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North Carolina Senate Bill S299

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina Senate Bill S299 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-S 1
4-SENATE BILL 299
3+S D
4+SENATE BILL DRS45131-MC-132
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Government Transparency Act of 2025. (Public)
89 Sponsors: Senators Sanderson and B. Newton (Primary Sponsors).
9-Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
10-March 18, 2025
11-*S299 -v-1*
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRS45131 -MC-132*
1213 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1314 AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT BY INCREASING 2
1415 ACCESSIBILITY TO CERTAIN PUBLIC PERSONNEL PERFORMANCE AND 3
1516 DISMISSAL RECORDS. 4
1617 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
1718 SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 126-23 reads as rewritten: 6
1819 "§ 126-23. Certain records to be kept by State agencies open to inspection. 7
1920 (a) Each department, agency, institution, commission and bureau of the State shall 8
2021 maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to 9
2122 each such employee: 10
2223 … 11
2324 (10) Date Subject to subsection (g) of this section, date and general description of 12
2425 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that department, agency, 13
2526 institution, commission, or bureau.bureau: 14
2627 a. Promotion. 15
2728 b. Demotion. 16
2829 c. Transfer. 17
2930 d. Suspension. 18
3031 e. Separation. 19
3132 f. Dismissal. 20
3233 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 21
3334 disciplinary reasons taken by the department, agency, institution, commission, 22
3435 or bureau. If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, bureau, a copy of the 23
3536 written notice of the final decision of the head of the department setting forth 24
3637 the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal. 25
3738 (12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. 26
3839 … 27
3940 (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 28
4041 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 29
4142 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 30
4243 327, or other applicable law. 31
4344 (g) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 32
4445 (a)(10) of this section: 33
4546 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 34
4647 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 35
47-prohibited by applicable law." 36 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48-Page 2 Senate Bill 299-First Edition
48+prohibited by applicable law." 36
49+FILED SENATE
50+Mar 17, 2025
51+S.B. 299
52+PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
53+Page 2 DRS45131-MC-132
4954 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 1
5055 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 2
5156 subsection (a) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 3
5257 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 4
5358 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 5
5459 SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 126-22(b) reads as rewritten: 6
5560 "(b) For purposes of this Article the following definitions apply: 7
5661 (1) "Employee" means any current State employee, former State employee, or 8
5762 applicant for State employment.employment subject to this Article. 9
5863 (2) "Employer" means any State department, university, division, bureau, 10
5964 commission, council, or other agency subject to Article 7 of this Chapter.this 11
6065 Article. The term "university" shall include all of the following, as defined in 12
6166 G.S. 116-2: 13
6267 a. The Board. 14
6368 b. The Board of Trustees. 15
6469 c. Chancellor. 16
6570 d. Constituent institutions. 17
6671 e. The President. 18
6772 …." 19
6873 SECTION 2. G.S. 115C-320 reads as rewritten: 20
6974 "§ 115C-320. Certain records open to inspection. 21
7075 (a) Each local board of education shall maintain a record of each of its employees, 22
7176 showing the following information with respect to each employee: 23
7277 … 24
7378 (10) Date Subject to subsection (e) of this section, date and general description of 25
7479 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that local board of 26
7580 education.education: 27
7681 a. Promotion. 28
7782 b. Demotion. 29
7883 c. Transfer. 30
7984 d. Suspension. 31
8085 e. Separation. 32
8186 f. Dismissal. 33
8287 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 34
8388 disciplinary reasons taken by the local board of education. If the disciplinary 35
8489 action was a dismissal, education, a copy of the written notice of the final 36
8590 decision of the local board education setting forth the specific acts or 37
8691 omissions that are the basis of the dismissal. 38
8792 (12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. 39
8893 … 40
8994 (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 41
9095 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 42
9196 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 43
9297 327, or other applicable law. 44
9398 (e) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 45
9499 (a)(10) of this section: 46
95100 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 47
96101 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 48
97102 prohibited by applicable law." 49
98103 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 50
99104 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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105+DRS45131-MC-132 Page 3
101106 subsection (a) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 1
102107 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 2
