Section 143-318.10 - All official meetings of public bodies open to the public(a) Except as provided in G.S. 143-318.11, 143-318.14A, and 143-318.18, each official meeting of a public body shall be open to the public, and any person is entitled to attend such a meeting. Remote meetings conducted in accordance with G.S. 166A-19.24 shall comply with this subsection even if all members of the public body are participating remotely.(b) As used in this Article, "public body" means any elected or appointed authority, board, commission, committee, council, or other body of the State, or of one or more counties, cities, school administrative units, constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, or other political subdivisions or public corporations in the State that (i) is composed of two or more members and (ii) exercises or is authorized to exercise a legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, or advisory function. In addition, "public body" means the following: (1) The governing board of a "public hospital" as defined in G.S. 159-39.(2) The governing board of any nonprofit corporation to which a hospital facility has been sold or conveyed pursuant to G.S. 131E-8, any subsidiary of such nonprofit corporation, and any nonprofit corporation owning the corporation to which the hospital facility has been sold or conveyed.(3) An administering organization as defined in G.S. 115C-407.50(1).(c) "Public body" does not include (i) a meeting solely among the professional staff of a public body, or (ii) the medical staff of a public hospital or the medical staff of a hospital that has been sold or conveyed pursuant to G.S. 131E-8.(d) "Official meeting" means a meeting, assembly, or gathering together at any time or place or the simultaneous communication by conference telephone or other electronic means of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business within the jurisdiction, real or apparent, of the public body. However, a social meeting or other informal assembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not constitute an official meeting unless called or held to evade the spirit and purposes of this Article.(e) Every public body shall keep full and accurate minutes of all official meetings, including any closed sessions held pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11. Such minutes may be in written form or, at the option of the public body, may be in the form of sound or video and sound recordings. When a public body meets in closed session, it shall keep a general account of the closed session so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired. Such accounts may be a written narrative, or video or audio recordings. Such minutes and accounts shall be public records within the meaning of the Public Records Law, G.S. 132-1 et seq.; provided, however, that minutes or an account of a closed session conducted in compliance with G.S. 143-318.11 may be withheld from public inspection so long as public inspection would frustrate the purpose of a closed session. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-318.10
Amended by 2023 N.C. Sess. Laws 133,s. 20-a, eff. 7/1/2024.Amended by 2023 N.C. Sess. Laws 133,s. 17-b, eff. 9/22/2023.Amended by 2020 N.C. Sess. Laws 3, s. 4.31-b, eff. 5/4/2020.Amended by 2011 N.C. Sess. Laws 326, s. 8, eff. 6/27/2011. 1979 , c. 655, s. 1; 1985 Reg. Sess., 1986 , c. 932, s. 4; 1991 , c. 694, ss. 1, 2; 1993 Reg. Sess., 1994 , c. 570, s. 1; 1995 , c. 509, s. 135.2 p ; 1997-290, s. 1; 1997-465, s. 27.Hyde County, 2008 N.C. Sess. Laws 111, ss. 2, 3
Applicability:Section 4.31-j of 2020 N.C. Sess. Laws 3 provides: "This section is effective when it becomes law and applies throughout the duration of any declaration of emergency issued under G.S. 166A-19.20 in effect on or after that date. The actions of any public body in an open meeting conducted via simultaneous communication between March 10, 2020, and the effective date of this section are not deemed invalid due to the use of simultaneous communication to conduct that open meeting."