The managers in charge of state and local government agencies should make sure that employees who handle public records know which ones must be saved, a state advisory committee concluded Wednesday.

Gov. Mike Easley's e-mail panel also endorsed creating a computerized training tutorial and quiz for government workers who need or want it. The committee is expected to vote next week on the recommendations to ensure that government workers understand the requirements of the state Public Records Law.

But the panel didn't reach a decision on how to improve the state's disparate and inadequate e-mail archiving systems.

"There are probably few more important subjects in the long run than public records," said Franklin Freeman, a senior aide to Easley who heads the panel.

Easley formed the committee in response to criticism of his administration's destruction of e-mail concerning public matters. Under the administration's policy, each employee can decide which e-mail messages to delete and which to save.

The News & Observer and nine other news organizations have sued Easley over the policy, which they contend is illegal.

Several panel members said the state can't afford to save every government e-mail message, and human discretion can't be removed entirely. But they said more records could be kept longer than the 30 days that's automatic now.

"It's very important that the public feels that their government is transparent and they have the opportunity to know what's going on," Freeman said.

The group, minus Charlotte's city attorney, Mac McCarley, agreed in principle to recommend requiring agency heads to provide testing and training for employees who work with records.

A 40-minute online tutorial for government workers could be ready in a few months and would cost the state no more than $30,000, said George Bakolia, the state's chief information officer.

"If we can do anything in state government for under $30,000, let's do it," quipped panel member Ned Cline, former managing editor of The Greensboro News & Record.

Paul plans UNC visit

Ron Paul, a Texas congressman who is still seeking the Republican nomination for president, is coming to North Carolina on Friday for two public events.

Paul will speak at 3:30 p.m. at Carroll Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill. The event is open to the public, but tickets are needed.

Paul also will speak at 6:30 p.m. at Reynolds Theater at Duke University. Free tickets can be picked up at the theater box office in the Bryan Student Center. Tickets can also be ordered online, but there will be a $3 processing fee.

McCrory chides ruling

Pat McCrory criticized a Superior Court judge Wednesday for ruling last week that four sex offenders shouldn't be subject to lifetime satellite monitoring.

McCrory, Charlotte's mayor and a Republican candidate for governor, called on the state to appeal the judge's ruling.

"Every day the attorney general delays appealing this case, more children are in danger," he said.

Judge Ripley Rand ruled in Wake County that the sex offenders shouldn't be monitored because they were sentenced before the monitoring law took effect Dec. 1. He did not address constitutional questions of double punishment.

McCrory's comments came at a news conference at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, one of seven stops planned for a trip across the state Wednesday.

Dole backs Pittenger

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has endorsed Robert Pittenger for lieutenant governor.

Dole, a Salisbury Republican, announced Monday that she is backing Pittenger, a state senator from Charlotte.

For the latest on North Carolina politics and government, visit the online version of Under the Dome at dome.newsobserver.com.

(David Ingram of The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report. )