Getting Public Records
G.S. 132-6 — inspection by any person, copies as promptly as possible, and no reason required
In North Carolina, a public record is any document, recording or data, in any form, made or received under law in connection with public business by any state or local government office or agency. The law calls public records the property of the people, and says they may be obtained free or at minimal cost, meaning the actual cost of reproducing them.
No one has to say why. Every custodian lets any person inspect and examine public records at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision, and furnishes copies as promptly as possible on payment of any fee the law sets. No one asking is required to disclose the purpose or motive for the request, and a request cannot be denied because confidential information is mixed in; the agency bears the cost of separating it.
Records of criminal investigations and criminal intelligence are not public records. Even so, certain facts are: the time, date, location and nature of a reported violation; the name, sex, age, address, employment and alleged violation of a person arrested, charged or indicted; the circumstances of an arrest, including whether it involved resistance, weapons or a pursuit; and the contents of 911 calls, with the caller's identity protected.
An agency that keeps records online in a form that can be viewed and printed or saved need not provide copies of those records any other way.
Sources for this section (3)
- G.S. 132-6 — Inspection, examination and copies of public records
- G.S. 132-1 — Public records defined
- G.S. 132-1.4 — Criminal investigations and intelligence information records
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed North Carolina attorney.