WILMINGTON — A bill that would enshrine the public’s right to inspect government records, including documents and correspondence from elected officials and employees, has been introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly.
READ MORE: If state budget passes, it could prevent access to lawmakers’ public records
Cosponsored by local representative Deb Butler (D-New Hanover), the bill would amend the North Carolina Constitution to state “every person has the right to inspect or copy” public records of any public body in the state, as well as maintain the entities’ meetings must be open to the public.
These rights are already enumerated in North Carolina general statutes, though including it in the state’s founding document would further protect the public’s — and journalists’ — access to government records.
Making it harder to pass than a regular bill (and thus harder to repeal), the amendment would require a two-thirds majority. It would also need to be approved by voters in this November’s election.
North Carolina would become one of the only states to protect public records access in the state Constitution; Florida’s state government passed a similar “sunshine amendment” in 1992.
In conversation with Port City Daily on Monday, Butler admitted the bill was a long shot.
“We believe it’s very important to preserve that ability of the press and of the citizens to know what’s going on, absolutely,” Butler said. “That’s why we did it, recognizing that it is unlikely to get any traction.”
Butler’s sponsorship is joined by 14 other Democrats in the House of Representatives. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate, where it is sponsored by 13 Democrats in the chamber.
In its budget passed last year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly included a provision exempting elected officials’ records from public records law. Under the previous law, officials were custodians of their records, but they were only allowed to withhold records under certain exemptions, such as confidentiality.
Now, each representative “shall determine whether a record is a public record.” The change has earned the General Assembly Black Hole Award from the The Society of Professional Journalists “for violating the public’s right to know in the change of the state’s public records law.”
“There’s no way that our Republican colleagues are going to allow the public access to what, in my opinion, are their records,” Butler said. “We want to shine a light on that issue and make aware the citizens and the voters of North Carolina, where they are intentionally being kept in the dark.”
Port City Daily reached out to each representative in the tri-county, all Republicans aside from Butler; no one responded by press. However, several of these lawmakers have the power to advance the bill.
Both versions of the bill reside in the respective rules committee. Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) is chairman of the Senate rules committee, charged with bringing bills forward for consideration; Rep. Charles Davis Jr. (R-New Hanover) is a member of the House rules committee.
Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Pender) also sponsored a similar bill in 2011, titled the “Sunshine Amendment” in 2011, inspired by Florida. The bill — which also protects access to public records in the state constitution — had been sponsored by 23 Republicans, two of which are still senators aside from Jackson — Senator Deputy President Pro Tempore Ralph Hise and Sen. Buck Newton.
Though their support is absent in 2024, the bill won praise from the North Carolina Press Association, of which Port City Daily is a member.
“This amendment mandates that authorities cannot restrict access to public meetings and records unless they can demonstrate that such limitations protect a compelling public interest,” a statement from the association reads: “This critical measure fosters trust in public institutions by ensuring that any restriction on access is both justified and necessary.”
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