Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Other (indicate in message) Submitted: April 18, 2025 | Updated: May 2, 2025
(April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.
Good afternoon NC AOC and Judge Davis (Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these Records),
Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html
All items requested relate to Judge Justin N. Davis, who serves in Gaston County, NC Courts:
1) Please provide the electronic copy of any official documents that confirm Judge Davis’ judicial appointment and status.
2) Please specify whether Judge Davis is classified as an “Article I” or “Article III” judge.
3) Please provide the electronic copy of the current Oath of Office for Judge Davis.
** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to “inspect”, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record already exists). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **
————————————
Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and clear explanations of those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.
By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request. However, in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:
Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816
The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.
Thank you for your assistance!
** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Status: Completed
Activity:
-
May 2, 2025 4:26 pm
2 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: “Gaston.Clerk” <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: May 2, 2025, 4:26 PM
subject: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Good afternoon,
Thank you for your message.
I’m clear that you’re saying that Gaston County has a policy about fees. However, it is unclear how that aligns with NC Records Law, and what section specifically you can cite that finds it necessary / reasonable to charge a service fee for time spent to scan a 1 page record and email it to someone. Most entities have a standard practice to access specific fees (with calculations) for the time that may be spent in excess of 4.00 hours in order to compile a record that doesn’t already exist in a digital form. That doesn’t include any time spent reviewing, redacting etc. (which is your cost to bear).
Additionally, printed copies (pages) are typically only $0.25 / page, or less.
———-
I did already submit this request to the NCAOC, who said I should contact your offices instead.
At this point, I am going to close this request on our website, and will now mark this request as “Completed.”
Anyone in the public wishing to pursue a similar request in the future, should reach out to your offices directly for further assistance.
Thank you for your help.
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Editor’s Note to Sender:
☀️ Please note that we cannot pay any fees / associated costs related to any of the requests on our site. If it is not possible for a Government Agency to process our request without incurring fees, then it is the responsibility of that Agency to let us know what the potential costs may be — at which point we will ask that they cease processing the request. We will mark the request as “Completed” on our site, and the sender can contact the Government Agency directly, should they wish to further pursue a request.
Additionally–
This info. comes from our FAQs page:
Who should I contact if I think there are results of requests that have been improperly disclosed or should be redacted?
The results of all Completed requests are published on our site, and have been provided to Sunshine Request directly by the disclosing government agency (government entity).
Sunshine Request’s policy in situations involving an alleged improper disclosure is to refer you to the disclosing agency (government entity). If any party feels that an alleged improper disclosure has taken place, please contact the disclosing agency (government entity) directly.
If the disclosing agency, after a review of your case, determines that confidential information was improperly disclosed, and notifies us of such disclosure, we will then be able to review your case.
Similarly — Sunshine Request has reviewed any info given to us from NCAOC and Gaston County to determine if it satisfied the initial request. We make no claim as to the veracity of records / responses we receive from Entities. If you have reason to believe that NCAOC or the Gaston County have improperly disclosed (or are not disclosing) all available public records in accordance with NC Public Records Law, we encourage you to reach out to them directly.
Thank you for using Sunshine Request!
Status: Completed -
May 2, 2025 4:02 pm
2 months ago
from: Gaston.Clerk <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>, “Gaston.Clerk” <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: May 2, 2025, 4:02 PM
subject: RE: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.As for answering your questions, I have no idea what Article I or III Judge is. You may want to reach out to NC Administrative Office of the Courts. I have never heard of a state judge being assigned an Article. As to anything confirming his appointment and status, that would be the NC Board of Elections as they are the ones who certify election results.
As for copies, our Rules of Recordkeeping (2.4) govern what we charge for costs pursuant to GS 7A 308 A12. As I told you previously, Gaston County is not under the Odyssey paperless system yet. The oath you’ve requested is a paper file that will have to be pulled and scanned into a computer to send to you, the same amount of work it would be if you came in person to get a copy. Counties that are already under the paperless system have a portal for public viewing. Gaston will eventually have that as well later this year.
