Catawba County Board of Commissioners approves speech ordinance

NEWTON, NC County property can now be used to express free speech.

Catawba County Board of Commissioners on Monday night unanimously approved an amended ordinance that allows free speech on county property but it also sets conditions.

County Attorney Debra Bechtel told commissioners that when a group came to the county in May wanting to express their freedom of speech, county officials first said no because its ordinance required a 14-day notice. The 14-day notice requirement had been in place since the mid -1990s.

After reconsidering the request, county officials changed their minds and allowed the group to use the Justice Center grounds to protest an anti-gay rights sermon that Providence Road Baptist Church Pastor Charles L. Worley gave on Mothers Day.

But county staff started reviewing the policy and reworked the ordinance to allow county property to be used for free speech expression.

On Monday, Commissioner Barbara Beatty asked Bechtel if the county can require groups to get insurance coverage before using county property for free speech events.

Bechtel said she reviewed numerous court cases and the US Supreme Court ruled that requiring insurance puts a chilling effect on free speech.

The ordinance does require:

In other business, commissioners:

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Catawba County Board of Commissioners approves speech ordinance