FOIA Request to Town of Southern Pines regarding vendor payment registers on February 1, 2026.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted to the Town of Southern Pines on February 1, 2026, by Pinehurst Today. The request seeks access to the city’s vendor payment register for the immediately preceding calendar month. The requested records include details such as the names of vendors paid by the city, dates and amounts of payments, and descriptions of goods or services purchased.
The request is made under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1., with a preference for receiving the information in electronic format. It is intended to gather information of public interest for dissemination to the public and is limited to existing records without requiring the creation of new documents.
Pinehurst Today emphasizes that if any part of this request is denied or withheld, they seek a specific statutory basis for such denial and ask for all reasonably segregable portions of the records to be released. As members of the media, they are requesting a fee waiver due to their role in gathering and reporting news which includes holding public institutions accountable and providing transparency.
The requester is affiliated with The Coalition Opposing Governmental Secrecy, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting media companies and advocacy groups in investigating governmental agencies through FOIA requests. More information about this organization can be found on their website here.
Our team will continue to keep you updated as we gather and report news related to this request and other matters of public interest. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further clarification regarding this matter.
