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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Under the 2010 NC public-records amendments, what salary, promotion, and disciplinary-dismissal records do public employers have to keep open for inspection, and do they have to dig up information from before October 1, 2010?
Public employers must now keep open for inspection each employee's full salary and position-classification history with that employer, plus a general description of the reasons for each promotion. For…
Can NCDOT enter design-build contracts with delayed payment terms that stretch beyond project completion to expedite I-485?
Yes. The AG concluded N.C.G.S. § 136-18(39) gave NCDOT broad authority to enter financing agreements with private entities for transportation infrastructure construction. Extending payments over a ten…
Do you have to be a licensed lawyer to run for or be appointed to a judgeship in North Carolina?
Yes, with one narrow exception. Article IV, Section 22 of the North Carolina Constitution requires anyone elected or appointed to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Superior Court, or District Court…
Are NC state employee sick, vacation, bonus, and compensatory leave balances public records the UNC system must disclose?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 2007 amendment expanding § 126-23's definition of 'salary' to include 'benefits' covered leave time. 'Current benefits' includes accumulated leave balances available to …
Are NC public employee retirement benefits part of the public salary information that must be open to inspection, or are they confidential personnel data?
Public. The AG concluded Session Law 2007-508 expanded the definition of public 'salary' to include benefits and all other compensation. A literal reading would have excluded retirement benefits becau…
Does the federal motor carrier preemption law block North Carolina from requiring trucking companies to make sure independent truckers have workers' compensation coverage?
No. The NC AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 97-19.1, which makes principal contractors and intermediate motor carriers liable for workers' compensation benefits when the trucker below them does not have c…
Did the NC State Personnel Commission have the legal authority to roll out 'career banding' (a system that collapses many narrow job classes into a small number of broad classes with wide pay ranges)?
Yes. The NC AG concluded that the General Assembly delegated to the State Personnel Commission plenary authority under Chapter 126 to design and adopt classification plans (G.S. 126-4(1)), compensatio…
When someone files a public-records request for the names of private equity, hedge fund, and real estate funds the NC State Treasurer has invested public money in, the management fees paid, and information about the underlying portfolio companies, which of those does the Treasurer have to disclose?
Most of it, but not portfolio-company information. The NC AG concluded that fund names, investment amounts, annual returns, and management-fee data are public records that must be released. Informatio…
Are records the NC Secretary of State gathers to refer apparent lobbying violations to the Attorney General confidential criminal-investigation records?
No, under the 2006 law. The AG concluded that under the then-current N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-47.10 the Secretary of State was not a 'public law enforcement agency.' The Secretary's role was limited to r…
How must a North Carolina public body enter a closed session, and what records must it keep?
A North Carolina public body must vote in open session on a motion that identifies the legal basis for closing the meeting, then limit the closed session to that purpose. It must reopen for other busi…
When UNC Health Care System (a state entity) and Rex Hospital (a private nonprofit) jointly form a 50/50 LLC to employ shared workers, are those LLC employees considered state employees for retirement-system purposes, and can current state retirees who work for the LLC keep their full state pensions?
No state-employee status for LLC employees, and yes, retirees keep full pensions. The NC AG concluded that a 50/50 LLC between UNCHCS and Rex Hospital is not a state agency, even though UNCHCS sits on…
Was it legal for NC legislative leaders to direct how millions of dollars in 'Reserve Fund' grants got distributed by executive branch agencies, after the regular appropriations process was over?
The NC AG concluded that the Reserve Fund process described by the State Auditor did not clearly violate the state Constitution or N.C.G.S. § 143-16.3, but flagged that the practice contravened legisl…
Are the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 'local educational agencies' under No Child Left Behind, so that the schools they operate inside their facilities qualify for the LEA-tied federal funds?
No. Neither DHHS nor DJJDP is an LEA. They are State agencies that happen to operate schools inside residential and detention facilities, not local entities controlling or serving public schools withi…
After the 2004 NC law that pushed the school year between August 25 and June 10, which schools still get to operate outside those dates as 'modified calendar' schools, and how does the 5-day reduction in the school year affect teacher and staff pay?
