Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A petition signed by four former Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office employees and a state lawmaker urges a judge to remove Sheriff Garry McFadden from office.
N.C. Rep. Carla Cunningham is among the petitioners demanding McFadden’s removal for alleged extortion and corruption, willful misconduct and maladministration, and refusal to perform duties of the office. Cunningham, a Charlotte Democrat, alleges McFadden leveled a threat against her in connection with her support of House Bill 318, which mandates sheriffs in all 100 counties to honor detainer requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“No sheriff should ever suggest that a legislator’s safety depends on how she votes,” Cunningham said in a statement. “I was afraid and the intimidation affected me. 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’s support of the Republican-sponsored HB318 provided the margin needed for an override of then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto. McFadden, who declined to respond to The Post’s request for comment, opposed the bill.
“The Sheriff is aware of the removal petition however, we are not releasing a statement at this time,” MCSO spokeswoman Sarah Mastouri wrote in an email response.
Under North Carolina law, only a court can remove a sheriff from office once allegations are proven. Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, who would be tasked with prosecuting the case, has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to probe the allegations.
“Accordingly, before an approval determination comes from this Office, I will, in my discretion, request that the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation … investigate each allegation and report its findings to my office directly,” Merriweather said in a statement. “As with any inquiry, a request for an investigation is not itself a confirmation of the existence of wrongdoing.”
The petition asks a judge to review sworn allegations from Cunningham and the former MCSO employees, who alleged a hostile work environment and a culture of intimidation and retribution against employees.
In addition to Cunningham, the petitioners include former Chief of Staff Kevin Canty, who resigned in 2024; former Sgt. Marcia Crenshaw Hill, a 13-year MCSO employee who said her job was eliminated while she recovered from an assault by an inmate; Major Bryan Adams, who retired from the agency in 2025 after 30 years and Captain Juan Delgado, an MCSO officer from 2004 until his retirement in 2022.
The petition alleges staffing at MCSO has fallen from 1,300 to around 770 during McFadden’s tenure, resulting in staffing shortages that made facilities less safe for the incarcerated and jail personnel.
McFadden has been the focus of several lawsuits in recent months. In September 2025, Angelia Riggsbee, a former member of the agency’s executive team, filed a federal lawsuit alleging she was fired in 2024 from her job as business operations director as reprisal for alerting McFadden to remedy pay disparities between a Black woman employee who earned less than white employees with less seniority and experience.
Riggsbee’s suit seeks at least $75,000, back pay and reinstatement or compensation if she isn’t.
In 2024, McFadden pledged to make changes to MCSO’s leadership in addition to apologizing for racially inflammatory statements he made about department employees.
In an audio recording, McFadden was heard using bigoted language in describing Black and white people on his executive staff. He called a white captain a “cracker,” and a racial epithet to describe former chief deputy Rodney Collins, who is Black.
“It doesn’t matter who recorded or how many years ago it was recorded, today I want to apologize for that language,” McFadden said in a video apology.
“Held to a higher standard, that’s the office of the sheriff. But you must understand that I am human, and I am not perfect, and I will make mistakes.”
