"Whereas the public bodies that administer the legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, and advisory functions of North Carolina and its political subdivisions exist solely to conduct the people's business, it is the public policy of North Carolina that the hearings, deliberations, and actions of these bodies be conducted openly."
This preamble to North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law says it all: The people’s business is to be conducted in the light of day. It’s troubling that some people often wonder whether they are allowed to attend meetings of the Fayetteville City Council, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners or the Board of Education. The short answer is, of course they can.
North Carolina General Statute 143-318 gives people the right to attend official meetings of public bodies. Citizens don’t always have the right to speak. There’s a difference between a public meeting and a public hearing. And certainly, no one has a right to disrupt any meeting. Anyone who’s unhappy with a body’s actions can seek other remedies in the law.