Bill > H322

This bill modifies North Carolina's public records and archival laws, specifically addressing how General Assembly records are managed and preserved. The key change involves amending the rules for how long General Assembly records must be retained before potential destruction or transfer to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Previously, the custodian of General Assembly records had broad discretion in determining whether a record was public and how to handle it. Now, the bill establishes that General Assembly records cannot be certified as having no further use or value until either (1) they genuinely no longer have official use, or (2) 10 years have passed, with the 10-year period for a specific member's records beginning when that member leaves the General Assembly. This change appears intended to increase transparency and ensure that legislative records are preserved for a minimum period. The bill also repeals two previous sections of law (Section 27.7 of S.L. 2023-134 and Section 5 of S.L. 2024-16) that likely contained conflicting provisions. The final section specifies that the campaign finance-related portion of the act takes effect immediately upon becoming law, with the remaining provisions also becoming effective at the same time.

Government Affairs

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H322