Chapter 132

(a) "Public record" or "public records" shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characterist…

(a) Confidential Communications. - Public records, as defined in G.S. 132-1, shall not include written communications (and copies thereof) to any public board, council, commission or other governmental body of the State or of any county, municipality or other political subdivisio…

(a) The General Assembly finds the following: (1) The social security number can be used as a tool to perpetuate fraud against a person and to acquire sensitive personal, financial, medical, and familial information, the release of which could cause great financial or personal ha…

(a) Assumptions and Methodologies. - Subject to the provisions of this Chapter regarding confidential information and the withholding of public records relating to the proposed expansion or location of specific business or industrial projects when the release of those records wou…

Limited access to identifying information of minors participating in local government programs and programs funded by the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., or a local partnership in certain localities. (a) A public record, as defined by G.S. 132-1, does not include, …

Limited access to identifying information of minors participating in local government parks and recreation programs and programs funded by the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., or a local partnership in other localities. (a) A public record, as defined by G.S. 132-1,…

(a) Notwithstanding this chapter, when a unit of local government maintains an email list of individual subscribers, this chapter does not require that unit of local government to provide a copy of the list. The list shall be available for public inspection in either printed or e…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a public record, as defined by G.S. 132-1, does not include personally identifiable information obtained by the Public Staff of the Utilities Commission from customers requesting assistance from the Public Staff regarding rate or …

Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require or authorize a public agency or its subdivision to disclose any information that: (1) Meets all of the following conditions: a. Constitutes a "trade secret" as defined in G.S. 66-152(3). b. Is the property of a private "person…

(a) Records in the custody of the State, including those in the custody of the Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims, concerning the Eugenics Board of North Carolina's program are confidential and are not public records, including the records identifying (i) individuals imp…

(a) Public records, as defined in G.S. 132-1, shall include all settlement documents in any suit, administrative proceeding or arbitration instituted against any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions, as defined in G.S. 132-1, in connection with or arising out o…

Public records, as defined in G.S. 132-1, shall include all documents, papers, letters, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, in …

(a) Records of criminal investigations conducted by public law enforcement agencies, records of criminal intelligence information compiled by public law enforcement agencies, and records of investigations conducted by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, are not publi…

(a) Definitions. - The following definitions apply in this section: (1) Body-worn camera. - An operational video or digital camera or other electronic device, including a microphone or other mechanism for allowing audio capture, affixed to the uniform or person of law enforcement…

Automatic number identification and automatic location identification information that consists of the name, address, and telephone numbers of telephone subscribers, or the email addresses of subscribers to an electronic emergency notification or reverse 911 system, that is conta…

Emergency response plans adopted by a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina, a community college, or a public hospital as defined in G.S. 159-39 and the records related to the planning and development of these emergency response plans are not public records …

(a) Public records, as defined in G.S. 132-1, shall not include sensitive public security information, which means any of the following: (1) Information containing specific details of public security plans and arrangements or the detailed plans and drawings of public buildings an…

A public record, as defined by G.S. 132-1, does not include any registration or sensitive security information received or compiled by a city pursuant to an alarm registration ordinance. For purposes of this section, the term "alarm registration ordinance" means an ordinance adop…

Except as otherwise provided in G.S. 130A-389.1, a photograph or video or audio recording of an official autopsy is not a public record as defined by G.S. 132-1. However, the text of an official autopsy report, including any findings and interpretations prepared in accordance wit…

(a) Scope. - A request to inspect, examine, or copy a public record that is also trial preparation material is governed by this section, and, to the extent this section conflicts with any other provision of law, this section applies. (b) Right to Deny Access. - Except as otherwis…

Geographical information systems databases and data files developed and operated by counties and cities are public records within the meaning of this Chapter. The county or city shall provide public access to such systems by public access terminals or other output devices. Upon r…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all restrictions on access to public records shall expire 100 years after the creation of the record. (b) Subsection (a) of this section shall apply to any public record in existence at the time of, or created after, August 18, 2015…

The public official in charge of an office having public records shall be the custodian thereof. (1935, c. 265, s. 2.)

(a) Prohibition. - No public official may destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose of any public record, except in accordance with G.S. 121-5 and G.S. 130A-99, without the consent of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Whoever unlawfully removes a public record fro…

Whoever has the custody of any public records shall, at the expiration of his term of office, deliver to his successor, or, if there be none, to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, all records, books, writings, letters and documents kept or received by him in the tr…

Whoever is entitled to the custody of public records shall demand them from any person having illegal possession of them, who shall forthwith deliver the same to him. If the person who unlawfully possesses public records shall without just cause refuse or neglect for 10 days afte…

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources or his designated representative or any public official who is the custodian of public records which are in the possession of a person or agency not authorized by the custodian or by law to possess such public …

(a) Every custodian of public records shall permit any record in the custodian's custody to be inspected and examined at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision by any person, and shall, as promptly as possible, furnish copies thereof upon payment of any fees as may be …

(a) Databases purchased, leased, created, or otherwise acquired by every public agency containing public records shall be designed and maintained in a manner that does not impair or impede the public agency's ability to permit the public inspection and examination of public recor…

(a) Persons requesting copies of public records may elect to obtain them in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them. No request for copies of public records in a particular medium shall be denied on the grounds that the custodian has made or pref…

Insofar as possible, custodians of public records shall keep them in fireproof safes, vaults, or rooms fitted with noncombustible materials and in such arrangement as to be easily accessible for convenient use. All public records should be kept in the buildings in which they are …

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall have the right to examine into the condition of public records and shall give advice and assistance to public officials in the solution of their problems of preserving, filing and making available the public records in their …

A records management program for the application of efficient and economical management methods to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of official records shall be administered by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It shall…

In cooperation with the head of each State agency and the governing body of each county, municipality, and other subdivision of government, the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall establish and maintain a program for the selection and preservation of public records…

(a) Any person who is denied access to public records for purposes of inspection and examination, or who is denied copies of public records, may apply to the appropriate division of the General Court of Justice for an order compelling disclosure or copying, and the court shall ha…