Cabarrus County ends ‘draconian’ comment rules about cursing, personal attacks

Cabarrus County commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday night to approve a new public-participation policy that rolls back restrictions on what residents can say at board meetings, a move commissioners said was necessary to comply with a recent North Carolina Court of Appeals decision on free speech.

The change came after months of scrutiny surrounding the county’s public-comment rules, which drew a federal lawsuit last year after a resident was removed from a meeting and banned from attending meetings for 90 days after he allegedly violated the county’s policy.

While the new policy removes restrictions on profanity, personal insults and other harsh language in public comment, one commissioner said the change could invite abusive language into county meetings.

“We can basically allow hate speech in here under this policy,” Commissioner Jeff Jones warned, arguing the revised rules could intimidate residents from speaking for fear of “abuse” and could lead to more censorship rather than free-speech rights. “I cannot promote hate speech, and I can not promote any policy that allows obscenity, vulgarity and profanity. I think it degrades the civic discourse of this meeting. It can lower the standards of debate. I think it lowers the standards of Cabarrus County.”

Commissioners approved the new policy after County Attorney Doug Hall said the board was responding to guidance from a state court case, State v. Barthel. The case, decided in November, involved charges tied to a profane banner displayed during an Avery County Board of Commissioners meeting. The Court of Appeals vacated a conviction under North Carolina’s “disrupting an official meeting” law, finding the speech at issue was protected by the First Amendment and emphasizing that government officials “cannot require citizens to be polite when criticizing their representatives.”

“I certainly hear what Commissioner Jones is saying, but I think these changes that you all are considering tonight are more or less necessary for us to comply with this new case,” Hall said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Larry Pittman said he personally disliked profanity and vulgar speech, but said he believed the board had little choice.

“I don’t want that stuff in here, but if we’re constrained by a lawsuit that says we can’t do that anymore, we need to work on changing some minds in the judiciary on that,” he said. “And meanwhile, we have to put up with it. I hate that, but that’s just how it is.”

The new Cabarrus policy vote follows prior controversy over the county’s old rules. Last month, Cabarrus County agreed to publicly acknowledge it had misspoken about its participation policy and provide training for newly elected or appointed commissioners after settling a free-speech lawsuit brought by a county resident. The lawsuit argued the county violated the First Amendment by removing a resident from a meeting and banning him.

Commissioner Ian Patrick, who made the motion to approve the new rules on Tuesday night, told The Charlotte Observer before the meeting that the policy was being updated as part of the board’s annual review process, but also because the Court of Appeals “basically said that there are almost no restrictions on what the public can and can’t say in public meetings,” aside from the need to keep meetings orderly.

Patrick said he believed the old Cabarrus rules were too restrictive even before the ruling, describing them as “draconian” and objecting to language requiring residents to show “respect” toward commissioners.

“They absolutely do not have to respect us if they don’t,” Patrick said. “We work for the public. It’s not the other way around. … I believe that it should be a free-speech policy.”

Patrick reiterated his point on Tuesday night, saying public officials are obligated to listen even when the public’s speech is harsh.

“We are public officials. We are accountable to the people,” Patrick said. “If they have something they want to say to us, whether we like it or not, we have to sit up here and listen to it. … I believe this policy should have been changed long ago.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 7:45 AM.