Judge dismisses petition to remove Mecklenburg sheriff from office

A Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge dismissed a petition Thursday to remove Sheriff Garry McFadden from office. The decision arrived at a hearing held 10 days after McFadden critics filed the petition.

Meanwhile, a state legislative hearing targeting McFadden’s record in office has been delayed by a week to Jan. 29.

“The Court, having considered the record, Petitioners’ Verified Petition, Respondent’s Motion, the file, legal authorities, and arguments of the attorneys, and having heard from the elected Mecklenburg County District Attorney, Spencer B. Merriweather, IIl who has declined to approve the Verified Petition, and having heard from the Mecklenburg County Attorney, Tyrone C. Wade, who has also declined to approve the Verified Petition, is of the opinion that Respondent’s Motion should be GRANTED for lack of jurisdiction,” Judge Stuart Albright wrote in a one-page order Thursday.

Albright indicated in court earlier in the morning that he could not move forward without the petition having approval from the DA or county attorney.

The judge dismissed the petition “without prejudice.” That means McFadden’s critics could try again with a new complaint.

The state House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform had scheduled a Jan. 22 meeting to question McFadden about his record in office. That meeting is now rescheduled for Jan. 29. The committee has invited McFadden, Merriweather, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, and others to attend.

The NC House Gov Ops X/Twitter account tied to the oversight committee responded Thursday to the petition’s dismissal.

“The evidence against McFadden is stacking up and his removal petition was dismissed?? Don’t worry, accountability is coming on January 29th,” according to a post.

“Due to the gross mismanagement within the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department, not to mention its blatant disregard for state law, the House Oversight Committee has invited Sheriff Garry McFadden to testify on his department’s failures,” Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, wrote in a Jan. 5 X/Twitter post. Jones co-chairs the oversight group.

State Rep. Carla Cunningham was one of five petitioners seeking McFadden’s removal. McFadden and Cunningham are both Democrats.

The petition filed Jan. 5 sought McFadden’s removal for attempted extortion and corruption, “willful misconduct and maladministration in office, and willful and habitual refusal to perform the duties of his office.” Under North Carolina law, an elected sheriff can be removed only through a court process and if allegations are proven.

The filing arrived this month as Gov. Josh Stein, also a Democrat, endorsed Cunningham’s opponent, Rodney Sadler, in the Democratic primary election. The endorsement underscores Democrats’ intra-party tensions surrounding Cunningham, who has at times broken with Democratic leadership and voted with Republicans in high-profile votes.

Among the policy issues on which Cunningham split with party leadership was voting to override Stein’s veto of House Bill 318, a bill that requires North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement “to determine the immigration status of those detained for felonies, Class A-1 misdemeanors, or DUI- related offenses.”

McFadden was among the five county sheriffs who refused to honor federal ICE detainers. Cunningham was the sole Democrat in the House to both sponsor and vote for HB 318’s passage. Cunningham claimed in the petition that McFadden threatened her personal safety in connection with her work as a legislator. After Stein vetoed the measure, but before the state House considered a vote to override the veto, Cunningham and McFadden spoke on the phone in July.

“McFadden stated that if Rep. Cunningham continued down the path she was on — that is, supporting HB 318  — the people of Mecklenburg County would ‘come after’ her,” according to the petition. “Based on McFadden’s tone and manner of delivery, Rep. Cunningham understood McFadden to be making a prediction that Rep. Cunningham would become physically unsafe, not that she would (for example) lose the support of her constituents or face highly motivated political opposition.”

“Finally, McFadden told Rep. Cunningham that ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt; you live in my county,’” the petition added. “Rep. Cunningham hung up on McFadden immediately after this statement. Rep. Cunningham reasonably understood ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt; you live in my county’ as a threat by McFadden to either physically harm her, or to withdraw or refuse her any protection from members of the public who would physically harm her.”

Cunningham also considered McFadden’s statement a threat “because she was aware of his carefully cultivated reputation for retaliation against his perceived enemies within the sheriff’s office,” the petition continued.

The complaint alleged McFadden’s conduct amounted to extortion, as well as attempted bribery and corruption.

“No sheriff should ever suggest that a legislator’s safety depends on how she votes. I was afraid and the intimidation affected me,” said Cunningham in a press statement. “This process exists for serious situations involving public trust, and the people of Mecklenburg County deserve transparency. Filing this complaint is part of rebuilding trust — trust in fair process, trust in our institutions, and trust that concerns will be handled through proper channels, such as dialogue and negotiation rather than silencing and bullying.” 

Cunningham has also supported state funding for full-time jail inspectors, an issue the McFadden opposed. The petition asked a judge to review sworn allegations from Cunningham and other individuals that also raised concerns about the operation of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Another petition signer, Marcia Crenshaw Hill, worked at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office for 13 years until her position was eliminated in 2021.

“Crenshaw Hill saw how McFadden’s changes in policies, and his non-enforcement of and ad hoc exceptions to existing policies, created unsafe conditions in Mecklenburg County Detention Center,” according to the document. McFadden blamed Crenshaw Hill for a 2020 incident in which an inmate stabbed Crenshaw Hill in the neck.

Kevin Canty was McFadden’s chief deputy sheriff for nine months but resigned in November 2024 “due to repeated clashes” with the sheriff. “Canty witnessed McFadden initiate internal investigations into employees who had done nothing wrong, simply because McFadden appeared to dislike them or did not view them as personally loyal to McFadden,” according to the petition. The sheriff pressured Canty into recommending the firing of two sheriff’s department employees “even though Canty believed they had not done anything wrong.”

Former sheriff’s department employees Juan Delgado and Bryan Adams also registered complaints about McFadden’s actions.

“Judge dismisses petition to remove Mecklenburg sheriff from office” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.