Committee approves resolution directing staff to update IT and disciplinary policies to comply with SL 24-26

Adam Ward, IT Services Director, told the finance committee that the North Carolina General Assembly passed SL 24-26, which includes North Carolina General Statute 143-805 and requires local governments to adopt policies prohibiting the viewing of certain content on government networks and devices and to delete any such content on devices by Jan. 1, 2025. Ward said the law requires clear disciplinary actions that apply to employees, elected officials and appointees and includes annual reporting requirements to the state CIO's office. In the meeting transcript the restricted material is redacted.

Ward said current city policies partially address the requirements but that updates are necessary to ensure full compliance, and he noted that existing IT tools such as the checkpoint firewall and Trend Micro Vision One will help enforce restrictions and provide reporting.

Committee members asked whether the item required an ordinance or policy updates; members and staff clarified the changes involve policy updates (disciplinary standards and IT policy), not ordinances. The committee moved, seconded and approved a resolution directing staff to update policies to comply with the new state law.

Ward and staff did not report a budgetary impact beyond answering that existing systems would be used to enforce the policy changes; the committee asked staff to proceed with policy updates and return as required for reporting.