§ 15C-8.  Address use by State or local agencies.

(a) The program participant, and not the Attorney General, is responsible for requesting that agencies of North Carolina use the address designated by the Attorney General as the substitute address of the program participant.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, when a program participant submits a current and valid Address Confidentiality Program authorization card to an agency of North Carolina, the agency shall accept the address designation by the Attorney General on the authorization card as the program participant's substitute address when creating a new public record.

(c) An agency may request a waiver from the requirements of the Address Confidentiality Program by submitting a waiver request to the Attorney General. The agency's waiver request shall be in writing and include an explanation of why the agency cannot meet its statutory or administrative obligations by possessing or using the substitute address and an affirmation that, if the Attorney General accepts the waiver, the agency will only use the program participant's actual address for those statutory or administrative purposes.

(d) The Attorney General's acceptance or denial of an agency's waiver request shall be made in writing and include a statement of specific reasons for acceptance or denial. Acceptance or denial of an agency's waiver request is not subject to further review.

(e) A board of elections shall use the actual address of a program participant for all election-related purposes and shall keep the address confidential from the public under the provisions of G.S. 163-82.10(e). Use of the actual address on letters placed in the United States mail by a board of elections shall not be considered a breach of confidentiality. The substitute address designation provided by the Attorney General shall not be used as an address for voter registration or verification purposes.

(f) For purposes of levying and collecting property taxes on motor vehicles pursuant to Article 22A of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes, the Attorney General shall issue to the county, city, or town assessor or tax collector a list containing the names and actual addresses of program participants residing in that county, city, or town. This list shall be used only for the purposes of listing, appraising, or assessing taxes on motor vehicles and collecting property taxes on motor vehicles in the county, city, or town. The county, city, or town assessor or tax collector or any current or former officer, employee, or agent of any county, city, or town, who in the course of service to or employment by the county, city, or town has access to the name and actual address of a program participant, shall not disclose this information to any other person.

(g) The substitute address designated by the Attorney General shall not be used for purposes of listing, appraising, or assessing taxes on property and collecting taxes on property under the provisions of Subchapter II of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.

(h) The substitute address designated by the Attorney General shall not be used as an address by any register of deeds on recorded documents or for the purpose of indexing land registered under Article 4 of Chapter 43 of the General Statutes in the index of registered instruments pursuant to G.S. 161-22.

(i) A local school administrative unit shall use the actual address of a program participant for any purpose related to admission or assignment pursuant to Article 25 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes and shall keep the actual address confidential from the public under the provisions of this Article. The substitute address designated by the Attorney General shall not be used as an address for admission or assignment purposes. For purposes of student records created under Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, the substitute address designated by the Attorney General shall be used.

(j) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a program participant's actual address and telephone number maintained by an agency of North Carolina is not a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. A program participant's actual address or telephone number maintained by the Attorney General or disclosed by the Attorney General pursuant to this Chapter is not a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes. (2002-171, s. 1; 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-146, ss. 3.1(a), (b), 6.1.)