not slow down even though the driver was within the posted speed limit, is failure-to-decrease-speed only a civil negligence question, or can the State also charge it as a crime?
Both. The 1979 AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 20-141(m) creates a misdemeanor offense of failure to decrease speed as necessary to avoid a collision, punishable under § 20-176 by up to $100 in fines and…
In North Carolina, if a woman who is 22 weeks pregnant learns through testing that her fetus has a severe genetic disorder that will leave the child severely intellectually disabled or unlikely to live past infancy, can she request and obtain an abortion based on that diagnosis alone under the state's abortion statutes as they stood in 1979?
No, under the 1979 AG reading of the statutes then in force. The 1979 AG concluded that G.S. 14-45.1(b) authorized post-20-week abortions only when there was a 'substantial risk that continuance of th…
If a North Carolina National Guardsman is hurt at a federally required two-week summer training camp and the federal government already pays his medical bills, full duty pay, and other federal benefits, can he also collect North Carolina workers' compensation from the State?
No. The 1979 AG concluded that under G.S. 97-2(2), a Guardsman injured while in the service of the United States is not a State employee for workers' compensation purposes, so no State workers' comp i…
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?
Yes, the Division has to turn over the records. The 1979 AG concluded that individual member retirement account information is a 'public record' under G.S. 132-1, and any person may seek access under …
After a person is convicted of driving under the influence, can the district court still grant the person a limited driving privilege through a motion for appropriate relief that the person files more than ten days after the trial?
Generally no. The 1979 AG concluded that under G.S. 15A-1411 and 15A-1415(b), a defendant could only obtain post-judgment relief through a motion for appropriate relief filed more than 10 days after e…
When someone signs and delivers a deed giving real property to a North Carolina county, does the county legally own the land on the date the deed is signed, or only on the later date when the county board of commissioners formally votes to accept the gift?
Only on the date the board of commissioners formally accepts the deed. The AG concluded that NC law requires county actions to be taken by the board of commissioners, so a deed signed in 1968 but not …
After a DUI conviction, the court can order the defendant to complete an alcohol rehabilitation course. Can the judge make the program's tuition fee part of the court costs, have the clerk of court collect it along with the other costs, and then forward it to the rehab provider?
No. The 1979 AG concluded that Article 28 of Chapter 7A (the uniform-cost statute, § 7A-304 et seq.) defines the costs the clerk may collect in the trial divisions, and a third-party rehabilitation co…
Is a notary public considered a public officer in North Carolina, and if so, can a notary hold one appointive office with a city and one appointive office with a county at the same time, or does that count as three public offices and run afoul of the constitutional limit?
Notary yes, three offices no. The 1979 AG concluded that a notary public is a public officer under North Carolina law, and that under Article VI, Section 9 of the State Constitution as supplemented by…
When North Carolina amended its intangibles tax in 1978 to reach money on deposit in stock-owned savings and loan associations, did the tax also apply to deposits in federally chartered stock savings and loan associations, or did federal law block the state from taxing those federal deposits?
Federal law blocked it. The 1979 AG concluded that, although G.S. 105-199 as amended in 1978 was written broadly enough to reach deposits in all stock-owned S&L associations, applying it to federal st…
If a moped (a bicycle with a small helper motor) is going faster than 20 miles per hour, does it lose its 'exempt bicycle with helper motor' status and become a regulated motor vehicle?
Yes, if the engine is doing the work. The 1979 AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 20-4.01(23) and (27)(d) exempt bicycles with helper motors only if the engine produces 'ordinary pedaling speeds up to a max…
When a doctor writes standing orders telling a nurse to give certain medications under specified conditions, can the nurse legally carry them out? And does it make a difference whether the medications are controlled substances?
Yes for routine medications, no for controlled substances. The 1979 AG concluded that under G.S. 90-18(14) and the joint Board of Medical Examiners and Board of Nursing regulations at 32E NCAC, only a…
The City of Raleigh made a $12,500 appropriation to the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority and conditioned the grant on the Authority signing a nondiscrimination agreement. Can a city use a funding appropriation to impose policy conditions on a separately governed regional airport authority?
