North Carolina's public record law has two fundamental points:
- Records are the property of the people.
- Public records are everything made or received in the course of public business: documents, papers, books, maps, photographs, sound and audio recording, database, etc.
When asking for public records: Ask politely. If you are refused the record, ask for the specific statute that permits the records to be withheld. The law gives you the right to access the records in a reasonable time.
If you are denied public records, we’d like to know. Contact us at watchdog@newsobserver.com
Download a PDF file of a guide to NC public records:
http://www.ncpress.com/ncpa/AG-NCPA_booklet.html
A searchable web-based guide to NC law:
http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php?op=browse&t=full&state=NC
More open government news from the North Carolina Open Government Coalition: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/communications/ncopengov/
