General Counsel
We consider it a serious matter when someone fails to pay us the money they owe to us. That is because the money is not really “ours” – it belongs to the taxpayers of North Carolina. The money either goes to:
- The State’s General Fund and the General Assembly decides what to do with it.
Or - The State’s Fines and Forfeitures Fund. The North Carolina Constitution requires that the money in this Fund goes to the public schools and universities of the State.
We begin the process to collect money owed to us when:
- A payment that comes back to us as insufficient funds (NSF) or some similar reason and it isn’t “made good” by the deadline we set according to departmental policy.
- A civil fee or fine, or a payment promised in a settlement, is not paid.
We charge the $25.00 bad check fee allowed by law.
We participate in the Wake County Worthless Check Program. The NC Administrative Office of the Courts says this program: is a service of the District Attorney's office in some counties. It allows people who have written checks that have been returned with insufficient funds to pay off those checks and any other fees that go along with them before anyone files a criminal process. Worthless Check Program is a service of the District Attorney's office in some counties. It allows people who have written checks that have been returned with insufficient funds to pay off those checks and any other fees that go along with them before anyone files a criminal process.
If we are unable to get the money owed to us through the Wake County Worthless Check Program, we may:
- Ask the District Attorney to prosecute.
- Refer the case to the North Carolina Attorney General Collections Office. The Office collects account receivable accounts and other types of debt for other North Carolina state agencies.
We contact the person or business and try to get them to pay. Ultimately, if they do not pay, there are several steps we can take, including referring the issue to the North Carolina Attorney General Collections Office. In some instances a document that was filed with us may be voided on our records.
Contact our Budget and Finance Office:
Budget Office
NC Department of the Secretary of State
By USPS: P.O. Box 29622, Raleigh, NC 27626-0622
By Courier or in person: 2 South Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
By phone: 919-814-5400
The “existing rules review” is a process the General Assembly set up in 2013 to ensure that rules are regularly reviewed and updated. State agencies are required to review all of their rules every 10 years. The North Carolina Rules Review Commission (RRC), an independent agency, isis in charge process and decides when agencies have to review their rules. The RRC has decided that the second agency rules review will begin in July 2004.
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 03 Publications Division
- Year of review: 2014
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 05 Uniform Commercial Code Division
- Year of review: 2014
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 01 Departmental Rules
- Year of review: 2015
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 04 Business Registration Division
- Year of review: 2015
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 13 State Franchise for Cable Television Service
- Year of review: 2015
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 06 Securities Division
- Year of review: 2016
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 07 Notary Public Division
- Year of review: 2016
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 10 Electronic Commerce Section
- Year of review: 2016
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 02 General Administration Division
- Year of review: 2017
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 12 Lobbying
- Year of review: 2017
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 08 Land Records Management Division
- Year of review: 2018
- 18 NCAC - Chapter 11 Solicitation Licensing Program
- Year of review: 2018
“NCAC” means North Carolina Administrative Code. It’s where almost all the rules for state agencies are published.
To find the schedule, start by figuring out the title number for the agency rules that you’re interested in. To figure out the title number, go to the NCAC here. Then, go to the schedule for all agencies here and search for the title number followed by NCAC.
1st, we review our rules. We classify each rule into 1 of 2 categories:
- Category 1: Unnecessary
- Category 2: Necessary with substantive public interest
Then we post our classifications on our website for the public to see. The classifications will also be posted on the RRC website. The public can comment on our classifications for 60 days. We review the comments and decide if we need to change any of the classifications.
Then we submit a report to the RRC with all the final classifications of the rules and all the comments we received.
The RRC decides whether it wants to change any of the classifications. Then the RRC reports to a General Assembly Committee.
Rules that are classified as unnecessary will be repealed at the end of the process.
Rules that are classified as necessary have to be readopted.
Yes, the two classifications are defined in the new law. Here are the definitions:
Unnecessary rule
Means a rule that the agency determines to be obsolete, redundant, or otherwise not needed.
Necessary
Means any rule that is not an unnecessary rule
The basic definition of public comment is “written comments objecting to the rule, in whole or in part, or objecting to an agency's determination of the rule as necessary or unnecessary”.
You can comment on the rules and on how we classified the rules. So if you think we put a rule into the wrong classification, you would need to say so. You would also need to tell us why you think we classified the rule incorrectly.
When the Rules Review Commission (RRC) looks at our classifications of the rules it will evaluate whether the comment has merit. A comment has merit if it “addresses the specific substance of the rule.”.
Yes. Your comments will be public records.
Our final report to RRC will include a brief response to each comment we receive. Our response to a comment will address the merits of the comment. The final report (including comments and responses) will be posted on our website and on the RRC website.
Yes, the RRC will look at all the comments on our rules. We will also give RRC all of our responses to comments. In addition, the RRC will report to a General Assembly committee. The RRC’s report will include the comments and our responses.