No. The 1979 AG concluded that the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority was created by Chapter 168 of the 1939 Session Laws as a quasi-municipal corporation governed by directors appointed by the cities o…
Does someone need a North Carolina general contractor's license if they're an employee of the owner who manages a construction project worth more than $30,000?
Yes, if the employee has overall supervision and control of the project. The 1979 AG concluded that an employee of an owner who has overall authority and control of a $30,000-or-more construction proj…
When a sheriff is told to enforce a court judgment against someone who owes money, how hard does the sheriff have to look for the debtor's property before reporting back to the court that the debtor has nothing to seize?
Due diligence. The 1979 AG concluded that under Parks v. Alexander, 29 N.C. 412, a sheriff cannot return 'no property' on an execution simply because of a general report that the debtor is insolvent. …
Who decides who gets a key to the register of deeds' office, the register of deeds or the county board of commissioners?
The register of deeds. The 1979 AG concluded that even though G.S. 153A-169 makes the board of county commissioners responsible for supervising the maintenance, repair, and use of county property and …
When the North Carolina Child Support Enforcement Program is trying to locate a parent who has abandoned and deserted children, can it force a state, county, or city agency to hand over otherwise confidential personnel records about that parent, even though state personnel records statutes normally prohibit releasing them for use in a criminal prosecution like criminal nonsupport?
Yes. The 1979 AG concluded that G.S. 110-139, the parent locator confidentiality override enacted in 1975, supersedes the State, county, and city personnel-confidentiality statutes (G.S. 126-24(5), G.…
If the State of North Carolina (through the Wanchese Harbor Commission or a successor) operates water and sewage facilities at the Wanchese Industrial Park and bills tenants and outside hookups, does the State need a certificate from the Utilities Commission to do that?
No. The 1978 AG concluded that the Utilities Commission's regulatory authority under Chapter 62 only reaches entities that meet the statutory definition of 'public utility' in N.C.G.S. § 62-3(23), and…
In North Carolina, can my employer take money out of my paycheck to cover a cash register shortage, missing inventory, or a returned bad check that I accepted, even if I signed something saying it was okay?
No. Under NC's Uniform Wage Payment Law, an employer cannot withhold any portion of an employee's wages for cash register shortages, inventory shortages, damages to property, or bad checks the employe…
Can a defense lawyer or a member of the public demand copies of the chemical test operator's log, breathalyzer rights form (HP-332A), or alcoholic influence report (HP-327) from a North Carolina law enforcement agency under the public records law?
No, while held by the law enforcement agency. The 1978 AG concluded all five categories of breathalyzer-related records (chemical test operator's log, HP-332A rights form, HP-327 alcoholic influence r…
If a town council member or county commissioner owns stock in a corporation, or serves as an officer of that corporation, can the town or county lawfully enter into a contract with the corporation?
No. The 1978 AG concluded that a public officer who is a stockholder or officer of a corporation violates G.S. 14-234 by participating, directly or indirectly, in a contract between his public body an…
Are the Highway Patrol's copies of a North Carolina Uniform Traffic Ticket (the District First Sergeant's transmittal copy and the issuing officer's enforcement copy with notes) public records that any member of the public can inspect, either before or after the trial of the offense?
No on all three counts. The District First Sergeant is a temporary conduit, not a 'custodian' of public records under § 132-2, and the public can get the same information from the clerk of court or th…
When a North Carolina criminal court finds that a defendant lacks the mental capacity to proceed with trial and orders involuntary civil commitment proceedings under G.S. 15A-1003(a), is the defendant required to first be examined by a qualified physician at one of the facilities described in G.S. 122-58.4, or can a law enforcement officer skip that local-physician step and take the defendant directly to a regional state psychiatric hospital?
