A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to STRENGTHEN confidence in government by increasing accessibility to public personnel hiring, firing, performance records, and other governmental RECORDS and meetings.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 126‑23(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each department, agency, institution, commission and bureau of the State shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each such employee:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to State service.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the agency has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that department, agency, institution, commission, or bureau.
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the head of the department setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the agency has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑320(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each local board of education shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each employee:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the board has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that local board of education.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that local board of education.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that local board of education.	 If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the local board of education setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the local board of education has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115D‑28(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each board of trustees shall maintain a record of each of its employees, showing the following information with respect to each employee:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the board has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that community college.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that community college.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that community college.
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the board of trustees setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the community college has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office or station to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 122C‑158(b) reads as rewritten:
 "(b)	The following information with respect to each employee is a matter of public record:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to the area authority.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the agency has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that area authority.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that area authority.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that area authority.
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the area authority setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the area authority has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 153A‑98(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The following information with respect to each county employee is a matter of public record:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to the county service.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the county has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that county.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation or other change in position classification with that county.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that county.
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the county setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the county has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 160A‑168(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The following information with respect to each city employee is a matter of public record:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to the service.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the city has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that municipality.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that municipality.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that municipality.
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the municipality setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the municipality has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 7.  G.S. 162A‑6.1(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The following information with respect to each authority employee is a matter of public record:
(1)	Name.
(2)	Age.
(3)	Date of original employment or appointment to the service.
(4)	The terms of any contract by which the employee is employed whether written or oral, past and current, to the extent that the authority has the written contract or a record of the oral contract in its possession.
(5)	Current position.
(6)	Title.
(7)	Current salary.
(8)	Date and amount of each increase or decrease in salary with that authority.
(9)	Date and type of each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that authority.
(10)	 A general description of the reasons for each promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, separation, or other change in position classification with that authority. 
	If the disciplinary action was a dismissal, a copy of the written notice of the final decision of the authority setting forth the specific acts or omissions that are the basis of the dismissal.
(11)	The performance of the employee, to the extent that the authority has performance records in its possession.
(12)	The office to which the employee is currently assigned."
SECTION 8.  G.S. 143‑318.16B reads as rewritten:
"§ 143‑318.16B.  Assessments and awards of attorneys' fees.

(a)	In any action brought pursuant to this Article in which a party successfully enjoins a violation of this Article, or succeeds in having a court of competent jurisdiction declare a party in violation of this Article, or succeeds in having a court declare an action taken in violation of this Article as null and void, the court shall allow a party who substantially prevails in seeking compliance by a public body with the requirements of this Article to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees if attributable to that noncompliance. The court may not assess attorneys' fees against the governmental body or governmental unit if the court finds that the governmental body or governmental unit acted in reasonable reliance on any of the following:
(1)	A judgment or an order of a court applicable to the governmental unit or governmental body.
(2)	The published opinion of an appellate court, an order of the North Carolina Business Court, or a final order of the Trial Division of the General Court of Justice.
(3)	A written opinion, decision, or letter of the Attorney General.
The court may order that all or any portion of any fee assessed be paid personally by any individual member or members of the public body found by the court to have knowingly or intentionally committed the violation; provided, that no order against any individual member shall issue in any case where the public body or that individual member seeks the advice of an attorney and such advice is followed.
(b)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the court may not assess attorneys' fees against a public hospital created under Article 2 of Chapter 131E of the General Statutes if the court finds that the action was brought by or on behalf of a competing health care provider for obtaining information to be used to gain a competitive advantage."
SECTION 9.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2011.