Can We Prohibit Offensive Signs?

Malcolm Tucker runs a small nightclub. He recently put up a billboard advertising his business on the main road leading into town. The billboard is garish to say the least. It is bright orange and uses suggestive language and photos to advertise the entertainment offered at his club — drinking, dancing, and video sweepstakes games. A number of citizens raised objections to the sign at the public comment period at the last meeting of the town council. Many contended this sign was tasteless, offensive, tawdry, and just plain ugly. Others felt it sent an inappropriate message to children. Still others noted that the sign harmed the community’s image and would impair future economic development efforts. All urged the board to amend the sign ordinance to prohibit this type of offensive commercial advertisement. Can the town do that? Read more »

Texting While Meeting: Is it Illegal for Local Government Officials?

Texting, tweeting, emailing, blogging, posting: members of public boards are doing this during meetings using their private or publicly-issued electronic devices, and communicating with each other, with individuals or groups attending the meeting, and with individuals and groups anywhere in the world. Is this legal? Is it useful? Or is it just rude? Can the board restrict its own members from doing it? Can it restrict anyone else from doing it? Public agencies across the country are struggling with the answers to these questions. At least one state has considered modifying its open meetings law to prohibit it, and some cities have proposed to restrict it by board policy. This post analyzes the issue under North Carolina’s open meetings and public records laws, and under the laws that govern the power of a board to restrict the behavior of its members. Read more »

The Screwy City Election Schedule

In even-numbered years, it’s pretty easy to tell when elections will happen.  In May of 2012, for instance, there will be primary elections for congressional seats and North Carolina legislative seats and governor and attorney general and judges and county commissioners and just about every office other than mayors and city councils.  Then in November there will be a general election to elect candidates to those offices.  Lots of offices and lots of candidates, but a pretty straightforward schedule.

In odd-numbered years, however, the election schedule seems to fracture.  Within a single county, one town may hold an election in September and all the other towns hold theirs in November.  The roads may sprout candidates’ signs in Charlotte in late August while in Chapel Hill nobody puts up a sign until October.  Newspapers seem to be reporting election results over a period of many weeks.  What gives? Read more »

What is the Statute of Limitations for Special Assessments?

Assume that in 2000 Blue Devil City levies a special assessment on the 100 residents of Coach K Way to pay for an extension of city sewer and water service along that road.  The city provides documentation of the assessment to Carolina County, which by contract collects the city’s taxes and assessments.  Unfortunately this documentation disappears and the assessments are never entered into the county’s tax records.  As a result, for the next decade neither the city nor the county makes any effort to collect the assessments. 

In 2011 the city’s new finance office stumbles across records of the assessments and calls the county tax office to ask why they remain unpaid. The county tax collector sheepishly explains that a mistake was made back in 2000 and then concludes that the assessments are now uncollectible because more than 10 years have passed since the assessments were levied.

Is the collector correct? I think so, but the issue is not entirely clear.  Read more »

Reporting Patient Injuries to Law Enforcement: It’s Not Just Gunshot Wounds

Here at the School of Government, we get a lot of questions about disclosing medical records or information to law enforcement officials. Often the question arises when a law enforcement official appears at a health care facility and presents a search warrant or court order for the information, a situation my colleague Jeff Welty has written about on the SOG’s North Carolina Criminal Law blog. But disclosure of medical information is not always initiated by law enforcement. Sometimes a health care provider treats a patient for an injury or illness, such as a gunshot or stab wound, that suggests a violent crime has occurred. Law enforcement may not be aware of these situations unless someone tells them. Therefore, North Carolina has a statute (G.S. 90-21.20) that requires health care providers to notify local law enforcement officials when they treat patients with particular injuries or illnesses.

The statute has two subsections that address the types of injuries and illnesses that must be reported—one that applies to all patients, and one that applies only to patients who are minor children. Subsection (b) identifies the injuries and illnesses that must be reported regardless of the patient’s age. Subsection (c1) describes the additional circumstances in which a report is required if the patient is a minor child. This post summarizes the provisions of each section and then addresses some frequently asked questions.

Read more »

Signs of the Times: The Regulation of Political Signs

Earlier this year it was reported in an Arizona newspaper that a prominent community activist (Ms. Smith) might face misdemeanor charges after witnesses saw her stealing campaign signs that Ms. Smith said were illegal and “negative” in their message. It seems that the signs made reference to the husband (Mr. Abbott) of an incumbent town council member whom Ms. Smith supported. Mr. Abbott had himself been accused of stealing the campaign signs of his wife’s opponent. The signs that Ms. Smith was accused of stealing declared: “If you’re reading this sign, it’s because Tom Abbott hasn’t taken it down yet.” According to those who came to her defense, the signs that Ms. Smith had confiscated were indeed slanderous. Ah, yes, election campaigns in full swing. Read more »

Court Does Not Have Authority to Grant Public Access to Personnel Records

State law prohibits general public access to most public employee records. The parallel statutes that govern city and county employee records, as well as several of the separate statutes that govern other types of public agencies, contain provisions that allow access to these records by court order. A recent Court of Appeals opinion, In Re Release of the Silk Plant Forest Citizen Review Committee’s Report and Appendices, holds that these provisions do not confer jurisdiction on a court to grant general public access to personnel records. This blog summarizes the case and discusses the implications of its holding. Read more »