DHW partner Dan Gibson recently appeared before the North Carolina Court of Appeals in a closely watched case involving millions of dollars in payments from Smithfield Foods to the State of North Carolina. The case will determine whether more than $12 million paid since 2019 should be directed to the state’s public schools or remain with an environmental grant program administered by the Attorney General’s office.

Representing a Randolph County pastor who brought the suit on behalf of local schools, Gibson argued that the North Carolina Constitution requires these funds to be deposited into the state treasury and appropriated by the General Assembly for public education. He emphasized that “the decisive question in this case is whether the Attorney General can requisition money from the State Treasury without any law allowing him to remove that money. Our Constitution says the answer is no.”

The State, through the Attorney General’s office, defended the long-standing environmental grant program, created in 2000 as part of a settlement with Smithfield, citing its history of funding conservation and restoration projects.

A three-judge panel heard arguments and is now considering the matter. The court’s eventual ruling will have significant implications for constitutional limits on state spending authority, the role of the General Assembly in appropriations, and whether Smithfield’s payments will continue to support environmental projects or be directed to North Carolina’s public schools.

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