NC Open Government

From the Outer Banks Sentinel (8/5/09): Asking questions about issues raised by notations on legal bills paid by the Town of Kill Devil Hills has netted few answers.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (8/4/09): A new executive order signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue requiring her administration to retain government e-mail fully complies with the state's public records law, a judge said Monday.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (8/3/09): North Carolina judge is due to rule on whether to continue a lawsuit protesting former Gov. Mike Easley's policy of destroying e-mail correspondence.

From the Outer Banks Sentinel (7/8/09): A Superior Court judge signed a consent order on Monday ordering the Dare County Tourism Board to provide three draft settlement agreement documents to the Sentinel. The records pertained to the separation agreement entered into between the board and its former former director, Carolyn McCormick.

From the Wilmington Star-News (7/22/09): Top New Hanover County officials appear to be following their policy on confidential e-mail, according to a StarNews analysis of subject lines from 138,000 private county e-mails written in the last six months.

From the Wilmington Star-News (7/21/09): Given the choice many, if not most, government officials would choose to conduct their business in secret. Thankfully, the decision isn’t left up to them. Under North Carolina law, the presumption is that government documents and meetings are open to the public unless an exemption is specifically written into the law.

From the Daily Advance (7/18/09): The Issue: House OKs change to public records law Our position: Owens tried to weaken bill with amendment

From the Daily Tar Heel (7/15/09): Kudos to the N.C. House for passing the Open Government Act. The bill is a much-needed advancement in transparent government.

Wilmington Star-News (7/8/09): "Trust us" is not a policy. It's an invitation to abuse the public's trust. ("Trust us, we're spending your money wisely." "Trust us, you don't need to know this." "Trust us, we wouldn't hide anything from you ...")

From the Raleigh News and Observer (7/14/09): The state House approved a measure that would make it more likely governments that lose public records lawsuits would have to pay attorneys' fees for the people who sued seeking documents. The aim is to make it easier for citizens to obtain public records.