A school qualifies for the 'modified calendar' exception only if (1) it operated under a calendar different from its district's regular calendar during 2003-04, AND (2) that calendar actually required…
Must NC DMV redact personal information from accident reports under the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act, and what about local law enforcement copies and tax records?
Yes for DMV-released accident reports. The AG concluded DMV must redact DPPA-protected personal information before releasing accident reports. Local law enforcement agencies, however, were not directl…
A current NC school district employee won an election to that same school board. State law says board members can't also be employees. He won't retire until February. Can he take office in December anyway, and if not, who gets the seat?
No. § 115C-37(g) forces him to resign his employment before he can take the oath. If he doesn't resign by the December organizational meeting, his failure to qualify creates a vacancy. Under the Nash-…
If a North Carolina District Court Judge-elect dies before taking office, when does the vacancy arise and who fills it?
The vacancy arises when the election is certified, not when the judge-elect dies. The AG concluded the District Bar then has 30 days to submit three names to the Governor under § 7A-142, the Governor …
Are NC Tax Review Board meetings subject to the Open Meetings Law, and what tax information can board members discuss publicly?
Yes for general meetings, no for deliberations. The AG concluded the Tax Review Board was a public body subject to the Open Meetings Law, but the § 143-318.18(7) exemption let it deliberate in closed …
If a NC notary public is being reappointed, can they take the oath of office before the effective date of the new commission, or do they have to wait until the new term starts?
They can take the oath any time within 90 days of commissioning, before or after the effective date. Under the current Notary Public Act (Chapter 10A), there's no statutory requirement to wait for the…
When the Cherokee Boys Club (a nonprofit corporation owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, operating on the Cherokee reservation) buys surplus lines insurance, can NC charge them the 5% premium tax, or does federal Indian law preempt the tax?
NC cannot impose the tax. The NC AG concluded that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a federally recognized tribe whose reservation is held in trust by the United States. Federal Indian law pree…
Under the NC Mortgage Lending Act, can a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community development corporation broker mortgage loans without a state license?
Only in a limited way. A qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit can make mortgage loans for the disadvantaged without a license under G.S. § 53-243.01(8)(h), and can incidentally solicit or broker loans, but o…
Does the NC Commissioner of Motor Vehicles count as a 'law-enforcement officer' eligible for State 401(k) employer contributions?
Yes, on these facts. The AG concluded that the Commissioner's statutory duties include prevention and detection of crime, and the specific Commissioner at the time (George Tatum) held an active law-en…
When the NC General Assembly later passes a general law about school board vacancies, does it override an older local act that set its own rules for one specific district?
Not unless the later general law plainly manifests legislative intent to repeal the local act. For the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education, the 1967 local act remains controlling: vacancies a…
When someone is appointed to fill a vacancy on the Brunswick County (NC) Board of Education, do they serve the rest of the original term or only until the next election?
Only until the next election. The AG traced the legislative history from 1966 through 1981 and concluded that, absent a local act saying otherwise, the General Assembly has always intended appointed s…
In 2004, could a North Carolina register of deeds issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, and what penalties would apply if they did?
No, under the law as it stood in 2004. The NC AG advised that issuing a license to a same-sex couple would violate N.C.G.S. § 51-1.2, which then declared same-gender marriages invalid in NC. A registe…
When the NC Employment Security Commission settles with an employer accused of 'SUTA dumping' (shifting employees to shell companies to dodge unemployment taxes), is that settlement agreement confidential or a public record?
Public. The NC AG concluded that once an employer appeals an unemployment-tax assessment, the matter becomes a 'proceeding before a hearing officer' under § 96-4(t)(5), and the settlement agreement th…
When a NC incompetency proceeding starts and the respondent needs a court-appointed lawyer to serve as guardian ad litem, who has the authority to make that appointment, the Clerk of Superior Court or the state's Indigent Defense Services?
