newsobserver.com projects - Pension records public again - Comments

Re: Pension records public again

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:30:17 -0500

You can call the state treasurer's office at 919-508-5176.

You may have to file a public records request, but that is basically a short letter or e-mail noting the name and other information about the employee you're seeking information about.

It's also a good idea to say something along the lines of "This is a request for public records under G.S. 132" and provide e-mail and phone contacts.

Keep in mind that your public records request is itself a public record, so if someone wants to know who's been asking about their pension, they can find out.

— RTB

Re: Pension records public again

af14600833 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:18:15 -0500

how do i go about finding out the details of individual's pay status that is retired from thecity,county, or state?

Pension records public again

bkrueger — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:13:00 -0500

Attorney General Roy Cooper says information about the pensions of state employees should be made available to the public after all.

Cooper's office this afternoon released a letter it sent to state Sens. Tony Rand and David Hoyle about questions that have surfaced in the past week over public access to government pension information.

The questions started after the State Treasurer's Office, which oversees the state retirement system, said it could not release information on the pension of state Rep. Thomas Wright, a Wilmington Democrat who is facing criminal fraud charges, becauses of a recent change in state law. The office cited an opinion by the Attorney General's office saying the information should not be released.

But lawmakers who worked on the bill, which dealt primarily with a different public records issue, said they never intended to close access to such information. So Rand and Hoyle asked Cooper to take another look at the issue.

He did, and concluded that, "Such information, upon request, should be made available for inspection and copying."

Cooper, in a separate statement, said, "North Carolina has some of the strongest public records laws in the nation, and the interpretation of those laws should favor openness.”

Document(s):
cooper-rand.pdf