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At the local level, government boards are grappling with staying compliant with open meetings <br /> laws that leave room for interpretation . <br /> And at the North Carolina General Assembly, lawmakers are getting regular informational <br /> briefings from the state Department of Health and Human Services via conference call . While <br /> lawmakers say those calls share similar information as at DHHS ' daily news briefings that are <br /> streamed online and recent House special COVID-i9 meetings, they are not accessible to the news <br /> media and the public. <br /> TAKE A BREAK <br /> a; . <br /> Thousands pledge to break Joe Exotic out of Fort <br /> Worth prison in Facebook event <br /> Another conference call this week was led by the National Conference of State Legislatures and the <br /> entire General Assembly was invited, Rep . Pricey Harrison said . She said other groups have hosted <br /> conference calls with lawmakers, too, on various topics including unemployment . <br /> Local news has never been more important <br /> Subscribe for unlimited digital access to the news that matters to your community. <br /> 4REAâ–ºiLOCAL <br /> "None of us have dealt with a pandemic," Harrison said. <br /> Open meeting laws require the public to be able to attend, minutes to be taken and a prior public <br /> notice of meetings . <br /> Attorney Mike Tadych of Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych law firm is an expert in media and First <br /> Amendment law. He said once there is a quorum of certain legislative committee members on a <br /> teleconference, it triggers the state's open meetings law. <br />