Political Parties use of County Buildings

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ORANGE COUNTY Office of the County P.O. BOX 8181 Attorney 200 S. CAMERON STREET HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27278 TO: Frank Clifton, County Manager FROM: John Roberts, County Attorney DATE: February 2, 2010 RE: Political Party Use of County Facilities QUESTION PRESENTED What is the law regarding the provision by the County of space for meetings by political parties, as that term is defined in North Carolina? RESPONSE Orange County, together with all other political subdivisions and municipalities in the State of North Carolina is required by law to "permit the use of (public) buildings without charge, except custodial and utility fees, by political parties..." N.C.G.S. §163-99 requires the County provide meeting space for political parties for "annual or biennial precinct meetings and county and district conventions:' The statute does not require that such space be provided "regulation free" and the County may impose such reasonable regulations~as necessary on the use of County-owned facilities. Political party is defined by N.C.G.S. §163-96 as set out below and severely restricts what qualifies as a political party. Under this statute the North Carolina State Board of Elections recognizes the Democratic, Libertarian and Republican Parties as the only official political parties in North Carolina. Orange County, undoubtedly has many political parties and each of them may wish to take advantage of this provision of law requiring free use of public facilities, however, I advise against extending the use of public facilities to other groups beyond the state recognized political parties. Such an extension could lead to: A flood. of groups claiming to be political parties and utilizing space at times that interfere with government operations; and Orange County exceeding its authority under the general statutes and defming what a political party is and subjecting itself to potential 1St Amendment and/or discrimination based litigation in the event certain groups are excluded by the new definition. In summary, the County must provide space to recognized political parties for a limited number of meetings per year. That space can be in any County-owned building that can accommodate such meetings and the County may charge the political parties for custodial and utility fees associated with their use of the buildings.