ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. -- Alamance County Commissioners have decided to keep the Confederate monument where it stands in front of the courthouse.

What You Need To Know

  • Alamance County Commissioners decided to keep the Confederate monument where it stands outside of the county courthouse

  • County Attorney, Clyde Albright says the statue is protected by state law, general statute 100-2.1

  • Protesters are required to apply for a permit to hold protests by the monument in front of the county courthouse

County commissioners made the decision Tuesday morning after hearing from county attorney, Clyde Albright. Albright argued that according to records, the monument is owned by the state. According to general statute 100-2.1, counties and cities do not have the authority to remove state-owned property.

According to Albright, only the General Assembly has the power to change the law regarding the removal of the monument.  

Commission board chair Amy Scott Galey highlighted other challenges that could arise if the county was allowed to relocate the statue.

“The law requires us to move it someplace of equal prominence,” she says. ”So, that problem is unextractable because any place that we would move it to would be of equal prominence which would also be offensive to people of color and others.”

Commissioners agreed to have protesters and their organizations apply for permits if they want to hold protests at the monument.

Albright says it’s a way to ensure public safety for everyone and to trace back if property is damaged.