FOIA Request to City of Mebane regarding vendor payment registers on February 1, 2026.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted to the City of Mebane by Old North News, a media organization focused on local governmental affairs. The request, sent on February 1, 2026, seeks access to the city’s vendor payment register for the preceding calendar month. This request is made under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1.
The records requested include detailed information about vendors paid by the city during that month. Specifically, Old North News is seeking names of vendors, dates and amounts of payments, and descriptions of goods or services purchased. The purpose of this request is to gather information that holds public interest and to disseminate it to the public. The organization has emphasized that they are requesting existing records only and do not require the creation of new documents.
Old North News has expressed a preference for receiving these records in electronic format if available. They have also requested a fee waiver due to their role as a member of the media involved in gathering and reporting news. If any part of this request is denied or withheld, they have asked for a specific statutory basis for such denial along with all reasonably segregable portions of the records.
The requestor is affiliated with The Coalition Opposing Governmental Secrecy, a non-profit organization assisting media companies and advocacy groups in investigating governmental agencies through FOIA requests. More information about this coalition can be found at https://stopsecrecy.org/about/.
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.