Indigent Defense Services (IDS), not the Clerk. § 35A-1107 and § 35A-1130 specifically say guardian ad litem appointments in incompetency and competency-restoration proceedings are made 'in accordance…
Can NC electric membership corporations (rural co-ops) restructure their wholesale power purchases by buying less from the statewide co-op (NCEMC) and more from a third-party Energy Supplier, including reselling any excess power back to the Energy Supplier?
Yes. The NC AG concluded that Chapter 117 gives EMCs the authority to enter into these wholesale Purchase Agreements. § 117-18 specifically lets EMCs buy and sell energy by contract with any person. §…
When a legislative appointee to NC Centennial Authority holds over past his term and then resigns, who fills the vacancy?
The remaining Authority members. The AG concluded the legislature divided two powers in § 160A-480.3(b). Appointment of members went to the General Assembly. Vacancy-filling went to the remaining boar…
Can NC let waterfront homeowners lease the water under their docks to grow oysters for personal use?
No, not under existing statutes. The AG concluded that the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Commission have no authority to grant exclusive leases of the bottom or water column fo…
When must a child turn 5 to enter North Carolina public kindergarten, and can a principal admit a younger child?
The AG concluded a child had to reach age 5 on or before October 16 of the kindergarten year to be entitled to initial entry. A principal had no discretion to admit a younger child unless the child ei…
If Emerald Isle moves the Bogue Inlet navigational channel and creates new land by dredging or accretion, who owns the new beach: the State or the adjoining property owners?
The adjoining property owners. Under G.S. § 146-6(a), land raised above the high water mark by accretion vests in the owner of the land that immediately adjoined the navigable water. Under § 146-6(d),…
Can a NC county social worker doing a child protective services assessment legally test a parent's urine for drugs if the parent consents?
Yes, if consent is truly voluntary. The AG concluded a CPS urine test is a Fourth Amendment search and requires a warrant, but voluntary consent is an established exception. Social workers must avoid …
Can a NC Parks and Recreation Authority member who is also a community college trustee also hold an elective town office?
Yes. The AG concluded N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115D-16 specifically lets a community college trustee hold offices 'in addition to and concurrently with' those permitted by § 128-1.1. Because § 128-1.1 lets a…
Can the NC State Treasurer use money in the Escheats Fund to pay for newspaper ads listing the names of people who may have unclaimed property, beyond the bare-minimum notices the statute specifically requires?
Yes. § 116B-6(h) authorizes the Treasurer to expend Escheats funds for 'costs of notice and publication,' and the statutory language is not limited to the specific publications required by § 116B-62(b…
When non-lawyers (especially third-party pension administrators) advise NC employers on what kind of pension plan to set up and help draft ERISA plan documents, can the NC State Bar prosecute that as unauthorized practice of law, or does federal law block the prosecution?
Mixed. The NC AG concluded that NC's UPL statutes (§ 84-8 is a criminal statute) probably are NOT preempted by ERISA itself, because ERISA's preemption clause (29 U.S.C. § 1144(a)) has a savings claus…
When the NC Insurance Commissioner approves a hospital/medical service corporation's conversion to a for-profit insurance company, can he attach conditions to that approval?
Yes, but the conditions have limits. The AG concluded that the express statutory power to approve a conversion plan carries with it the implied lesser power to approve with conditions. However, any co…
Are NC public university athletic coaches' employment contracts and related vendor contracts public records subject to disclosure?
Yes. The AG concluded coaches' employment contracts contained policy/standard/duties information not covered by the personnel-file exception in § 126-22. Vendor contracts involving coaches were not co…
Can the Town of Seven Devils, which straddles two counties, levy a 6% occupancy tax authorized only for 'cities in Avery County'?
Probably not without risk. The AG concluded the legislative grant to 'cities in Avery County' likely did not extend to the part of Seven Devils in Watauga County, and a tax levied only on the Avery si…
How independent is the NC State Treasurer from the Governor's Executive Budget Act, and what is his authority over investment-program staffing, commission rebates, contracts, and derivatives?
