Local Government Law Bulletin Series
Bulletin Number | Title | Author | Date | Description | Download |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
89 | Regulatory Fees: Can Nonresidents Be Charged More than Residents? | Lisa Glover |
Examines the constitutionality of imposing on nonresidents higher regulatory fees than those imposed on residents. |
Download (90.79 KB) | |
18 | Enforcing Parking Regulations | Fritz Richter, David M. Lawrence | 1979 |
Discusses on-street and off-street legal issues that have arisen since the early 1950s, including enforcement of parking regulations by both criminal remedies and civil penalties; adoption, by ordi |
Download (2.33 MB) |
22 | Publication of Legal Notices | Steven Holt | 1983 |
Local governments are frequently authorized or required to publish legal notices in a newspaper. This bulletin traces the requirements of G.S. |
Download (4.03 MB) |
25 | Business and Occupational Licensing by Cities and Counties | William A. Campbell | 1983 |
Discusses the authority of North Carolina local governments to license and regulate the conduct of businesses and occupations and the statutory and constitutional limitations on the exercise of tha |
Download (3.2 MB) |
29 | Temporary Damages for a Regulatory "Taking": First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles, California | Philip P. Green | 1987 |
Discusses U.S. |
Download (2.6 MB) |
30 | "Taking" Found for Beach Access Dedication Requirement: Nolan v. California Coastal Commission | Richard D. Ducker | 1987 |
Discusses the second U.S. Supreme Court decision within two weeks in which the Court ruled in favor of property owners and against governments enforcing land-use restrictions. |
Download (3.59 MB) |
34 | Two Major Zoning Decisions: Chrismon v. Guilford and Hall v. City of Durham | David M. Lawrence | 1988 | Download (3.36 MB) | |
38 | State Preemption of Local Hazardous and Low-level Radioactive Waste Ordinances | Donna Mussio | 1989 |
Discusses the extent to which comprehensive ordinances dealing with the management of hazardous and low-level radioactive waste are preempted by North Carolina statutes and regulatory programs for |
Download (4.01 MB) |
39 | Supreme Court Strikes Down Political Patronage Practices | Stephen Allred | 1990 |
Summarizes Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, and its implications for local governments in North Carolina. This U.S. |
Download (2.12 MB) |
43 | North Carolina Supreme Court Issues Decision on Personnel Records Act | Stephen Allred | 1992 |
Summarizes a North Carolina Supreme Court decision regarding whether applications for employment are public records and thus subject to disclosure, or personnel records and thus confidential. |
Download (1.8 MB) |
42 | Exclusionary Policies Regarding Municipal Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste | William A. Campbell | 1992 |
Discusses two U.S. |
Download (1.8 MB) |
45 | Informational Returns on Real Estate Transactions | David M. Lawrence, William L. Christopher | 1992 |
Discusses the definition of real estate transaction under the current regulations in the context of certain uniquely governmental transactions and outlines the reporting requirements to be |
Download (1.81 MB) |
53 | Supreme Court Establishes Standard for Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment | Stephen Allred | 1993 |
Provides a brief background on sexual harassment hostile environment claims decided by the lower courts, summarizes the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in Harris v. |
Download (1.74 MB) |
52 | Can a Local Government Rescind Its Award of a Contract under North Carolina's Formal Bidding Statute? | Jaye Sitton, Frayda S. Bluestein | 1993 |
Examines the issue of when a public contract governed by North Carolina's competitive bidding requirements becomes binding on the governmental unit. |
Download (1.91 MB) |
55 | Local Government Requirements for and Use of Social Security Account Numbers | David M. Lawrence | 1994 |
Addresses two questions: 1) can a citizen refuse to provide his or her Social Security account number to the government, and if so, when? |
Download (3.15 MB) |
57 | Individual Liability of Board Members for Illegal or Improper Expenditures | David M. Lawrence | 1994 |
Examines whether, and in what circumstances, personal liability can occur when an elected official votes for or otherwise approves an illegal or improper expenditure of public funds. |
Download (2.54 MB) |
59 | Flow-Control Ordinances Held Unconstitutional: C&A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown | William A. Campbell | 1994 |
Discusses a U.S. |
Download (1.84 MB) |
61 | Telling the Neighbors What You Think: City of Ladue v. Gilleo | A. Fleming Bell, II | 1994 |
