Cumberland County employees, appointees and elected officials are now prohibited from viewing or saving sexual pornography on county-owned electronics and computer networks.
The county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the ban on Monday night.
According to a memo from the County Attorney Office, a North Carolina law enacted in 2024 prohibits the materials on government devices and networks, and local agencies are required to implement policies to punish people for violating the ban.
(The law has exceptions, such as for law enforcement purposes, identifying security threats and if necessary to save human life.)
The policy says:
- Employees who violate the ban may be disciplined, and that can include termination from their jobs.
- Someone appointed to serve on a county board or commission may be removed from office for viewing porn on a county device or network.
- Elected officials are also prohibited from viewing or saving pornography on their government-owned electronics. (The county attorney’s memo says the County Board of Commissioners has no authority to punish any elected official who violates the policy.)
All pornographic material was supposed to be removed by Jan. 1, the new law says.
As required by the new law, the policy says every year by Aug. 1, the county will report to the state chief information officer how many times people without authorization viewed or tried to view porn on the county’s devices and networks, and whether it was by an employee, an appointee or by an elected official.