The local physician examination is required. The 1978 AG concluded that under G.S. 15A-1003(a) and the related involuntary commitment statutes, a defendant found incapable of proceeding with trial mus…
When someone serving a sentence in a state prison becomes mentally ill and dangerous to himself or others, who is the person responsible for filing the petition to involuntarily commit him to a mental health treatment facility?
Only a staff psychiatrist at the prison. The 1978 AG concluded that G.S. 122-85, which specifically addresses involuntary commitment of prisoners, overrode the general rule in G.S. 122-58.3 that any p…
When deciding whether a child-care arrangement is big enough that it has to be licensed as a day-care facility, do you count kids who are there for only a few hours after school? And does the exclusion for relatives caring for children only cover parents and grandparents, or does it also cover great-aunts and other relatives?
Don't count the short-stay kids; do count the kids with non-grandparent relatives. The 1978 AG concluded that because violating the day-care licensing requirement is a criminal offense (G.S. 110-103 m…
When North Carolina adds new required immunizations (like red measles or rubella) to its school-entry rules, do all children currently in school have to catch up, or only kids enrolling for the first time after the new rule took effect? And if a school district let an unimmunized child stay past the 30-day grace period by mistake, can the school still exclude that child later?
Only first-time enrollees are caught by each new requirement, and the school can still enforce the rule after a missed grace period. The 1978 AG concluded that G.S. 130-87 (as amended by 1971 and 1977…
After a district court judge has involuntarily committed someone to a state mental hospital under Article 5A of Chapter 122, does the Department of Human Resources need a new court order to move the patient to a private hospital later, or can the Department transfer the patient on its own?
On its own. The 1978 AG concluded that G.S. 122-80 authorized the Department of Human Resources to order a transfer from a state hospital to a licensed private hospital without going back to court for…
Can a local Board of Realtors, which is a private trade association, require a licensed real estate agent to first join the Board (and pay Board membership fees) before that agent can apply for access to the multiple listing service that the Board operates?
No, if the MLS is an essential competitive tool. The 1978 AG concluded that real estate brokering is a 'trade' within both federal and state antitrust law, and that conditioning MLS access on Board me…
If a will has a self-proving affidavit certificate signed by the testator and the witnesses, but no separate attestation by the witnesses, can the clerk admit the will to probate? And if not, can the witnesses come back into court later and attest the will so it can be probated?
No to both. The 1978 AG concluded that the self-proving certificate under N.C.G.S. § 31-11.6 was an alternative method of proving an already-attested will, not a substitute for the underlying attestat…
In North Carolina, when a chiropractor's patient was previously imaged at a public hospital, can the chiropractor get access to those existing diagnostic X-rays for treatment, or does the hospital get to refuse and force the chiropractor to take new images?
The chiropractor can review the existing X-rays. After the 1977 amendment to G.S. § 90-153, a licensed chiropractor has the right of access to a patient's diagnostic X-ray records and laboratory recor…
If a hospital or other health provider has already started building or developing a new health service before North Carolina's new Certificate of Need law was ratified in mid-1978, but the project will not be finished by the January 1, 1979 effective date, does the provider have to go back and get a Certificate of Need from the state to keep going?
No, the AG concluded, if the provider had already 'proceeded with development' before the Act was ratified on June 16, 1978. The Act applies to new institutional health service projects, but reading i…
Can a North Carolina city and the county it sits in enter into an interlocal cooperation agreement under which the city designates the county tax collector to also serve as the city tax collector, consolidating tax collection duties for both governments?
Yes. The 1978 AG concluded that under Article 20 of Chapter 160A (Interlocal Cooperation), a city and county can contract for one to perform the tax collection function of the other. G.S. 160A-460 def…
If a North Carolina county or city passes a floodplain ordinance, does it apply to the State of North Carolina when the State builds something on State-owned land inside that county or city?