103108 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 3
104109 SECTION 3. G.S. 115D-28 reads as rewritten: 4
105110 "§ 115D-28. Certain records open to inspection. 5
106111 (a) Each board of trustees shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the 6
107112 following information with respect to each employee: 7
108113 … 8
109114 (10) Date Subject to subsection (e) of this section, date and general description of 9
110115 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that community 10
111116 college.college: 11
112117 a. Promotion. 12
113118 b. Demotion. 13
114119 c. Transfer. 14
115120 d. Suspension. 15
116121 e. Separation. 16
117122 f. Dismissal. 17
118123 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 18
119124 disciplinary reasons taken by the community college. If the disciplinary action 19
120125 was a dismissal, college, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of 20
121126 the board of trustees setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the 21
122127 basis of the dismissal. 22
123128 (12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. 23
124129 … 24
125130 (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 25
126131 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 26
127132 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 27
128133 327, or other applicable law. 28
129134 (e) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 29
130135 (a)(10) of this section: 30
131136 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 31
132137 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 32
133138 prohibited by applicable law." 33
134139 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 34
135140 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 35
136141 subsection (a) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 36
137142 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 37
138143 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 38
139144 SECTION 4. G.S. 122C-158 reads as rewritten: 39
140145 "§ 122C-158. Privacy of personnel records. 40
141146 … 41
142147 (b) The following information with respect to each employee is a matter of public record: 42
143148 … 43
144149 (10) Date Subject to subsection (j) of this section, date and general description of 44
145150 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that area 45
146151 authority.authority: 46
147152 a. Promotion. 47
148153 b. Demotion. 48
149154 c. Transfer. 49
150155 d. Suspension. 50
151156 e. Separation. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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153158 f. Dismissal. 1
154159 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 2
155160 disciplinary reasons taken by the area authority. If the disciplinary action was 3
156161 a dismissal, authority, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the 4
157162 area authority setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of 5
158163 the dismissal. 6
159164 (12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. 7
160165 … 8
161166 (i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 9
162167 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 10
163168 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 11
164169 327, or other applicable law. 12
165170 (j) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 13
166171 (b)(10) of this section: 14
167172 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 15
168173 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 16
169174 prohibited by applicable law." 17
170175 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 18
171176 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 19
172177 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 20
173178 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 21
174179 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 22
175180 SECTION 5. G.S. 130A-45.9 reads as rewritten: 23
176181 "§ 130A-45.9. Confidentiality of personnel information. 24
177182 … 25
178183 (b) The following information with respect to each employee of a public health authority 26
179184 is a matter of public record: 27
180185 (1) name; Name. 28
181186 (2) age; Age. 29
182187 (3) date Date of original employment or appointment; appointment. 30
183188 (4) beginning Beginning and ending dates, dates. 31
184189 (5) position title, Current position and title. 32
185190 (6) position descriptions, Position description. 33
186191 (7) Current salary and total compensation of current and former positions; 34
187192 positions. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "total compensation" 35
188193 includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and all other forms 36
189194 of compensation paid by the employing entity. 37
190195 (8) the The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether 38
191196 written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the authority has the written 39
192197 contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession, possession. 40
193198 (9) and date Date and type of the most recent each promotion, demotion, transfer, 41
194199 suspension, separation, or other change in position classification. 42
195200 (10) Subject to subsection (e) of this section, date and general description of the 43
196201 reasons for each of the following with that public health authority: 44
197202 a. Promotion. 45
198203 b. Demotion. 46
199204 c. Transfer. 47
200205 d. Suspension. 48
201206 e. Separation. 49
202207 f. Dismissal. 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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204209 (11) For each dismissal for disciplinary reasons taken by the public health 1
205210 authority, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the public health 2
