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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Can Watauga County use its zoning ordinance to regulate the height and fall zone of a UNC-TV transmission tower located in the county, or is a state-owned television tower outside the county's authority?
Outside the county's authority. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that statutes are not presumed to bind the State unless the State is expressly mentioned, that G.S. § 153A-121's general police power …
When a child reports being abused while held in a county-operated juvenile detention facility, does the local Department of Social Services have the authority to investigate the abuse claim, or is the case outside DSS's jurisdiction because secure detention facilities are licensed by the Office of Juvenile Justice rather than DSS?
Yes, DSS has the authority to investigate. The 2000 NC AG opinion concluded that a county-operated secure juvenile detention facility is a 'residential child care facility' as that term is used in N.C…
Are members of the North Carolina Emergency Response Commission, and members of Local Emergency Planning Committees the commission appoints under Executive Order 125, protected by the state's tort claims coverage, defense by the Attorney General, and statutory immunities when they act in their commission roles?
Yes, all of them. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that state employees on the commission have full state coverage; non-state-employee commissioners appointed by the Governor are 'agents of the state…
When North Carolina's State Highway Patrol or other state law enforcement agencies collect statistics on traffic stops, is the identity of the officer who made each stop a public record, or can the state keep officer names confidential?
The 2000 NC AG opinion concluded that, under the freshly enacted HB 1840 (Session Law 2000-67), the identity of the law enforcement officer making a traffic stop is NOT a public record. The General As…
Can North Carolina pay its current state employees a 'Referral Incentive Award' for identifying and recommending people for hard-to-fill state positions, or does the state employment-agency statute prohibit that kind of payment?
Yes, the state can pay the referral incentive. The 2000 NC AG opinion concluded that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-18 does not bar an Office of State Personnel-administered Referral Incentive Award program th…
Can North Carolina's Massage and Bodywork Therapy Board require massage schools to post a guaranty bond as a condition of approval, charge schools fees for the approval process, and require approval as a prerequisite to operating?
The 2000 NC AG opinion gave three answers. (1) NO bond: The Board cannot require schools to post a guaranty bond as a condition of approval, because the Massage and Bodywork Therapy Practice Act does …
What does 'adequate' mean when North Carolina law requires county commissioners to provide 'adequate' funding to a community college?
'Adequate' meant 'sufficient to meet specific requirements,' a standard imported from a 1951 NC Supreme Court decision and consistent with both Black's Law Dictionary and the American Heritage College…
Can a NC hospital authority sell vacant land to a doctor without following the special hospital-property sale procedures in § 131E-13?
Yes, if the vacant land is not 'necessary, convenient, or related' to the operation of any hospital facility owned by the authority. The AG concluded that the term 'hospital facility' in both the Muni…
Can North Carolina warehouses legally store video poker machines that would be illegal to operate in the state?
No. The NC AG concluded in 2000 that even storing or warehousing video poker machines that would be illegal to operate is itself unlawful. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304 makes it unlawful to 'manufacture, o…
Could a North Carolina home-schooled teenager who used a hunting rifle on family property under a parent's supervision lose their learner's permit or driver's license under the 'Lose Control, Lose Your License' law?
No. The AG read the statute literally and concluded that 'enumerated student conduct' triggering license revocation required the conduct to actually 'result in disciplinary action.' Disciplinary actio…
Can the NC Department of Transportation award engineering and surveying contracts to the lowest bidder instead of selecting based on qualifications?
Mostly no, with narrow exceptions. The AG concluded that for federal-aid highway projects, the federal Brooks Act and 23 U.S.C. § 112 required qualifications-based selection (QBS), period. Low-bid awa…
Can the Governor reappoint Environmental Management Commission members to consecutive terms, and if not, are the Commission's decisions still legally binding?