Melissa Pollard no longer works in this office so I cannot ask her about sending an electronic copy at no costs because that is not our office policy.
K. Roxann Rankin
Clerk of Superior Court
Gaston CountyNorth Carolina Judicial Branch
O 704-852-3356
F 704-852-3267Justice for all
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
Status: Clarification Provided -
April 30, 2025 5:30 pm
2 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: “Gaston.Clerk” <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: Apr 30, 2025, 5:30 PM
subject: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Thank you again for your reply.
As stated earlier, I cannot agree to pay any fees for this request.
Can you please cite the specific portion of the Law that “requires” the County to charge a fee to email a copy of the Oath of Office? It doesn’t seem there is any “real cost” for you to produce such a simple record that already exists, nor should it trigger any special service type charge to produce that information via email. I’m sure that Judge Davis signed an oath of office, and that the copy of that document is easily available to be sent via email, at no charge. I’ve received a record exactly like that for another Gaston Judge from Melissa Pollard and Gaston County Superior Clerk in the past.
Additionally – can you please respond to the other items (#1) and (#2) I’ve requested?
Thank you.
Status: Clarification Requested -
April 30, 2025 4:40 pm
2 months ago
from: Gaston.Clerk <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>, “Gaston.Clerk” <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: Apr 30, 2025, 4:40 PM
subject: RE: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.The CSC office is required to charge $2.00 for the first page and .25 for additional pages . Certification is $3.00. Gaston county is not on a paperless system. Therefore I could not provide you with a certified copy, via email, of Judge Davis oath at this time. I can provide/email you with a copy and oaths are only one page which will equal to a $2.00 charge. Once we receive payment, we will send you the copy, via email, of the oath requested. If you need a certified copy, when you send payment, you will need to send a self- addressed stamped envelope for us to return the paper copy to you.
Our address is 325 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Gastonia, NC 28052. Feel free to send it to me personally and I will have follow through to ensure you receive the copy once payment is processed.
K. Roxann Rankin
Clerk of Superior Court
Gaston CountyNorth Carolina Judicial Branch
O 704-852-3356
F 704-852-3267Justice for all
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
Status: Clarification Provided -
April 30, 2025 3:10 pm
2 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: “Gaston.Clerk” <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: Apr 30, 2025, 3:10 PM
subject: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Good afternoon,
Thank you for your reply.
To clarify – I have requested the following related to Judge Justin N. Davis, who serves in Gaston County, NC Courts:
1) Please provide the electronic copy of any official documents that confirm Judge Davis’ judicial appointment and status.
2) Please specify whether Judge Davis is classified as an “Article I” or “Article III” judge.
3) Please provide the electronic copy of the current Oath of Office for Judge Davis.
I know it is possible to provide a PDF or other digital copy of some of these records via email. Gaston County Clerks and/or Melissa Pollard have previously fulfilled similar requests like this one for me before.
Please refer to NCGS 132-1(b):
The public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government or its subdivisions are the property of the people. Therefore, it is the policy of this State that the people may obtain copies of their public records and public information free or at minimal cost unless otherwise specifically provided by law. As used herein, “minimal cost” shall mean the actual cost of reproducing the public record or public information.
There is no “actual cost” to reproduce an electronic record. Can you please cite the specific portion of NC Public Records Law you feel authorizes you to charge a fee for my simple request for an electronic record, and please include an explanation of what that exact charge ($ amount) is as well as how it was calculated? Alternatively — can you please proceed to provide the requested electronic records via email?
Thank you for your help!
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status: Clarification Requested -
April 30, 2025 4:13 pm
2 months ago
from: Gaston.Clerk <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
cc: “Davis, Justin N.” <[email protected]>
date: Apr 29, 2025, 4:13 PM
subject: RE: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.If you are wanting a copy of an elected officials oath, you will need to come to the civil dept. in the Clerk of Superior Courts office. We will be happy to provide you with copies of any request once they have been paid for.
