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Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia
National
Mina Vogel

North Carolina enacts bill restricting judicial deference by administrative law judges

North Carolina Josh Stein The North Carolina Supreme Court Chevron Loper Bright

North Carolina became the fifth state to restrict judicial deference through legislation in 2026 when Gov. Josh Stein (D) signed Senate Bill (SB) 445, the Regulatory Review Act of 2026, into law on Aug. 11. The new law prohibits administrative law judges (ALJs) from engaging in the practice of judicial deference to state agencies’ interpretations of regulations and requires ALJs to use their own reading of the ambiguous regulatory text in what is called de novo review. The North Carolina Supreme Court had already significantly restricted deference in two 2025 cases.

Legislative context

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