Governor's Office, media coalition settle records suit

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who unseated his Republican rival in the 2016 election, inherited the suit against the administration when he took office in January.

Cooper's administration acknowledges in the settlement that agencies can't charge for the inspection of records, a practice that had gained some traction under McCrory through a provision in the law that allowed "special service charges" for requests that required extensive resources.

The agreement also notes that responding to requests is an "important and necessary function of government" and that Cooper's agencies will be staffed and trained to provide records as promptly as possible without discriminating between requesters. There will be no special treatment, in other words, for media companies or law firms that routinely file requests.

Cooper's administration agreed under the settlement to develop new guidance to ensure compliance with public records law. An interim version of those new rules will be posted online for public comment.

Cooper spokesperson Ford Porter said in an email that written guidelines are "in the works," but did not provide a specific timeline. In an emailed statement, he said the release of public records "is the law and an important part of public duty."

"Blocking access hurts government transparency," Porter said. "The governor has directed his administration to fix this problem, and today’s settlement will be a positive step forward."

But it also sought a first-of-its-kind ruling in North Carolina from the court: That a government actor was knowingly violating a provision of state law to hand over records "as promptly as possible," as required by state law.

Gov. Roy Cooper campaign promise tracker (first term)

Mike Tadych, an attorney at the Raleigh-based firm representing the coalition, said in a statement that the settlement agreement at least tacitly acknowledges that the McCrory administration "repeatedly and systematically violated North Carolina's public records law by stonewalling and foot dragging in response to public records requests or, in many instances, simply ignoring them."

WRAL News reporters plan to evaluate Cooper's progress on records requests a year into the governor's tenure.