North Carolina § 143-318 - 14A. Legislative commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees.

§ 143-318. 14A. Legislative commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees.

Except as provided in subsection (e) below, all official meetings of commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees of the General Assembly (including, without limitation, joint committees and study committees), shall be held in open session. For the purpose of this section, the following also shall be considered to be "commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees of the General Assembly": The Legislative Research Commission; The Legislative Services Commission; Repealed by Session Laws 2006-203, s. 93, effective July 1, 2007, and applicable to the budget for the 2007-2009 biennium and each subsequent biennium thereafter. Repealed by Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011; The Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations; The Joint Legislative Commission [Committee] on Local Government; Repealed by Session Laws 1997, c. 443, s. 12.30, effective August 28, 1997. Repealed by Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011; The Environmental Review Commission; The Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee; The Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee; Repealed by Session Laws 2011-266, s. 1.28(b), effective July 1, 2011 and Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011; The Commission on Children with Special Needs; Repealed by Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011; The Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission; and Repealed by Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011; The standing Committees on Pensions and Retirement. Reasonable public notice of all meetings of commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees of the General Assembly shall be given. For purposes of this subsection, "reasonable public notice" includes, but is not limited to: Notice given openly at a session of the Senate or of the House; or Notice mailed or sent by electronic mail to those who have requested notice, and to the Legislative Services Office, which shall post the notice on the General Assembly web site. A commission, committee, or standing subcommittee of the General Assembly may take final action only in an open meeting. A violation of this section by members of the General Assembly shall be punishable as prescribed by the rules of the House or the Senate. The following sections shall apply to meetings of commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees of the General Assembly: G.S. 143-318.10(e) and G.S. 143-318.11, G.S. 143-318.13 and G.S. 143-318.14, G.S. 143-318.16 through G.S. 143-318.17, and G.S. 166A-19.24. G.S. 143-318.12 shall not apply to meetings of commissions, committees, and standing subcommittees of the General Assembly. History (1991, c. 694, s. 7; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 785, s. 4; c. 1030, s. 42; 1993, c. 321, s. 169.2(f); 1997-443, s. 12.30; 2003-374, s. 1; 2006-203, s. 93; 2011-266, s. 1.28(b); 2011-291, s. 2.50; 2020-3, s. 4.31(d).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2006-203, s. 126, provides, in part: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act [July 1, 2007] are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." In subdivision (a)(6), the bracketed "Committee" was added at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.31(j), made the amendment of subsection (e) of this section by Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.31(d), effective May 4, 2020, and applicable throughout the duration of any declaration of emergency issued under G.S. 166A-19.20 in effect on or after that date, and further provides: "The actions of any public body in an open meeting conducted via simultaneous communication between March 10, 2020, and the effective date of this section are not deemed invalid due to the use of simultaneous communication to conduct that open meeting." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2011-266, s. 1.28(b), effective July 1, 2011, deleted subdivision (a)(12), which read: "The Joint Legislative Commission on Future Strategies for North Carolina." Session Laws 2011-291, s. 2.50, effective June 24, 2011, in subsection (a), deleted subdivisions (4), (8), (12), (14) and (16), and substituted "Local Government" for "Municipal Incorporations" in subdivision (6). Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.31(d), added "and G.S. 166A-19.24 " at the end of subsection (e). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note.