Title: District Attorney, Prosecutorial District 40 (Buncombe County) · Democrat In this role since: January 2015 (elected 2014) Term ends: December 31, 2026; not seeking re-election. Martin Moore won the Democratic primary and has no Republican opponent.
Surveillance record
Williams wrote a letter supporting the RTIC dated April 30, 2025 (the site’s May 12 reconstruction has the date), which Interim Chief Jackie Stepp read into the record at the May 12, 2026 vote alongside U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson’s letter dated the day of the vote. Its operative line: “I have been assured that this system cannot be used for that purpose,” which makes the county’s chief prosecutor’s support contingent on someone else’s assurance about a system whose contract did not yet exist (Jackie Stepp · Their Claims vs The Record). The site’s records request 6 asks for both letters in full (Records Center).
He has also defended plate readers at length on local radio in August 2026; that material is being reviewed before anything from it is published here.
The question for him
Who gave the assurance, in what form, and does his office have any written policy on ICE access to RTIC or plate-reader evidence that survives his departure?
Region: Buncombe County · Last updated: Aug 22, 2026