§ 143-318.12. Public notice of official meetings. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143‑318.12.  Publicnotice of official meetings.

(a)        If a public bodyhas established, by ordinance, resolution, or otherwise, a schedule of regularmeetings, it shall cause a current copy of that schedule, showing the time andplace of regular meetings, to be kept on file as follows:

(1)        For public bodiesthat are part of State government, with the Secretary of State;

(2)        For the governingboard and each other public body that is part of a county government, with theclerk to the board of county commissioners;

(3)        For the governingboard and each other public body that is part of a city government, with thecity clerk;

(4)        For each otherpublic body, with its clerk or secretary, or, if the public body does not havea clerk or secretary, with the clerk to the board of county commissioners inthe county in which the public body normally holds its meetings.

If a public body changes itsschedule of regular meetings, it shall cause the revised schedule to be filedas provided in subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection at least sevencalendar days before the day of the first meeting held pursuant to the revisedschedule.

(b)        If a public bodyholds an official meeting at any time or place other than a time or place shownon the schedule filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, it shall givepublic notice of the time and place of that meeting as provided in thissubsection.

(1)        If a public bodyrecesses a regular, special, or emergency meeting held pursuant to publicnotice given in compliance with this subsection, and the time and place atwhich the meeting is to be continued is announced in open session, no furthernotice shall be required.

(2)        For any othermeeting, except an emergency meeting, the public body shall cause writtennotice of the meeting stating its purpose (i) to be posted on the principalbulletin board of the public body or, if the public body has no such bulletinboard, at the door of its usual meeting room, and (ii) to be mailed, e‑mailed,or delivered to each newspaper, wire service, radio station, and televisionstation that has filed a written request for notice with the clerk or secretaryof the public body or with some other person designated by the public body. Thepublic body shall also cause notice to be mailed, e‑mailed, or deliveredto any person, in addition to the representatives of the media listed above,who has filed a written request with the clerk, secretary, or other persondesignated by the public body. This notice shall be posted and mailed, e‑mailed,or delivered at least 48 hours before the time of the meeting. The noticerequired to be posted on the principal bulletin board or at the door of itsusual meeting room shall be posted on the door of the building or on thebuilding in an area accessible to the public if the building containing theprincipal bulletin board or usual meeting room is closed to the publiccontinuously for 48 hours before the time of the meeting. The public body mayrequire each newspaper, wire service, radio station, and television stationsubmitting a written request for notice to renew the request annually. Thepublic body shall charge a fee to persons other than the media, who requestnotice, of ten dollars ($10.00) per calendar year, and may require them torenew their requests quarterly. No fee shall be charged for notices sent by e‑mail.

(3)        For an emergencymeeting, the public body shall cause notice of the meeting to be given to eachlocal newspaper, local wire service, local radio station, and local televisionstation that has filed a written request, which includes the newspaper's, wireservice's, or station's telephone number, for emergency notice with the clerkor secretary of the public body or with some other person designated by thepublic body. This notice shall be given either by e‑mail, by telephone,or by the same method used to notify the members of the public body and shallbe given immediately after notice has been given to those members. This noticeshall be given at the expense of the party notified. Only business connectedwith the emergency may be considered at a meeting to which notice is givenpursuant to this paragraph.

(c)        Repealed by SessionLaws 1991, c. 694, s. 6.

(d)        If a public bodyhas a Web site and has established a schedule of regular meetings, the publicbody shall post the schedule of regular meetings to the Web site.

(e)        If a public bodyhas a Web site that one or more of its employees maintains, the public bodyshall post notice of any meeting held under subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) ofthis section prior to the scheduled time of that meeting.

(f)         For purposes ofthis section, an "emergency meeting" is one called because ofgenerally unexpected circumstances that require immediate consideration by thepublic body.  (1979,c. 655, s. 1; 1991, c. 694, ss. 5, 6; 2009‑350, s. 1.)