Chapter 2 - Board of Commissioners

1. The regular first-of-the-month meeting of the Board will be held at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month, or on the next business day if the first Monday is a holiday, at 1 Historic Courthouse Square, Room 208, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28792.
2. The regular mid-month meeting of the Board shall be held at 9:00 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at 1 Historic Courthouse Square, Room 208, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28792

The terms of this article shall apply to all minutes of closed sessions held by the Board, whether such
minutes are in draft form (hereinafter "draft closed session minutes") or approved form (hereinafter
"approved closed session minutes").

The Clerk to the Board of Commissioners, or the Board's designee, shall attend all closed sessions held by the Board of Commissioners and shall prepare minutes of each closed session. Each item discussed in closed session shall be listed on a separate page in a format substantially similar to Attachment 1, at the end of this Chapter. Any item which is unsealed in accordance with the terms of this article shall be signed by the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the top of the original of each page containing the unsealed item in the closed session minute book. As used in this article, to "unseal" information shall mean to declare that viewing the information by the general public will not frustrate the purpose for which the information was discussed in closed session. Any such page so signed as unsealed shall be kept by the Clerk in a separate file for public inspection.

All draft closed session minutes shall be deemed sealed and confidential and shall not be unsealed except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. Only the following persons shall have access to such draft closed session minutes: the Clerk, any Commissioner currently serving on the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, the County Manager, the Assistant County Manager, the County Attorney, the staff attorney or any attorney retained by the County with respect to a particular matter contained within the draft closed session minutes.

The Clerk, or the Board's designee, shall present the draft closed session minutes to the Board within 30 days of the closed session date for comments or revision. The draft closed session minutes shall be presented during a closed session. During such closed session, the Board of Commissioners shall determine by consensus which items contained in the draft closed session minutes are appropriate to be unsealed at approval. The Board of Commissioners shall approve all draft closed session minutes in an open session without discussing or disclosing their contents. Upon approval, the minutes shall be considered approved closed session minutes. Immediately after approval, the Board shall vote to unseal items contained within the approved closed session minutes as appropriate.

All approved closed session minutes shall be deemed to be sealed and confidential until such time as they are unsealed by majority vote of the Board or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

1. All items reflected in approved closed session minutes which are required by state or federal law to remain confidential shall remain sealed and shall not be released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
2. All information contained in approved closed session minutes which is not considered a public record under N.C.G.S Chapter 132 shall remain sealed and shall not be released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
3. All information contained within approved closed session minutes relating to the location or expansion of an industry shall remain sealed and confidential and may not be released without the permission of the industry locating or expanding in Henderson County. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any action is taken by the Board of Commissioners with respect to the location or expansion of an industry in open session, then subsequent to such action information contained within approved closed session minutes may be unsealed and released by the Board without the consent of the industry; provided, however, that information which is not considered a public record under N.C.G.S. Chapter 132 with respect to the industry may not be released except by a court of competent jurisdiction.
4. Information contained in approved closed session minutes relating to instructions given by the Board to staff or negotiating agents concerning the position of the County to be taken with respect to negotiating the amount of compensation and other material terms of an employment contract or proposed employment contract may be unsealed and released subsequent to the hiring of such employee, but only with respect to that employee. Information concerning persons not hired may not be unsealed or released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. In addition, where state or federal law precludes the release of any such information covered by the terms of this Subsection D, such information may not be unsealed or released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
5. Information concerning any particular public officer or employee or applicant for employment, relating to the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of initial employment, complaints, charges or grievances by or against a public officer or employee, which is contained in approved closed session minutes may not be unsealed or released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction or pursuant to a determination by the County Attorney that the unsealing and release of such information is not precluded by state or federal law. (A public body may not consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, appointment or removal of a member of the public body or another body and may not consider or fill a vacancy among its own membership except in an open meeting.)
6. Information contained in approved closed session minutes relating to investigations of alleged criminal misconduct may not be unsealed or released except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
7. Any other information contained in approved closed session minutes which is authorized by N.C.G.S. Chapter 143-318.11 but which is not specifically listed above may be unsealed at the discretion of the Board of Commissioners, but only upon a determination by the County Attorney that the unsealing of such information is not precluded by state or federal law and that the unsealing of such information will not frustrate the purpose for which the closed session was called.

Only the following persons shall have access to approved closed session minutes prior to their unsealing: the Clerk, any Commissioner currently serving on the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, the County Manager, the Assistant County Manager, the County Attorney, the staff attorney or any attorney retained by the County with respect to a particular matter contained within the approved closed session minutes.

1. Information which has been unsealed may be viewed by the public upon request made to the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners.
2. Information which is sealed may not be viewed by the public unless it is unsealed by the Board. Any person may request the Board to consider unsealing information contained in approved closed session minutes. The request must be delivered to the Clerk. The Clerk shall promptly transfer any such requests received to the Board of Commissioners.
3. Requests for the unsealing of approved closed session minutes shall be considered by the full Board of Commissioners in a closed session, after which the request shall be voted on in open session. In the event that any request is denied by the full Board Commissioners, the person making the request shall have the right to pursue any remedies at law or inequity