Of course. We will consider and respond to all comments. The RRC will only consider comments objecting to the rules.
If you sign up for our rulemaking interested persons list, we’ll send you an email when we take a rulemaking related action, including the existing rules review process.
Click here for the Rules Review Commission website.
No. We cannot provide legal advice to members of the public.
North Carolina law says that only lawyers can only give legal advice and then only when the attorney is in an attorney-client relationship with the person asking for advice. State law prohibits the practice of law, including giving legal advice, by people who are not licensed attorneys.
Therefore, neither our General Counsel nor our employees can provide legal advice to members of the public.
If you need legal advice, go to the “Where can I find other help?” page for information about some options.
We are only allowed to file documents if: (1) the law requires us to file them, and (2) if they meet all the legal requirements for that particular type of document filing.
Laws are adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly, the U.S. Congress, or other state legislatures. Ordinances are laws adopted by North Carolina local governments (such as town councils and county commissioners). Rules are written by North Carolina State government agencies to implement laws enacted by the General Assembly or federal government. Regulations are federal agency rules written to implement laws enacted by the U.S. Congress.
Yes. You can add your name to our list of people who are interested in rulemaking. We will send you an email when we propose:
- New rules.
- Changing an existing rule.
- Repealing an existing rule.
- Reorganizing existing rules.
There is no set time period. At a minimum, all agencies have to go through a process called Existing Rules Review on at least a 10-year schedule set by an independent commission, the Rules Review Commission (RRC). Check out our Existing Rules Review FAQs for more information.
Yes. We have to comply with a law called the Administrative Procedures Act to change our rules, make new rules, or get rid of rules. You can read the part of the Act about rulemaking. You may find the flow charts about the process interesting. They are posted on the Office of Administrative Hearings’ website.
When we propose new rules or changes to existing rules (including repeals), the proposed changes will always be posted on our website on the General Counsel’s “Proposed Changes to Our Rules” web page. When we propose rules, we are required to publish notice in the North Carolina Register which is on the Office of Administrative Hearings website. In addition, if you sign up for our rulemaking interested persons list, we will send you a notice with a link to the proposed changes. (See FAQ above.)
Yes, you can submit comments at several different points in the rulemaking process. In fact, we encourage you to submit comments. We carefully review any comments we receive and sometimes make changes to the rules because of comments we receive.
When we publish proposed changes to our rules, the notice will include:
- The date on which the public comment period begins and ends.
- How to submit your written comments.
- How to submit oral comments by speaking at a public hearing (if there is a public hearing).
You always have the right to comment about the rules to your legislator.
There are two different times you can submit public comments to the Rules Review Commission (RRC). The RRC is an independent commission. It reviews most State government rules. The RRC accepts public comments on agency rules that it is reviewing. The RRC has rules about how to submit public comments. You can view their rules about how to submit public comments. You can also submit an objection letter to the RRC. If the RRC gets 10 objection letters about a specific rule, the rule cannot go into effect until the General Assembly has a chance to review it.
Rules are adopted by the Department after going through a formal rulemaking process. Rules affect the rights and duties of the Department or the people and businesses that we regulate. A rule may require that you do something specific, such as requiring that someone we regulate provides us with a change of address. Rules are sometimes called:
- Regulations,
- Standards, or
- Statements of general applicability.
Rules may also include what people or businesses are prohibited from doing. For example, a rule may require that someone we regulate not destroy their records until a specified period of time passes. Read the definition of a “Rule”,
In North Carolina, a law is enacted by the NC General Assembly. The General Assembly then tells a State agency like us to adopt a rule to implement that law. You can think of a rule as filling in the details of what is required by a law. For example, the General Assembly may tell us to license a business using an electronic form but may not say what has to be on the form. We have to adopt a rule that lists the mandatory questions on the form.
We can’t offer you legal advice. We can tell you how we interpret and apply our laws or our rules. In no particular order, things you can do to figure out if a law or rule applies to you include:
- Reading the law and the rules (including the definitions).
- Asking us how we interpret and apply our rules. Remember that we cannot give you legal advice.
- Consulting an attorney.
- Sometimes business trade associations offer information to help their members figure out if rules apply to them.
If you have a question about whether a law or rule applies to you or your business, consider consulting an attorney.Read Information about finding an attorney.
Yes, you have to comply with both the rules and the law (if they apply to you or a particular situation). Rules are really sort of a different kind of law. There may be exceptions like:
- Written into the law or rules.
- Because of a court case.
- If you challenge the rule of law and win a court case (or contested case).
Most of our divisions post either their rules or links to them on their websites. You can also go to the website of the Office of Administrative Hearings. They post the official version of almost all of the North Carolina rules – called the NC Administrative Code. Our rules are in Title 18 of the Administrative Code.