From the North Carolina A&T Register (3/16/11): Want to find out what your local government has been up to?
North Carolina’s sunshine laws require agencies to produce records kept by governing bodies.
These records not only include official reports and minutes of meetings, but also items like hand-written notes, phone messages, e-mails, databases, spreadsheets – nearly anything created or received by a government agency while conducting the public’s business.
The agency must provide the records for free or at a minimal cost. You can get the records in paper or electronic format, depending on the agency’s capability, and the cost depends on the type of record you need. You can request records by telephone, fax, and mail or in person.
“One of my best tips is that people be both broad and narrow when requesting records,” says Amanda Martin, attorney for the North Carolina Press Association.
“What I mean by that is that you specifically ask for the document you know is out there, but then you broaden your request to loop in other documents that you didn’t know existed but might be useful.”
There is no procedure or form necessary to request copies of records and no requirement they be in writing except in the case of copies of computer databases and to agree not to use copies of geographical information systems for commercial purposes.