Summarizes a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a local ordinance that prohibited a resident of Ladue, Missouri, from displaying an antiwar sign in a window of her home. |
Download (2.73 MB) |
63 | A Summary of Recent Legislation Authorizing "Guaranteed Energy Savings Contracts" (Chapter 775, 1994 Session Laws, Senate Bill 94) | Frayda S. Bluestein | 1994 |
Summarizes 1994 legislation authorizing local governments to enter into contracts for energy saving improvements to existing buildings in which the onctractor guarantees that the savings will, over |
Download (1.67 MB) |
65 | Litter Control | William A. Campbell | 1995 |
Written in an effort to bring some light to the subject of litter control by analyzing the criminal statute prohibiting littering and discussing litter control by means of a local ordinance. |
Download (65.97 KB) |
69 | What Kinds of Mistakes Allow a Contractor to Withdraw Its Bid for a Public Contract in North Carolina? | Bentina Chisholm, Tammera Sudderth | 1995 |
Examines statutes and case law from other jurisdictions in order to provide guidance to North Carolina public contracting officials who are faced with decisions about whether a withdrawn bid from a |
Download (3.77 MB) |
71 | Solid Waste Management: Recent Developments in Flow Control | William A. Campbell | 1995 |
Discusses three decisions of the courts of appeals regarding local governments' attempts to control the disposal of solid waste by using measures crafted to avoid the discriminatory aspects of flow |
Download (2.18 MB) |
75 | Appropriations to Church-Affiliated Organizations | Christopher M. Bass | 1996 |
Attempts to answer the question: Under what circumstances, if any, may local governments make contributions to churches or religiously affiliated organizations? |
Download (46.86 KB) |
77 | Local Government Participation in the Permitting of Sanitary Landfills | William A. Campbell | 1997 |
Analyzes the role given local governments and concludes that they have not been granted the unrestricted power to veto a permit application for construction and operation of sanitary landfills. |
Download (163.41 KB) |
78 | Are "Green River" Ordinances Constitutional under the First Amendment? | Lisa Lukasik | 1997 |
Explores whether local ordinances regulating door-to-door solicitation violate a solicitor's right to free speech under the First Amendment. |
Download (3.43 MB) |
82 | Local Government Power to Impose Fees on Tax-Exempt Property | Lauralyn Beattie | 1998 |
Addresses local government's power to assess fees for the services it provides tax-exempt property. |
Download (42.78 KB) |
85 | Interpretations of the "Piggybacking" Exception to North Carolina's Formal Bidding Requirements | Frayda S. Bluestein | 1998 |
Addresses questions that arose after a 1997 law made several changes to the competitive bidding laws that apply to local government contracts, including a new exception commonly referred to as the |
Download (1.8 MB) |
92 | Solid Waste Management: Recent Cases Upholding an Exclusive Hauling Contract and Designation of a Disposal Facility | William A. Campbell | 1999 |
Discusses three U.S. Courts of Appeals cases that show the continuing ingenuity of state and local governments in avoiding the C&A Carbone, Inc. v. |
Download (1.62 MB) |
94 | Behind Open Doors: North Carolina's Open Meetings Act and Mediator Standards of Confidentiality | Chad Ford | 2000 |
Explores the tension between North Carolina's Open Meetings Act and the desire for confidentiality in mediation hearings addressing public disputes. |
Download (68.27 KB) |
95 | Solid Waste Management: Franchise Agreement for Collecting and Processing Municipal Solid Waste Declared Invalid on Commerce Clause Grounds | William A. Campbell | 2000 |
Discusses a U.S. |
Download (1.3 MB) |
96 | Lawyers Running for City Council: A Prudent Look before Leaping | William I. Thornton | 2000 |
Discusses some of the ethical and statutory questions that a lawyer should consider before making the leap into the race for city or town council. |
Download (54.9 KB) |
97 | Health and Social Services Agencies' Legal Duties to Clients with Limited English Proficiency: new Federal Guidance | David M. Lawrence | 2001 | Download (60.62 KB) | |
98 | Disappointed Bidder Claims against North Carolina Local Governments | Frayda S. Bluestein | 2001 |
Discusses some of the avenues the contractor and other disappointed bidders have for challenging decisions about bids, the legal basis for claims that may be brought by a disappointed bidder, and s |
Download (141.07 KB) |
100 | Solid Waste Management: New York Counties' Flow Control Ordinances Upheld | William A. Campbell | 2001 |
Discusses a U.S. Court of Appeals case that gave a green light to flow control ordinances in two New York counties, the latest in a series of cases decided by the U.S. |
Download (1.43 MB) |