The AG concluded yes on both questions. The EMC statute § 143B-283(b) is ambiguous on reappointments; it lacks the express prohibition that the General Assembly used in other commission statutes (Sedi…
Can the NC State Education Assistance Authority advance state student loan funds to colleges so the colleges can directly make federal student loans to their graduate students?
Yes. The AG concluded that the State Education Assistance Authority had statutory authority under G.S. §§ 116-201, 116-204(8), and 116-209.3 to advance funds from the NC Student Loan Fund to NC colleg…
Could the State of NC set up a nonprofit corporation to issue tax-exempt Certificates of Participation to buy prison facilities, where the lease payments back the bonds?
No. The AG concluded the public bidding requirements of Article 8 of Chapter 143 do NOT apply to private construction of the three new close security prisons authorized by S.L. 1999-237 § 18.20(a) / N…
Can a North Carolina county board of elections force a public school, town hall, or other tax-supported building to be used as a polling place against the wishes of the people who run it?
Yes. The AG read G.S. § 163-129 to give county boards of elections clear power to demand and use any school or other tax-supported building, or part of one, as a voting place, even over the objection …
Are officers and directors of a university foundation, athletic foundation, or alumni association protected by the State's Defense of State Employees Act if they're sued?
No. The AG concluded that the officers, directors, and employees of the Foundation of UNC Charlotte, the Athletic Foundation of UNC Charlotte, and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association are not 'State e…
Can North Carolina prohibit or regulate private prisons that house federal or out-of-state inmates, and what authority do private prison employees have to make arrests?
The AG concluded that NC cannot prohibit a private prison from being built in NC to house federal inmates (the Supremacy Clause forecloses that), but NC can regulate matters like firearms, use of forc…
Can a North Carolina town accept up to $400,000 in private contributions from some property owners, hold it in escrow, and use it to fund the costs of condemning right-of-way from other (resisting) property owners along a state secondary road that the town wants widened and improved?
Yes, it appears so. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that nothing in North Carolina law prohibits a town from accepting private contributions to fund road-improvement condemnation costs along a state…
If a NC crime victim's claim is under $7,500 but the victim was committing a misdemeanor or engaged in contributory misconduct, who decides whether to pay the claim: the Commission or its Director?
The full Commission. The AG resolved an apparent conflict between two crime-victim-compensation statutes. G.S. § 15B-10(a) gave the Director authority to decide claims of $7,500 or less. G.S. § 15B-11…
When a NC town leases private land for public parking and beach access, can the town claim the property is tax-exempt as 'municipal property'?
No. The AG concluded that Ocean Isle Beach's leasehold interest in privately-owned land did not qualify for the § 105-278.1(b) municipal property tax exemption. The words 'belonging to' in that exempt…
If NC adopts the new Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 revisions, will the Department of the Secretary of State and its employees face new tort liability exposure?
Yes. The AG concluded that the General Statutes Commission's pending Article 9 revisions would substantially increase the liability exposure of the Secretary of State's filing office and its employees…
When a North Carolina farm or forestland loses its present-use property tax break, how many years of back taxes does the county collect?
Three years, plus the current fiscal year. The AG concluded that G.S. § 105-277.4(c) operated in two sequential steps. First, the current fiscal year's taxes were computed as if the property had never…
When NC created a Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy in 1998, did the new board take over school licensing from the State Board of Community Colleges?
Yes, but with a wrinkle. The 1998 NC Massage and Bodywork Therapy Practice Act created a Massage Board with authority to approve (not license) massage and bodywork schools. The AG concluded that the a…
Could the UNC Health Care System legally spend $163 million in public funds to acquire control of Rex Healthcare, a private nonprofit hospital, without specific authorization from the General Assembly? Would Rex employees become state employees? Would Rex get state immunities?
The AG concluded yes the System had authority, no Rex employees would not become state employees, and no Rex would not get state immunities. The acquisition was structured as a corporate-control trans…
Can a physician assistant attend a birth in a North Carolina hospital instead of a doctor or a certified nurse midwife?