K. Roxann Rankin
Clerk of Superior Court
Gaston CountyNorth Carolina Judicial Branch
O 704-852-3356
F 704-852-3267Justice for all
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
Status: Response Received from Government -
April 29, 2025 3:39 pm
2 months ago
from: [email protected]
date: Apr 29, 2025, 3:39 PM
subject: Undeliverable: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails with the Report Message button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: <[email protected]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:39:48 -0400
Subject: Undeliverable: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
Pollard, Melissa D. (melissa.d.pollard@nccourts.
org) The email address you entered couldn’t be found. Please check the recipient’s email address and try to resend the message. If the problem continues, please contact your email admin.
Diagnostic information for administrators:
[REDACTED]
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
To: “NCJC.LSD.Public Records” <[email protected]>
Cc: <justin.n.davis@nccourts.org>, “Pollard, Melissa D.” <[email protected] g>, <[email protected]>
Bcc:
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2025 15:39:29 -0400
Subject: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.
from: Gaston.Clerk <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Apr 29, 2025, 3:39 PM
subject: Automatic reply: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Hello, Thank you for your email. Please note that emails are for inquiries ONLY and will not be accepted as an official court filing. If your matter is urgent, please contact our office by phone or visit www.NCcourts.gov for statewide resources and directories. Please allow up to 2 business days for us to respond if your email requires a response. Answers to general and commonly asked questions are available under the Help Topics section of our website. You can also access court forms, search court dates and calendars, and access online services on our website. PLEASE NOTE: No one except an attorney can advise you of your legal rights. No one at the clerk of court’s office may give legal advice or tell you how to fill out forms. The Judicial Branch does not comment on cases that could come before the courts; pending cases, litigation, and / or investigations; final rules and opinions; matters pending or concluded before the Judicial Standards Commission; and protected personnel information and documents.
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: “NCJC.LSD.Public Records” <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected], “Pollard, Melissa D.” <[email protected]>, [email protected]
date: Apr 29, 2025, 3:39 PM
subject: Re: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Good afternoon NCAOC records officer, (Judge Davis, Melissa, and Gaston Clerk now CCed),
Thank you for clarifying that the NCAOC is not the “custodians” of these particular records.
However, I had included Judge Davis ([email protected]) on the request when it was submitted, as I believe he is also the custodian of these records, and is thereby obligated to fulfill the request.
Judge Davis and Gaston County –
Will you please clarify whether you will now proceed to fulfill the request?
Thank you for your help!
~ The Sunshine Request Team
Status: Clarification Requested -
April 24, 2025 4:19 pm
2 months ago
from: NCJC.LSD.Public Records <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
date: Apr 24, 2025, 4:19 PM
subject: RE: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Good afternoon:
The NC Administrative Office of the Courts is in receipt of your request. The NCAOC is not the custodian of the records you are requesting. Oaths of Office can be found at the Clerk of Superior Court’s office in the county or district where the court official was elected. The Clerk may charge a fee for a copy of the oath.
Thank you for your inquiry.
website: nccourts.org
E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina public records laws and if so, may be disclosed.
Status: Response Received from Government -
April 18, 2025 3:42 pm
2 months ago
from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
to: “NCJC.LSD.Public Records” <[email protected]>
cc: [email protected]
date: Apr 18, 2025, 3:42 PM
subject: Public records request. (April 2025) Request for North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts: Records related to Gaston County, NC Judge.Good afternoon NC AOC and Judge Davis (Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these Records),
Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/
enactedlegislation/statutes/ html/bychapter/chapter_132. html All items requested relate to Judge Justin N. Davis, who serves in Gaston County, NC Courts:
1) Please provide the electronic copy of any official documents that confirm Judge Davis’ judicial appointment and status.
2) Please specify whether Judge Davis is classified as an “Article I” or “Article III” judge.
3) Please provide the electronic copy of the current Oath of Office for Judge Davis.
** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to “inspect”, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record already exists). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **
————————————
Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and clear explanations of those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.
By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request. However, in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:
Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.
Thank you for your assistance!
** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Status: Sent to Government -
April 18, 2025 3:42 pm
2 months ago
Submitted to Sunshine Request
Status: Pending