Camden's county attorney and a Duke university professor both believe provisions in the U.S. Constitution can be used to stop the Navy from building an outlying landing field in Camden.

However, attorney John Morrison and law professor Scott L. Silliman disagree on who has the authority to exercise the law.

While Morrison believes Camden can enforce, through adoption of a local ordinance, the Constitution's requirement that the federal government get the state's permission before building certain military facilities, Silliman believes only the state Legislature has that authority.

Morrison points out that Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 17 of the U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to get a state's permission to move ahead with certain military projects. He also notes that in 2005, when debate was raging over the Navy's decision to locate the OLF in Washington County, the Legislature revised state law to limit federal jurisdiction over land federal agencies sought to acquire in North Carolina.

Prior to 2005, state law had given the federal government carte blanch approval to open military installations and buildings at its discretion. Under the revised law, however, the federal government could proceed with customhouses, courthouses, post offices, military forts, arsenals and armories only if the facilities did not exceed 25 acres. Anything over that required state approval.

Because the military facilities mentioned in the revised law were taken from the U.S. Constitution, they obviously didn't specifically include an OLF. Even so, Morrison believes the 25-acre limit would also apply to a Navy landing field which would affect tens of thousands of acres.

"I think it is clear that the Constitution obviously doesn't mention an OLF. There was no such thing then," Morrison said. "But (the Constitution) is talking about federal military installations, and an OLF would clearly be covered."

Morrison is proposing that Camden commissioners adopt a local ordinance that, using the constitutional language, would require the federal government to get state permission to build military projects in the county.

"(The county ordinance) would be the county's exercise of its police power for public health, safety, and welfare," Morrison said. "And that power is delegated to us, it would appear, by the Constitution, and by the (North Carolina) general statutes."

Morrison told Camden commissioners last week that he is still crafting language of the ordinance.

Silliman, however, believes Morrison may be wasting his time. An expert on military law, Silliman believes an ordinance adopted by Camden commissioners couldn't stop the Navy from developing an OLF in the county. But state lawmakers could stop the project, he says.

"The key to this is the county is not the operative agency, it is state of North Carolina," Silliman said. "(Halting the OLF) is something that would be done by the Legislature of the state. They'd have to say, 'We are not going to cede ownership of that property to the U.S. government.'"

Morrison disagrees. He believes Camden could enforce its ordinance because it's an agent of the state.

"The legal name of Camden County is a body politic and political subdivision of the state of North Carolina," Morrison said. "Camden has a legal existence separate and apart from the state, but at the same time is also an agent of the state, created by state, to carry out policy."

Although Silliman believes state lawmakers have the authority to halt the OLF, he doubts they'll use it. The state has too many strong ties to the military to risk alienating the Navy, he said.

"I'd be surprised if that happened," Silliman said. "We have an awful lot of military presence in North Carolina, with Camp Lejune and Fort Bragg. And we've got a lot of state legislators who have been friendly to the military before. It may be that folks in (Camden) County don't like (the OLF), but that doesn't mean (that their disagreement with the project is) representative of (how) the state Legislature" sees the OLF.

The Navy plans to conduct a feasibility study of whether a site at Hales Lake in Camden would be suitable for the OLF. The Navy plans to use the OLF as a training facility for pilots to practice landings and takeoffs.