No. The AG read 10 NCAC 3C .4302(a) at face value: the rule said each birth had to be attended 'by a physician or certified nurse midwife' with documented current competence and appropriate privileges…
Is it constitutional for North Carolina to make you pay the use tax on out-of-state purchases on your state income tax return?
Yes. The AG concluded that bundling use-tax collection with the individual income tax return did not run afoul of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act or the dormant Commerce Clause restrictions in *Q…
Does the UNC Health Care System have the legal authority to become Rex Healthcare's sole corporate member, and if it does, will Rex employees thereby become state employees?
Yes the System has authority through its broad statutory delegation under G.S. 116-37(b)(4). No Rex employees will not become state employees. Rex stays a private 55A nonprofit even with the System as…
When the NC Department of Insurance collects restitution from a regulated insurer but the affected consumers cannot be identified or each share is too small to mail, does that money have to be turned over to the State Treasurer under the unclaimed property law?
It depended on the facts. The AG drew a line between three situations. First, when a specific consumer was identified and the Department was holding a fixed sum owed to that consumer but could not del…
When NC police seize a car under the DWI-while-license-revoked statute and tow it through the local rotation instead of the school board's tow contractor, who pays the towing bill?
The county board of education paid the bill, and had only 10 days to retrieve the vehicle. The AG read G.S. § 20-28.3(d) as putting the retrieval and payment duty on the local school board whenever th…
When a county board creates a hospital authority, can the county reserve the right to change the size of the authority's board later, or does only the hospital authority itself have that power?
Only the hospital authority itself. The AG concluded that § 131E-18(a) expressly grants the power to increase or decrease the number of hospital authority commissioners to 'the commissioners' (meaning…
Can the NC legislature constitutionally give direct cash grants and low-interest loans to homeowners, farmers, and small businesses devastated by a hurricane?
Yes, in the AG's view. After Hurricane Floyd flattened eastern North Carolina, Senate leader Basnight and Speaker Black asked whether direct grants and below-market loans to individual victims would v…
Can the Governor of North Carolina, after declaring a state of disaster, create new flood-relief programs for citizens not eligible for federal aid, and pay for those programs by shifting money out of regular state agency budgets, or does that have to wait for a legislative appropriation?
The Governor may do it, but only out of regular agency appropriations and with Council of State concurrence. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that G.S. § 166A-6(c)(5) lets the Governor, during a decl…
Did the new SBI Director, Bryan Beatty, have legal authority to take the North Carolina criminal justice officer's oath of office, given that he had not completed the Chapter 17C certification requirements that other certified officers must meet?
Yes. AG Mike Easley's office (through General Counsel Andrew Vanore) concluded that N.C.G.S. §§ 114-12 and 114-14, enacted in 1937, make the Director of the SBI a law enforcement officer by statute, w…
Can a state agency hand an employee's bank account information to a private third-party administrator that runs the agency's flexible spending account program?
The AG concluded yes. Because Aon Consulting was acting as NC Flex's contractual agent (not an outside entity), giving Aon the direct-deposit data needed to pay claims wasn't a disclosure prohibited b…
Could the NC Private Protective Services Board start issuing 'temporary' private-investigator trainee permits so applicants didn't have to wait two months for the next board meeting?
The AG said no on all three sub-questions. The Board had no statutory authority to issue temporary trainee permits before vetting an applicant, so it could not delegate that nonexistent authority to i…
Does a nonprofit research organization like Research Triangle Institute have to register with the NC Engineering Board before doing engineering work in the state?
Yes, if the nonprofit is actually engaged in the 'practice of engineering' as the statute defines it. The opinion drew a line between pure research or teaching (exempt) and contractual engineering ser…
Can a 17-year-old who will turn 18 by the November 2000 general election file for the NC House of Representatives, or does the candidate have to be older?
