Coates’ Canons NC Local Government Law

Two years ago I blogged about the first appellate opinion in North Carolina to take a serious look at what counts as a “tourism-related” expenditure for purposes of local occupancy taxes. The case was Costanzo v. Currituck ...

Each municipality (city, town, and village) in North Carolina has its own particular form of government, initially set out in the municipal charter and subject to change by local acts of the General Assembly and local ordinances adopted by the governing board of the municipality. Dating back to the mid-1950s, the School of Government has captured and cataloged the form o...

This post is Part 1 of a multi-part series. For a more detailed explanation and legal analysis of the issues discussed in this blog post series (including citations to cases referenced in the post), please see

The general rule in North Carolina is that local government employees may be held personally liable for their on-the-job negligence or deliberate misconduct. However, public officials within local government are afforded protection from individual liability for certain negligent acts within the scope of their official duties. This blog post provides an overv...

Since March 2019, North Carolina counties have had authority to voluntarily join together to create regional departments of social services (DSS). Session Law 2017-41, Part IV. However, to date, no North Carolina counties have opted to f...