In this earlier post, my current colleague Danny Spiegle (who was an NC Assistant Appellate Defender at the time the post was published), analyzed the law of civil contempt and concluded that “springing orders for arrest upon future nonpayment of purge payments in child support civil contempt proceeding without contemporaneous inquiry into ability to pay” are unlawful. https://civil.sog.unc.edu/civil-contempt-and-springing-orders-for-arrest/  In an opinion issued June 18, 2025, the NC Court of Appeals agreed with that assessment. Collins v. Holley, NC App. (June 18, 2025).

On June 26, 2025, H612 was signed by the Governor and became S.L. 2025-16. This session law makes significant amendments to the laws addressing juvenile abuse, neglect, and dependency (A/N/D) and the oversight provided by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) over county departments of social services (DSS). The session law also affects termination of parental rights, adoptions of minors, permanent no contact orders, felony child abuse, and criminal history checks for applicants for city and county jobs that involve working with children. Finally, this session law enacts a guardianship assistance program for certain children who were in DSS custody when guardianship was ordered. The various sections of this significant 32-page session law have different effective dates, with some sections effective on June 26, 2025 and others not effective until as late as April 1, 2026. This blog only summarizes the changes that are effective now. Continue Reading

As a native North Carolinian, I feel pretty strongly that North Carolina is the best state in the country, and based on tourism statistics, everyone else in the country wants to know what makes us so special. In 2024, North Carolina was the fifth most visited state for domestic travel and direct visitor spending added $36.7 billion to our economy. All of those visitors need somewhere to stay, and many of them choose short-term rental options on internet platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. But what happens when problems arise? What is the remedy for property owners who think they are renting their residential property to a nice couple through VRBO for a quiet weekend away, only to learn the couple decided to host a house party with thirty of their closest friends? What happens when a traveling nurse books an Airbnb for three months for work and refuses to leave? This post will explore how the law addresses these situations, and some areas that remain unclear.

Navigating the legal requirements applicable to adult protective services (APS) court proceedings can be challenging, given the expedited nature of the cases, the different types of orders the court may issue, and the varying legal standards and timelines that apply to each order. The urgent and often emergency-driven nature of APS cases adds further complexity to the process. That’s why we developed a new resource designed to assist county department of social services (DSS) directors, social workers, and attorneys—along with court officials and other professionals involved in APS —better understand the essential steps in a court proceeding to obtain an order for APS protective and emergency services.

This post was written by Brittany Bromell. She can be contacted at bwilliams@sog.unc.edu.

North Carolina General Statute 50B-3.1 provides that, under certain circumstances, a person who is subject to a DVPO must be ordered to surrender to the sheriff “all firearms, machine guns, ammunition, permits to purchase firearms, and permits to carry concealed firearms that are in the care, custody, possession, ownership, or control of the defendant.”