No. A candidate for the NC House must be at least 21 years old by the date of the general election. The 18-year-old voting-age threshold in Article VI, Section 1 doesn't override the 21-year-old offic…
Was the 1999 NC law giving Charlotte/Mecklenburg schools more flexibility on construction contracts an unconstitutional 'local act' regulating trade?
The AG concluded no. Sections 2 through 6 of Chapter 207 only regulated the bidding process for Charlotte/Mecklenburg, not the contracting industry as a whole. Local acts regulating the bid process ar…
When the NC Insurance Commissioner collects money from a regulated insurance company, does that money go to the public schools or can the Department of Insurance keep it?
It depends on the nature of the payment. Civil penalties and cease-and-desist forfeitures are punitive, so under Article IX, Section 7 of the NC Constitution their clear proceeds go to local school sy…
Can the NC Marine Fisheries Commission sue or file a contested case against another state agency (the Department of Environment and Natural Resources) over a permit decision that the Commission thinks harms fisheries?
Almost certainly no. The Marine Fisheries Commission's statutory authority lets it 'comment on and otherwise participate in' permit decisions of other agencies, but does not authorize it to file a law…
If the NC General Assembly abolishes the Ports Railway Commission and lets the State Ports Authority lease port switching operations directly to private operators, would the State Ports Authority become subject to the federal Railway Labor Act?
Highly unlikely. In June 1999 the National Mediation Board ruled that the Ports Railway Commission was no longer a railway 'carrier' under the RLA, mooting the long-running dispute between the State P…
Can a researcher force the NC Employment Security Commission to rebuild its workforce-tracking database to use anonymized identifiers so the data can be analyzed without exposing Social Security numbers?
No. NC's Public Records Act does not require a state agency to create a new database it does not already maintain. The Common Follow-Up System links student and worker records by Social Security numbe…
When calculating an NC Supreme Court Justice's longevity pay, does service as Administrative Office of the Courts director or assistant director count? What about service as an assistant district attorney?
The AG concluded that AOC director and assistant director service counts toward longevity for a NC Supreme Court Justice, because those positions were already explicitly equated with superior-court-ju…
Can a dental practice pay a management company a percentage of practice revenues, or must the fee be tied to specific services? And what contract terms cross the line into the unlicensed practice of dentistry?
Revenue-based fees turn the management company into a participant in the practice (illegal). Fee-for-service compensation, where the management company is paid based on the value of services delivered…
If a North Carolina statute (G.S. § 7B-3400) says minors are subject to their parents' supervision and control 'notwithstanding any other provision of law,' does that wipe out the separate minor-consent statute (G.S. § 90-21.5) and let parents stop a county health department from giving birth control to a teenager without their consent?
No. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that the two statutes address different subjects and do not actually conflict. G.S. § 7B-3400 sits in Article 34 of the Juvenile Code and is about getting runaway…
When a state-paid teacher leaves a NC public school district, can the school board move a current locally-paid teacher into the now-vacant state-funded position to keep state money flowing?
Yes. NC's broad general grant of authority to local school boards (G.S. 115C-36 and 115C-40) gives them control over which qualified employees to assign to state-funded versus locally funded positions…
Can the NC Principal Fellows Commission approve school administrator programs at private colleges in NC, and award scholarship loans to students enrolled in those private programs, or is the Commission limited to UNC system institutions?
Yes to both. The Principal Fellows Commission may approve programs at private NC institutions and award scholarship loans to qualifying students there. The statute (G.S. 116-74.42) authorizes the Comm…
Can a NC county board of elections release a voter's Social Security number along with the rest of their voter registration record?
No, the AG concluded, for any SSN collected from a voter after January 1, 1975, without the disclosure notice the federal Privacy Act of 1974 requires. The Privacy Act forbids government agencies from…
If two members of an airport authority's board are also senior bank executives, can the authority award the bank a bond underwriting contract without running afoul of NC's conflict-of-interest law?