101 | Attorney-Client Confidentiality, Minutes, and General Accounts of Closed Sessions: Some Questions and Answers from Multimedia II | A. Fleming Bell, II | 2002 |
Discusses public bodies holding closed sessions including the attorney-client privilege between the public body and its lawyer and how the privilege does not apply to all conversations between atto |
Download (52.8 KB) |
103 | Closed Sessions under the Attorney-Client Privilege | David M. Lawrence | 2002 |
Presents a broad review of questions that arise under the authorization for closed sessions, which has been the subject of four court of appeals decisions in recent years. |
Download (204.71 KB) |
102 | Understanding the Responsiveness Requirement in Competitive Bidding | Frayda S. Bluestein | 2002 |
Discusses the legal standard for determining when bids are responsive and summarizes rulings in cases evaluating a variety of commonly encountered bid irregularities. |
Download (335.56 KB) |
104 | The Court of Appeals Addresses Closed Sessions Held to Consider the Purchase of Real Property | David M. Lawrence | 2002 |
Discusses a Court of Appeals decision that addresses the purchase of real property and the circumstances in which the name of the landowner, the location of the property, and the city's proposed us |
Download (147.74 KB) |
105 | Accountability Challenges in Government Funding of Faith-Based Organizations | Anita R. Brown-Graham | 2004 |
Focuses on the tension between the federal mandate to accommodate social programs operated by pervasively sectarian organizations and the need to hold these organizations accountable for their expe |
Download (279.37 KB) |
106 | Ordinances Targeting Pit Bulls Must Be Drafted Carefully | David M. Lawrence, Jeanette Cox | 2004 | Download (233.45 KB) | |
107 | North Carolina Animal Control Law: 2005 Legislative Update | Aimee N. Wall | 2005 |
Summarizes animal control laws enacted by the 2005 session of the North Carolina General Assembly and briefly discusses the impact of the changes on local government animal control programs. |
Download (335.82 KB) |
108 | Public School Funding in the Summer of 2005: North Carolina School Boards Association v. Moore | Shea Riggsbee Denning | 2005 |
Discusses the constitutional provision at issue in North Carolina School Boards Association v. |
Download (319.5 KB) |
111 | Animal Cruelty, Part I: An Overview of North Carolina's Criminal Remedies | Aimee N. Wall | 2007 |
Part One of a two-part series reviews the state's criminal cruelty laws in detail and discusses some of the federal cruelty-related laws. |
Download (168.56 KB) |
110 | Are Immigrants Eligible for Publicly Funded Benefits and Services? | Jill D. Moore | 2007 |
Explains how federal law categorizes noncitizens for purposes of benefit eligibility. |
Download (496.85 KB) |
112 | Animal Cruelty, Part II: An Overview of North Carolina's Civil Remedies | Aimee N. Wall | 2007 |
Part Two of a two-part series focused on animal cruelty, this bulletin addresses the civil remedies available for protecting animals. |
Download (972.67 KB) |
115 | Unrecorded Utility Lines-A Second Look | David M. Lawrence | 2007 |
This bulletin is being issued to supersede Local Government Law Bulletin No. 114, "How Can Cities Deal with Unrecorded Utility Lines?" dated August 2007. |
Download (194.21 KB) |
117 | Do State and Local Immigration Laws Violate Federal Law? | Sejal Zota | 2008 |
Many states and localities are enacting their own immigration-related laws and ordinances. Such laws raise a number of constitutional issues, including federal preemption issues. |
Download (491.05 KB) |
119 | When Are Bids and Proposals Subject to Public Inspection? | Eileen R. Youens | 2009 |
This bulletin explains how the North Carolina public records laws apply to bids and proposals submitted to local governments in North Carolina and addresses specific questions regarding the obligat |
Download (429.38 KB) |
118 | Local Government Purchasing and Contracting Update: Statutory Requirements and Local Policies | Eileen R. Youens | 2009 |
This bulletin provides an overview of the statutory requirements and procedures that currently apply to local government contracts in North Carolina and uses examples to show how local governments |
Download (562.81 KB) |
121 | The Revaluation Revolt of 2009 | Christopher B. McLaughlin | 2009 |
The 2009 property tax year saw unprecedented taxpayer uproar over revaluations conducted in the midst of the national economic crisis. |
Download (363.28 KB) |
124 | The Law of De Facto Officers | David M. Lawrence | 2010 |
This bulletin summarizes the law of de facto officers in North Carolina. |
Download (412.6 KB) |
125 | An Overview of North Carolina’s Rabies Control Laws | Aimee N. Wall | 2011 |
This bulletin provides a brief summary of the history of rabies control laws; presents an overview of their major components, including the recent changes; and highlights areas where local governme |
