NC Open Government

The Civitas Institute filed a public records lawsuit this week against the Alamance County Board of Elections after the county attorney insisted that a representative of the group inspect records in person before copies would be made. The lawsuit raises the question of whether a government agency putting additional conditions on a records request prior to fulfilling it amounts to a refusal. 

The results of a multi-newsroom public records audit are in. Led by WRAL's public records team, six news outlets asked state and local government officials for the same documents to see how quickly different agencies complied. Also, the NFL files a lawsuit against court officials to get access to records in Greg Hardy case.

Today's Sunshine Week news includes a Salisbury Post look at closed sessions, a WRAL story on how to obtain military records, a pair of Q&A sessions with N.C. Open Government Coalition director Jonathan Jones and StarNews Executive Editor Pam Sander explaining the importance of records requests to the newspaper. 

Sunshine Week is well underway, events are happening across the state, and media outlets are publishing stories that highlight "your right to know" how government is working. Today's coverage leads off with several stories about Sunshine Day in Durham and a look at using LobbyGuard machines to screen who enters a public meeting. And The Gaston Gazette has an open government quiz.

 

Today is Sunshine Day in Durham. We continue our daily wrapup of Sunshine Week related news and views from across the state. Today's highlights include a story on economic development incentive records from The Charlotte Observer and editorials from several newspapers. 

At Sunshine Day in Durham, the N.C. Open Government Coalition today announced the winners of its inaugural awards program in four categories: Advocacy, Government, Journalism, Citizen. 

Today kicks off the annual Sunshine Week program and media outlets across the state have stories highligting right to know issues. We'll put together a daily roundup this week. Today's stories include an Associated Press report on fees, delays out of the governor's office and a Carolina Public Press report on closed sessions in the western counties. 

While most people in the latest Elon University Poll approved of police officers wearing body cameras, when respondents were asked whether the video footage itself should be made available for public inspection, patterns started to vary based on political ideology and race.

Some contracts entered into by the State Ports Authority would no longer be public records under a bill filed last week. 

The UNC System Board of Governors voted Friday to close three academic centers on three different campuses. Prior to the vote, the board moved into a smaller room after several audience outbursts. They allowed the press to attend, but did not allow the general public into the relocated meeting.