- Title
- Buncombe County Commissioner, District 2 & commission vice chair · Democratic nominee for District Attorney · attorney, former public defender · on track to be Buncombe’s first Black DA (BPR)
- In this role since
- December 2022 (elected Nov 2022 with 63%)
- Current term ends
- —
- Next voter decision
- Nov 3, 2026: DA general election; won the March 3 Democratic primary (39.29%, over Booth’s 36.03% and Kurdys’s 24.7%) and no Republican filed, so the nomination is effectively decisive; would take office as DA January 2027 · Election 2026
Why the DA matters here
The outgoing DA, Todd Williams, wrote a letter supporting the RTIC that APD read into the record on May 12. The DA’s office is where surveillance becomes prosecution: whether plate-reader hits become stops, whether RTIC-derived evidence gets scrutinized or rubber-stamped, and how discovery obligations around camera networks are honored. The 4th Circuit’s pending Norfolk ruling (Communities that ended or limited camera contracts) could land on his desk as binding law.
Surveillance record
No public statement found on the RTIC, Fusus, or plate readers (as of Oct 7, 2026). Two votes are on record: on April 2, 2024 he seconded the board’s 5 to 0 approval of $250,000 in forfeiture money “to purchase surveillance equipment” (minutes); on Oct 6, 2026 he seconded Drew Ball’s motion removing the sheriff’s $290,000 FUSUS/Axon forfeiture request from the agenda (county video, 0:02:53). Neither carried a stated reason in the record. His public priorities center on gun and domestic violence. His public-defender background is the most interesting variable: he has seen surveillance evidence from the defense side.
The question for him
Will his office track and disclose RTIC/Flock involvement in prosecutions? What’s his charging standard for cases built on plate-reader hits, given documented false-positive rates? See Election 2026.