Download (543.71 KB) |
126 | Third-Party Beneficiaries of Contracts Entered into by Local Governments | David M. Lawrence | 2011 |
This bulletin reviews the general rules for determining whether third parties are intended beneficiaries of contracts, both as to contracts generally and as to contracts in which at least one party |
Download (423.46 KB) |
127 | Civil Penalties for Ordinance Violations -- Specific or Variable? by David M. Lawrence, May 2012. View online. | David M. Lawrence | 2012 |
One statutory option a city or county has in enforcing its ordinances is to impose a civil penalty on a violator and, if necessary, sue for the penalty in a civil action in the nature of debt. |
Download (438.08 KB) |
128 | Are There Limits on the Size of Penalties to Enforce Local Government Ordinances? | David M. Lawrence | 2012 |
Both cities and counties enjoy statutory authority to enforce their ordinances through civil penalties, which if necessary can be collected in a civil action in the nature of debt. |
Download (280.68 KB) |
130 | Criminal versus Civil Enforcement of Local Ordinances-What's the Difference? | David M. Lawrence | 2012 |
Cities and counties have a range of methods available to enforce their ordinances. |
Download (341.73 KB) |
131 | HUB Participation in Building Construction Contracting by N.C. Local Governments: Statutory Requirements and Constitutional Limitations | Jessica Jansepar Ross, Norma R. Houston | 2013 |
This bulletin focuses on the legal requirements for Historically Underutilized Business [HUB] participation in local government contracting: Part I outlines the statutory requirements under North C |
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132 | Mandamus to Require Enforcement of Local Ordinances | David M. Lawrence | 2013 |
This bulletin reviews North Carolina case law on using mandamus to require enforcement of local ordinances. |
Download (250.46 KB) |
133 | Remote Participation in Local Government Board Meetings | Frayda S. Bluestein | 2013 |
This bulletin analyzes whether elected or appointed local government board members can legally participate in meetings without being physically present. |
Download (144.09 KB) |
134 | Trying to Recover Public Costs Incurred in Dealing with Man-Made Disasters: The Free Public Services Doctrine | David M. Lawrence | 2013 |
This bulletin analyzes the free public services doctrine that denies recovery against a tortfeasor by a governmental agency that has incurred costs in remedying the public health or public safety h |
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135 | State Government Ethics and lobbying Laws: What Does and Does Not Apply to Local Government: Revised through 2013 | Norma R. Houston | 2014 |
This bulletin focuses on changes through 2013 to the North Carolina State Government Ethics Act and the implications of these changes concerning local governments. |
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136 | Judicial Doctrines that Differentiate between Local Governments and Private Persons or Entities | David M. Lawrence | 2014 |
This bulletin is an annotated catalog of exceptions and special rules that are judicially created for the benefit of counties, cities, and other types of local government entities. |
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137 | The Impact of Williams v. Pasquotank County on Local Government Liability, Part I: Public Parks and Government Office Buildings | 2015 |
This bulletin is the first in a two-part series examining the impact so far of Williams v. Pasquotank County on local government liability. |
Download (214.16 KB) | |
138 | The Impact of Williams v. Pasquotank County on Local Government Liability, Part II: Contract-Related Claims | 2015 |
Updated September 30, 2015 |
Download (330 KB) | |
139 | Do Intentional Tort Claims Always Defeat Public Official Immunity? | 2016 |
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Download (436.24 KB) | |
140 | "Full and Accurate" Minutes: A Primer | 2019 |
Like other public bodies in North Carolina, local government boards must keep “full and accurate” minutes of their official meetings. |
Download (301.58 KB) | |
141 | Responding to First Amendment "Audits" in the Local Government Context | Kristi Nickodem, Kristina Wilson | 2022 |
Imagine you are a local government employee, working in the lobby of a county agency. |
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142 | Conflicts of Interest for Public Officials on Nonprofit Boards: An Analysis for North Carolina G.S. 14-234.3 | Kristina Wilson | 2022 |
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143 | Local Elected Officials' Leadership Derailment | Lauren Dula, Maja Husar Holmes, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina T. Marty | 2022 |
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