The North Carolina Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit alleging that Pinehurst officials broke the state’s open-meetings law in 2021 by conducting business via email. Major state media outlets had filed paperwork earlier this year supporting plaintiffs in the case.
Former Pinehurst Village Council member Kevin Drum and his group NC Citizens for Transparent Government accused the council of using email to avoid open-meetings requirements. A trial judge dismissed Drum’s lawsuit in October 2023.
A unanimous three-judge Appeals Court panel affirmed the decision Tuesday.
The legal dispute stemmed from events that started on Sept. 20, 2021. During a closed session, three council members raised concerns about Drum and colleague Lydia Boesch. The discussion focused on “conversations with the Chief of Police, Moore County legislators, aggressive e-mails to business owners, and other behaviors that council members believed violated the Village Ethics Policy,” according to the Appeals Court opinion.