General Counsel
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.