The State Treasurer is independent of fiscal control by the Director of the Budget or Department of Administration under G.S. § 147-68(e), but not from G.S. § 143-16.3's bar on funding items the legis…
Can North Carolina State University finance a hotel, conference center, and golf course on its Centennial Campus through a non-profit LLC's bond issuance backed by a university usage-purchase commitment, without violating the State Constitution's public-purpose and credit-of-the-state limits?
Probably yes, given the financing structure NCSU built. The Project has a plausible public purpose under Maready (university-related uses primarily benefiting public interests). The bond structure doe…
When the NC legislature moved the DMV Enforcement Section from DOT to the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety in 2002, did it also move the special tax-information exception that let DMV exchange tax data with the Department of Revenue?
Yes. Even though the General Assembly forgot to update G.S. 105-259(b)(7) in the laundry list of statutes it specifically rewrote, the omnibus 'successor in interest' language in Section 1 of Chapter …
When the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority lets a construction contract that uses federal Department of Transportation money, must it apply North Carolina's 10% minority business goal under § 143-128.2 and the related HUB reporting rules, or can it elect the federal DBE program under 49 C.F.R. Part 26?
The Authority can elect. N.C.G.S. § 63-54(c) gives airport authorities the discretionary right to let federally-assisted contracts under federal law, which overrides the conflicting state MBE statute.…
If the NC General Assembly abolishes the Ports Railway Commission and transfers its rail assets and liabilities to the State Ports Authority, will the SPA become a 'common carrier' subject to the federal Railway Labor Act?
No. The legislation rewrites N.C.G.S. § 143B-454(a)(4) to prohibit the SPA from operating rail facilities even though it may own them. Continued rail service at Wilmington and Morehead City will run t…
May members of the NC Information Resources Management Commission (and their delegates) attend closed-session committee meetings where the State Auditor reports detailed IT security audit findings about specific State agencies, without waiving the statutory confidentiality of those findings?
Yes. Members of the IRMC and the Information Protection and Privacy Committee, whether their own agency was audited or not, may be present in the closed session and the confidentiality of the audited …
Does NC's Junkyard Control Act apply to Ashe County (which has no interstate or federal-aid primary highway), can the county enforce it through a misdemeanor warrant when the state hasn't acted, and do affected neighbors have any private enforcement rights?
Yes the Act applies, even though Ashe County has no interstate or federal-aid primary highway: the 1,000-foot ban extends to 'a North Carolina route' in counties without those federal highways. So jun…
Can the public get copies of private admonitions the NC Judicial Standards Commission has issued to judges, and the documents about the rule that authorizes private admonitions?
Two different answers. (1) Records about the development and adoption of the Commission's *rules*, including the rule that authorizes private admonitions, are public records under the NC Public Record…
Under NC's Chapter 122C mental health law (as amended by HB 381 in 2001), can a county opt out of running mental health services through an 'area authority' and govern services directly? And does the older § 153A-77(a) provision (which lets only counties over 425,000 people take direct control) violate the state constitution's prohibition on local acts about health?
No exemption from service mandates. The NC AG concluded that HB 381 lets counties choose to operate mental health programs themselves rather than through an area authority, but every county must still…
When the NC General Assembly changed the appointing authority for public members of the State Board of Mortuary Science from the Governor to a mix of Governor, Speaker, and President Pro Tempore, can the legislature also use a specific appointment to displace an existing Governor's appointee mid-term, even if the new appointee is a licensee whom the general statute would otherwise bar?
Yes on all counts. George Parrott was validly appointed by the General Assembly under S.L. 2001-486 for a term that runs through Dec. 31, 2003, and his appointment displaces the existing Governor-appo…
When the City of Jacksonville accepts a $2 million state grant from DENR to build wastewater collection facilities in an annexation area, must the City comply with NC's 10% minority business participation goal under § 143-128.2 even if a sewer system is not literally a 'building project'?
