In baseball, the tie goes to the runner. In an N.C. Supreme Court ruling, a tie means that you revert back to a previous ruling.

With one justice not participating in the case, the N.C. Supreme Court tied 3-3 over whether the campus police at Elon University was required to make public an arrest report.

An Elon student journalist requested a police incident report regarding a 2010 arrest. The campus police department, while providing the briefer arrest report, did not provide the full incident report. The student sued, but his case was dismissed by the Superior Court judge, and the Court of Appeals upheld that ruling.

The tie vote on the state’s highest court means that the Court of Appeals decision “is left undisturbed and stands without precedential value,” the N.C. Supreme Court says.

Interestingly enough, a bill providing for greater access to campus police records is making its way through the General Assembly. It is scheduled for a vote in the state House on Monday night.