North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Jul 2, 2026

County lacked authority to recover homeowners’ damages in code dispute

The North Carolina Court of Appeals held that Mecklenburg County had authority to seek a declaratory judgment regarding compliance with building and subdivision codes but lacked statutory authority to […]

Jun 9, 2026

Occupancy tax funds may support tourism-related public safety services

The North Carolina Supreme Court held that Currituck County may use occupancy tax revenues to fund tourism-related public safety services, concluding that county commissioners reasonably exercised the discretion granted […]

Apr 17, 2026

Undue influence claim revives challenge to city sewer backup settlement

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a reasonable jury could find a city obtained a settlement release through undue influence after an elderly homeowner signed away her […]

Apr 16, 2026

Henderson County approves $102 million courthouse financing contract

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners approved a financing contract to borrow up to $102 million for a planned expansion to the County Courthouse in an April 15 meeting. The […]

Jan 9, 2025

Municipal – Sweepstakes – Entertaining Display

Plaintiff’s video sweepstakes game is exactly the type of electronic sweepstakes the legislature intended to prohibit by enacting Section 14-306.4. We reversed the order of the trial court granting Plaintiff’s […]

Jan 6, 2025

Municipal – Applications for Permits – Denial of Subdivision Permit

Petitioner presented sufficient evidence of compliance with UDO § 3.7.5 and so should have been granted the requested permits in any event. Further, because the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) provision’s […]

May 16, 2023

Municipal – Real Property – Easements – Governmental Immunity – Insurance

Plaintiffs have an easement over a gravel road on a servient tract; the new owner of the servient tract developed that tract, built a road that crosses the gravel road, […]

Feb 17, 2023

Municipal – Tort/Negligence – CGL Insurance – Governmental Immunity

Even though the defendant-city bought commercial general liability insurance, this did not waive the city’s governmental immunity, given that the policy expressly stated that the city’s purchase of insurance was […]

Feb 17, 2023

Municipal – Appeals – Housing Board – Judicial Review

On 31 October 2019, the respondent-city’s housing appeals board upheld a notice of violation due to overgrowth and debris on petitioner’s property. Petitioner was notified that he had 15 days […]

Nov 18, 2022

Municipal – Zoning – Residential – Agriculture Restrictions – Potbellied Pigs

Petitioner kept ten potbellied pigs as pets, but the “Limited Agriculture” provision of the respondent-town’s zoning ordinance, which applies to petitioner’s residential property, prohibits the keeping of “livestock such as […]

Nov 16, 2022

Municipal – Zoning – Remote Meetings – State of Emergency

Plaintiff argues that the defendant-city violated its own City Council Rule 28 by holding an electronic meeting via WebEx to decide a matter that could have been postponed, i.e., the […]

Jun 26, 2018

Insurance – Municipal – Police Department – Wrongful Acts – Same Defendant

Even though the same rape case was the backdrop for the Hickory Police Department’s wrongful acts in 1987-1988 and again from 2003 to 2011, the acts were separate: the earlier […]