206211 authority setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the 3
207212 dismissal. 4
208213 (12) The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned. 5
209214 (13) In addition, the following information with respect to each licensed medical 6
210215 provider employed by or having privileges to practice in a public health 7
211216 facility shall be a matter of public record: educational history and 8
212217 qualifications, date and jurisdiction or original and current licensure; and 9
213218 information relating to medical board certifications or other qualifications of 10
214219 medical specialists. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "total 11
215220 compensation" includes pay, benefits, incentives, bonuses, and deferred and 12
216221 all other forms of compensation paid by the employing entity. 13
217222 … 14
218223 (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 15
219224 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 16
220225 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 17
221226 327, or other applicable law. 18
222227 (e) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 19
223228 (b)(10) of this section: 20
224229 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 21
225230 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 22
226231 prohibited by applicable law." 23
227232 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 24
228233 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 25
229234 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 26
230235 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 27
231236 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 28
232237 SECTION 6. G.S. 131E-257.2 reads as rewritten: 29
233238 "§ 131E-257.2. Privacy of employee personnel records. 30
234239 … 31
235240 (b) The following information with respect to each public hospital employee is a matter 32
236241 of public record: 33
237242 (1) Name. 34
238243 (2) Age. 35
239244 (3) Date of original employment. 36
240245 (4) Current position title. 37
241246 (5) Date of the most recent and type for each promotion, demotion, transfer, 38
242247 suspension, separation or other change in position classification. 39
243248 (6) The office to which the employee is currently assigned. 40
244249 (7) Subject to subsection (j) of this section, date and general description of the 41
245250 reasons for each of the following with that public hospital: 42
246251 a. Promotion. 43
247252 b. Demotion. 44
248253 c. Transfer. 45
249254 d. Suspension. 46
250255 e. Separation. 47
251256 f. Dismissal. 48
252257 (8) For each dismissal for disciplinary reasons taken by the public hospital, a copy 49
253258 of the written notice of the final decision of the public hospital setting forth 50
254259 the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal. 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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256261 (9) In addition, the following information with respect to For each licensed 1
257262 medical provider employed by or having privileges to practice in a public 2
258263 hospital shall be a matter of public record: hospital, the following information: 3
259264 educational history and qualifications, date and jurisdiction or original and 4
260265 current licensure; and information relating to medical board certifications or 5
261266 other qualifications of medical specialists. 6
262267 … 7
263268 (i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 8
264269 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 9
265270 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 10
266271 327, or other applicable law. 11
267272 (j) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision (b)(7) 12
268273 of this section: 13
269274 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 14
270275 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 15
271276 prohibited by applicable law." 16
272277 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 17
273278 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 18
274279 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 19
275280 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 20
276281 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 21
277282 SECTION 7.(a) G.S. 153A-98 reads as rewritten: 22
278283 "§ 153A-98. Privacy of employee personnel records. 23
279284 … 24
280285 (a1) This section shall apply to all employees subject to G.S. 153A-103. 25
281286 (b) The following information with respect to each county employee is a matter of public 26
282287 record: 27
283288 … 28
284289 (10) Date Subject to subsection (h) of this section, date and general description of 29
285290 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that county.county: 30
286291 a. Promotion. 31
287292 b. Demotion. 32
288293 c. Transfer. 33
289294 d. Suspension. 34
290295 e. Separation. 35
291296 f. Dismissal. 36
292297 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 37
293298 disciplinary reasons taken by the county. If the disciplinary action was a 38
294299 dismissal, county, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the 39
295300 county setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the 40
296301 dismissal. 41
297302 (12) The office to which the employee is currently assigned. 42
298303 … 43
299304 (g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 44
300305 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 45
301306 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 46
302307 327, or other applicable law. 47
303308 (h) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 48
304309 (b)(10) of this section: 49 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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310+DRS45131-MC-132 Page 7