It depends on the source of the ordinance. The 1978 AG concluded that floodplain ordinances enacted under the general local zoning statutes (Chapter 153A, Art. 18, Part 3 for counties; Chapter 160A, A…
Can a North Carolina corporation legally spend money to take a public position for or against a question on the ballot, like a bond referendum or a school referendum, when the state's election statutes broadly prohibit corporate expenditures 'for any political purpose whatsoever'?
Yes. The 1978 AG concluded that the First Amendment, as explained by the U.S. Supreme Court in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti (decided April 26, 1978), protects a corporation's right to mak…
If a customer pays a North Carolina retail merchant with a check that bounces, can the merchant tack on a $5 (or similar) service fee for processing the returned check? And if so, can a collection agency that takes over the account collect that service fee from the customer?
Under certain circumstances yes for the merchant; only with an express agreement yes for the collection agency. The 1978 AG concluded: (1) G.S. 6-21.3 authorizes a $5 court-cost recovery only after a …
When the Governor of North Carolina formally declares an 'energy crisis' under the Energy Policy Act of 1975 and triggers the Emergency Energy Program, does he have the legal authority to compel the Public Utilities Commission and other state agencies to implement the Program's rules and rationing measures, and can he set up his own administrative-appeal procedures for decisions made under the Program?
Yes to both. The 1978 AG concluded that under G.S. 113B-23 the Governor, on declaring an energy crisis and obtaining Legislative Committee on Energy Crisis Management approval, has authority to order …
When a state employee in North Carolina is disciplined and appeals, can the department spill the details to the news media? Does it matter whether the hearing is at the agency level or at the State Personnel Commission level, and does the public have a right to attend?
The 1978 AG concluded: (1) Departmental grievance hearings are not 'contested cases' required by law, so they need not be open and the information disclosed there stays confidential as part of the per…
Can a North Carolina county spend its money on advertising the county's advantages (to attract tourists, businesses, and industry), and can it hand a chunk of that money over to the local Chamber of Commerce to do the actual advertising? Does it matter whether the money is property tax revenue or non-tax revenue?
Yes for both, but with significant limits. The 1978 AG concluded that under G.S. 153A-149(d) and Chapter 158, Article 1, a county may levy a property tax for advertising / local development only with …
When a deed of trust and the note it secures have been lost, and the original trustee is missing or has become incompetent, can the secured party (the beneficiary or 'cestui que trust' under the deed of trust) acknowledge satisfaction of the deed of trust under N.C.G.S. § 45-37(a)(1) to clear the title from the public records?
No. The 1978 AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 45-37(a)(1) allows only the trustee, the mortgagee, their legal representative, or a duly authorized agent of any of them to acknowledge satisfaction. The sec…
If a borrower dies before a deed of trust is foreclosed and nobody has been appointed to handle his estate, can the lender just go ahead with a power-of-sale foreclosure by publishing notice in the newspaper, or does the lender first have to get a personal representative appointed so notice can be served on someone?
The lender has to get someone appointed. The 1978 AG concluded that a power-of-sale foreclosure conducted with no notice to the deceased record owner and no hearing (because no personal representative…
When the North Carolina Department of Correction takes the money that inmates earn on work-release jobs and deposits it in interest-bearing accounts, can the Department take a slice of the interest to cover the staff cost of administering the work-release program or the cost of running the accounts?
No, the AG concluded. G.S. 148-33.1(f) provides an exhaustive, priority-ordered list of permitted deductions from inmate work-release earnings: cost of the prisoner's keep, employment-related travel a…
If a North Carolina parent signs a voluntary child support agreement under G.S. 110-133 rather than going to court, how much does the clerk charge to file it, and is the fee the same as for filing a regular civil lawsuit?
Four dollars. A voluntary support agreement is the statutory equivalent of a confession of judgment, which carries a $4.00 fee under G.S. § 7A-308. The full civil-action cost ($24.00 in 1977) does not…
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Attorney general opinions in North Carolina are written by the North Carolina Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.