Yes, because of how the grant assurances work. The DENR grant required Jacksonville to assure compliance with § 143-128's MBE participation rules as a condition of accepting the money. Under § 160A-17…
When the State diverted some quarterly franchise-tax distributions from cities to cover a budget deficit in 2001-2002, did cities regain the right to levy their own local franchise taxes on electric power companies starting July 1, 2002?
No. § 105-116(e) bars municipal franchise taxes 'so long as there is a distribution to cities from the tax imposed by this section.' Cities received the September and December 2001 distributions even …
Can Jackson County, NC use an ordinance to ban helicopter sightseeing operations or confine them to the public airport, when federal law extensively regulates aircraft altitude and flight routes?
No, for the most part. Federal aviation law preempts most county-level efforts to regulate flight altitudes and sightseeing routes. The U.S. Supreme Court's Burbank decision and the Second Circuit's N…
Does a federal conviction for sexual abuse of a ward under 18 U.S.C. § 2243(b), where the defendant was a drug treatment specialist at a federal prison and had a sexual relationship with an inmate enrolled in her program, require registration under North Carolina's sex offender registry?
Yes. The federal offense is 'substantially similar' to NC's offense of sexual intercourse or sexual act with a custodial victim under § 14-27.7, which is listed as a 'sexually violent offense' under §…
Does the grandfather clause in § 58-47-65(c), which exempts pre-1995 group workers' compensation self-insurance funds from the 1997 licensing rewrite, still protect a fund that was organized in 1993, filed dissolution articles in 1998, but never completely wound down before deciding to resume operations?
Yes, on the facts as presented. The fund was organized and approved before July 1, 1995, so it qualifies as a 'pre-1995' fund. Its 1998 dissolution paperwork did not terminate its existence (operation…
Can the NC Department of Transportation fund the proposed Northern Durham Parkway, which includes improvements to existing inner-city roads like Roxboro Road and Duke Street, with Highway Trust Fund 'urban loop' money under § 136-176(b)(2)?
No. The Trust Fund's statutory description of the Durham Northern Loop specifies a 'multilane facility on new location from I-85 west of Durham to U.S. 70 east of Durham.' Improvements to existing inn…
When the EPA delegated NPDES general permit authority for concentrated animal feeding operations to NC's Environmental Management Commission, can NC use its own stricter 'storm event more severe than the 25-year, 24-hour storm' standard from § 143-215.10C(b), can DENR co-permit swine integrators, and can DENR include bypass-and-upset provisions and other more-stringent conditions?
Yes to all the main questions. NC's § 143-215.10C(b) standard is more stringent than federal law, not less, and DENR must not authorize discharges under EPA's broader 'chronic rainfall' or 'catastroph…
Does the Office of State Personnel's career banding project, which regroups job classifications into bands with associated salary ranges for State Personnel Commission positions, require formal APA rulemaking before implementation?
No. § 150B-2(8a)(i) excludes 'job classification standards, job qualifications, and salaries established for positions under the jurisdiction of the State Personnel Commission' from the APA definition…
Can the University of North Carolina (or some of its constituent campuses) offer a cafeteria-style flexible benefits plan that lets employees pay dependent health coverage premiums on a pre-tax basis, when state law forbids state employee benefit plans from duplicating coverage offered by the State Health Plan?
No. § 116-17.2 and § 143-34.1(d) prohibit UNC benefit plans from including benefits that duplicate those provided to employees under Chapter 135, including the State Health Plan's dependent coverage. …
Under North Carolina's 2001 MBE construction-contracting law, does each state agency receiving construction money have to develop its own minority-business outreach plan, or can the Department of Administration write one plan covering all of them?
Each public entity must develop its own outreach plan. The 2001 Session Laws use 'public entity' to mean every elected or appointed authority with legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administr…
Can North Carolina local school boards pool their risk through the NC School Boards Trust, and does joining that pool waive their governmental immunity for tort claims?
Yes, school boards can join the NC School Boards Trust as a joint agency under Chapter 160A, Article 20. Participation in the self-retained portion of the pool does not waive governmental immunity und…
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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.