306311 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 1
307312 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 2
308313 prohibited by applicable law." 3
309314 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 4
310315 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 5
311316 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 6
312317 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 7
313318 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 8
314319 SECTION 7.(b) G.S. 153A-99(b) reads as rewritten: 9
315320 "(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this section: 10
316321 (1) "County employee" or "employee" means any person employed by a county 11
317322 or any department or program thereof that is supported, in whole or in part, by 12
318323 county funds;funds but shall not include employees subject to G.S. 153A-103; 13
319324 (2) "On duty" means that time period when an employee is engaged in the duties 14
320325 of his or her employment; and 15
321326 (3) "Workplace" means any place where an employee engages in his or her job 16
322327 duties." 17
323328 SECTION 8. G.S. 160A-168 reads as rewritten: 18
324329 "§ 160A-168. Privacy of employee personnel records. 19
325330 … 20
326331 (b) The following information with respect to each city employee is a matter of public 21
327332 record: 22
328333 … 23
329334 (10) Date Subject to subsection (h) of this section, date and general description of 24
330335 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that 25
331336 municipality.municipality: 26
332337 a. Promotion. 27
333338 b. Demotion. 28
334339 c. Transfer. 29
335340 d. Suspension. 30
336341 e. Separation. 31
337342 f. Dismissal. 32
338343 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 33
339344 disciplinary reasons taken by the municipality. If the disciplinary action was 34
340345 a dismissal, municipality, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of 35
341346 the municipality setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis 36
342347 of the dismissal. 37
343348 (12) The office to which the employee is currently assigned. 38
344349 … 39
345350 (g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 40
346351 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 41
347352 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 42
348353 327, or other applicable law. 43
349354 (h) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 44
350355 (b)(10) of this section: 45
351356 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 46
352357 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 47
353358 prohibited by applicable law." 48
354359 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 49
355360 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 50
356361 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
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358363 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 1
359364 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 2
360365 SECTION 9. G.S. 162A-6.1 reads as rewritten: 3
361366 "§ 162A-6.1. Privacy of employee personnel records. 4
362367 … 5
363368 (b) The following information with respect to each authority employee is a matter of 6
364369 public record: 7
365370 … 8
366371 (10) Date Subject to subsection (j) of this section, date and general description of 9
367372 the reasons for each promotion of the following with that authority.authority: 10
368373 a. Promotion. 11
369374 b. Demotion. 12
370375 c. Transfer. 13
371376 d. Suspension. 14
372377 e. Separation. 15
373378 f. Dismissal. 16
374379 (11) Date and type of For each dismissal, suspension, or demotion dismissal for 17
375380 disciplinary reasons taken by the authority. If the disciplinary action was a 18
376381 dismissal, authority, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the 19
377382 authority setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the 20
378383 dismissal. 21
379384 (12) The office to which the employee is currently assigned. 22
380385 … 23
381386 (i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any 24
382387 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 25
383388 1996 (HIPAA), 110 Stat. 1936, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 26
384389 327, or other applicable law. 27
385390 (j) The following shall apply to the general descriptions as required by subdivision 28
386391 (b)(10) of this section: 29
387392 (1) No general description shall disclose information otherwise prohibited from 30
388393 disclosure by an applicable law but shall be listed as "description of action 31
389394 prohibited by applicable law." 32
390395 (2) The general description for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 33
391396 separation, or dismissal shall become part of the record maintained under 34
392397 subsection (b) of this section upon the later of the expiration of the time period 35
393398 to file an appeal under any applicable administrative appeals process or a final 36
394399 decision being entered in that administrative appeals process." 37
395400 SECTION 10.(a) No later than November 30, 2025, each employer affected by this 38
396401 act shall adopt personnel policies to effectuate this act to permit all of its employees to challenge 39
397402 the wording of the general description of any promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, 40
398403 separation, or dismissal occurring on or after December 1, 2025. 41
399404 SECTION 10.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law. 42
400405 SECTION 11. Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective December 43
401406 1, 2025, and applies to promotions, demotions, transfers, suspensions, separations, and dismissals 44
402407 occurring on or after that date. 45