r/TrueCarolina

Chris Stock is one of North Carolina's top corporate lobbyists. He fought for handouts and tax cuts for corporations while passing the burden onto working families. Now he just released an ad pretending to care about affordability. Don't be fooled by this liar. The last thing we need in government is a corporate lobbyist.

Well it looks like I've pissed off the officials at the town of Selma with my Flock public records request. Because they're about to vote on a new policy when it comes to public records request. Of course, they'll vote on during the meeting where there's no public comments so people can't criticize it. But here are somethings about it that may violate NC law.

>1 - All Public Record Requests shall be directed to the Clerk’s Office. The Clerk’s Office (including the Clerk or designee) may ask the requester to submit their requests in writing, or in accordance with the request form provided by the Town.

This is a clear violation of NC law. NC § 132-2  states, "The public official in charge of an office having public records shall be the custodian thereof." Also, § 132-6 (a) states, "Every custodian of public records shall permit any record in the custodian's custody to be inspected and examined at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision by any person, and shall, as promptly as possible, furnish copies thereof upon payment of any fees as may be prescribed by law. As used herein, "custodian" does not mean an agency that holds the public records of other agencies solely for purposes of storage or safekeeping or solely to provide data processing.

So if I have a public records request about accounting, I can do directly to the person in charge of accounting ask request it. I do not need to go to the Clerk's office. Requiring everyone to go through the Clerk's office is a clear violation.

Also, the new policy says that the clerk may ask to submit their requests in writing. Technically legal but you do not have to comply. You are allowed to ask for public records in any format. You're also not required to give your name, address, or reason why you want the records.

Another thing is that if a request is too broad or ambiguous, the town says you now have 2 weeks to change it.

>Should the requester fail to clarify or narrow the request or fail to address the required deposit / pending charges within two weeks of notification, the Clerk’s Office will close the request and update the Public Record Request Inventory accordingly.

I find this very hypocritical of the town because I've sent several requests to Dalton Larsen-Batten, the current clerk, and he's taken more than 2 weeks to get back to me. As of this writing, I sent my latest request, which is the location of every Flock camera in Selma, on September 8th and he's still haven't responded.

This last part I think is the worst.

>Special service fees may be retroactively applied to any open public records request submitted on, or after, July 1, 2026.

So if you've made a public records request after July 1st, you could be charged for it. I definitely believe this is the town retaliating against me for my requests about Flock cameras.

Like I said, this vote looks like it'll take place when there isn't any public comments. So Selma residents, let them know beforehand that they can't pull this shady stuff because they got their feelings hurt about Flock cameras.