From the Port City Daily (2/22/13): State Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover, on Thursday filed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor—punishable with jail time—to violate the state’s open meetings and public records laws.
Goolsby and Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Hendersonville Republican, filed Senate Bill 125 Thursday in the N.C. Senate.
Senate Bill 125 amends the state’s open meetings law and public records law to include a provision that would make it a misdemeanor to deny someone a public record or improperly hold or close an open meeting. A violation of either would be a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 20 days in jail.
Prior to filing the bill, Goolsby said government employees and bureaucrats can “break the law with impunity” when it comes to the state’s open meetings and public records laws.