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![handle is hein.sag/sagnc0043 and id is 1 raw text is: Reply to: DIANE G. MILLER
INSURANCE SECTION
(919) 716-6610
FAX: (919) 716-6757
April 3, 2006
Rodney S. Maddox
Chief Deputy Secretary of State
North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 29622
Raleigh, N.C. 27626-0622
Re: Advisory Opinion; Public Records Law - Criminal Records; N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 132-1.4 (2005)
Dear Mr. Maddox:
This letter is in response to your request for an opinion whether records obtained
and produced by the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State (hereinafter
the Department) solely for the purpose of making a report of an apparent criminal
violation under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-47.10, fall within the exception to the Public
Records Act found in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4. In our opinion, as a general rule, the
records in your possession are not records of criminal investigations or intelligence and
are a public record. In reaching this determination, we considered relevant statutes
from the Public Records Act, as well as current and recent amendments to the lobbying
laws.
Public records, as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1, mean [a]ll documents,
papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other
tapes, electronic data processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or
ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North
Carolina government or its subdivisions.
The Public Records Act clearly permits public access to all public records in an
agency's possession unless either the agency or the record is specifically exempted
from the statute's mandate. Times-News Publishing Co. v. State, 124 N.C. App. 175,
176, 474 S.E.2d 450, 451-52 (1996), disc. review denied, 345 N.C. 645, 483 S.E.2d
717 (1997); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1 et seq. You inquire if the records in question are
exempt from the Public Records Act under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4. N.C. Gen. Stat. §](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagnc0043&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)