NC Open Government

Registration for Sunshine Day 2015 is open and ongoing. This year's event will be at the Durham Convention Center on March 16. It includes a keynote speech from Attorney General Roy Cooper and the inaugaration of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition's awards program. 

The Department of Cultural Resources issued a new records retention policy Thursday for municipal law enforcement agencies that is intended to cover body-worn video recordings. Videos that are not part of an investigative file, citizen complaint or internal affairs investigation should be destroyed after 30 days. 

The Daily Tar Heel: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Foundation declined to fulfill a public records request claiming it was not subject to the public records law because it is a non-profit organization and not a government agency. The foundation has not filed a Form 990 financial disclosure since 2008 because it claims to be exempt from the Internal Revenue Service's reporting rules as a government affiliated non-profit. 

Fayetteville Observer: Robeson County commissioners approved a tax incentives package Monday for "Project Apple" without identifying the company behind the proposal. The Open Meetings Law prohibits boards from taking actions by reference when the intent is to make it impossible for the public to understand what is being decided. 

A bill working its way through the General Assembly would require the Academic Standards Review Commission - a recently established state group that is reviewing Common Core standards - to live stream its meetings. The commission would also be required to post all meeting materials online. 

As part of a pilot to bring greater access to court files, the Mecklenburg Clerk of Superior Court is plans to place documents from high profile cases online this month. The first two cases include a domestic violence charge against a Carolina Panthers player and a manslaughter charge against a former police officer. 

After initially declining the Times-News's request for an expedited appeal of its public records suit against the Alamance-Burlington School System, the Court of Appeals this week set a short schedule for the attorneys to file and indicated the case would be put on the first available docket.  The N.C. Supreme Court instructed the Court of Appeals to reconsider providing an expedited review last week. 

The Capitol Hound project of UNC's Reese News Lab won a $50,000 award. Capitol Hound creates keyword searchable transcripts and email alerts of General Assembly hearings. With the grant, the service will be given to news outlets across the state free of charge to improve statehouse coverage. 

Charlotte Observer: A majority of the Charlotte City Council attended a Google sponsored reception Wednesday that was closed to the public, raising concerns that the event violated the N.C. Open Meetings Law

The Times-News of Burlington is seeking review by the state supreme court of an order denying access to closed-session minutes of the Alamance-Burlington School System's Board of Education. The newspaper filed a lawsuit against the school in October after the board refused to provide unredacted minutes from May meetings where the performance of Superintendent Lillie Cox was discussed. Cox resigned and was given a $200,000 severance package.