Yes, as long as the directors do not own more than 10% of the bank, disclose their interest, and do not vote on the authorization. The opinion also reads the § 14-234(a) 'banks or banking institutions…
Was the 1999 NC William Lee Act amendment that gave tax credits to electronic shopping and mail-order houses (but not brick-and-mortar retailers, and not businesses with consolidated operations) constitutional?
The opinion concluded the amendment was mostly defensible under rational-basis review, but flagged one distinction as constitutionally weak: penalizing companies that kept inventory and sales staff in…
Does the NC Secretary of State need a new statute before she can accept federal grants or private gifts to help her implement the Nonprofit Corporation Act?
No. The implied-powers doctrine, combined with a 1935 general authorization and the General Assembly's regular practice of recognizing all agencies' authority to accept unanticipated gifts and grants,…
When the NC Department of Revenue mistakenly listed the Libertarian Party as a qualified party on 1998 tax forms (when it didn't have the 1% voter registration the statute requires), should the funds taxpayers checked for the Libertarian Party go to the Libertarian Party anyway, and how should the 'Unspecified' designations be split?
The Libertarian Party keeps the funds taxpayers designated for it, even though the Party did not formally qualify under § 105-159.1. The NC AG reasoned that the Secretary of Revenue's interpretive det…
Can a NC Chief District Court Judge issue a standing order forbidding juvenile court counselors from diverting any juvenile case that came out of the public schools?
No. Person County DA Joel Brewer asked the AG to evaluate a local administrative order by the Chief District Court Judge that flatly prohibited diversion of any juvenile case originating in the public…
If a NC Superior Court Judge is specially assigned to run the Administrative Office of the Courts, does that special assignment break his 'continuous service' for purposes of later becoming Senior Resident Superior Court Judge? Does he still receive his judicial salary?
No, the assignment does not break continuous service, and yes, the judge continues to receive his Superior Court Judge salary and expenses. The Chief Justice's constitutional power to assign judges in…
When a hospital authority leased a county hospital to a private operator in 1984, does it have the power years later to amend that lease and consent to assignment to a new operator without going through the public bidding process?
It can amend the lease, but assignment is subject to the full G.S. 131E-13 bidding regime. Hospital authorities all operate under Chapter 131E now (not the repealed Chapter 131), regardless of when th…
When a North Carolina county becomes an 'Electing County' under the Work First welfare reform program and runs its own program, can the county still use the state hearing officers (under G.S. 108A-79) to hear appeals from people whose benefits the county denied?
No. By opting out of the Standard Work First Program, an Electing County opts out of the state appeal process under G.S. 108A-79. The county must develop and implement its own appeals process that 'su…
Did the 1997 NC law tying teen drivers' licenses to school enrollment and progress apply to teens who already had their licenses before the law took effect?
Group A teens (license before December 1, 1997) are forever exempt. Group C teens (license after July 31, 1998) need the certificate to get and keep their license. Group B teens (license between Decem…
Can a North Carolina charter school satisfy the state's 180-day instructional requirement by running a five-month residential program with extended daily hours that adds up to 1000 instructional hours, instead of operating across the traditional nine-month school year?
No. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that G.S. § 115C-238.29F(d)(1) requires charter schools to offer instruction for at least 180 days, and the requirement cannot be satisfied by compressing those d…
When a North Carolina state commission spins off a private nonprofit corporation that takes over the same economic development work using state money, is that nonprofit subject to the Public Records Act, or does its private-corporate form let it keep records confidential?
The nonprofit is still subject to the Public Records Act. Under the Wake County Hospital System case, an entity that performs public functions with public funds under significant government oversight …
When the NC State Auditor audits a state agency, can he look at the confidential personnel files of state employees without their permission, their department head's permission, or a court order, or does the State Personnel Act's confidentiality rule (G.S. § 126-24) block him?
Yes, he can. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that G.S. § 147-64.13 declares the State Auditor's Article 5A powers take precedence over any conflicting provision of law. The Auditor's authority under…
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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.