Supreme Court: NC Railroad Isn't Subject To Open Records Law

The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that the North Carolina Railroad Co. can withhold documents from the public even though it's fully owned by the state. A majority of justices upheld on Friday a lower court ruling that involved a 2019 lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center against the railroad. The group wanted railroad records after a Triangle-area passenger rail project fell apart. The railroad owns over 300 miles of rail from Charlotte to Morehead City. The majority agreed the records law didn't apply to the railroad because the legislature and other governmental entities had consistently treated it as a private corporation.