- Title
- Democratic nominee for Haywood County Sheriff · Waynesville Police Department since 2008, detective since 2023
- In this role since
- candidate (no primary opponent)
- Next voter decision
- Nov 3, 2026 vs Republican Mark Mease (Mountain Xpress) · Election 2026
Surveillance record
First position on the record Oct 7, 2026, in a Smoky Mountain News interview, in the paper’s paraphrase with no direct quotation on the subject (Smoky Mountain News, Oct 7): Flock cameras are a valuable tool that, like patrol vehicles, firearms and other means of surveillance, can be abused, so policy must be crafted around that and followed up with accountability; he would let case law on the cameras, and on agencies’ duty to honor ICE detainers, play out in court and set policy from it. The paper also reports he would honor ICE detainers as state law requires. No position found on data sharing (as of Oct 7, 2026). His campaign language is the closest thing to an opening: “The accountability, transparency and responsiveness of this office have been forgotten,” and “Our biggest challenge is how far we’ve gotten from what we truly know, how to listen” (Mountain Xpress). Waynesville PD, where he works, runs its own Flock cameras with an unpublished count (Haywood County).
The question for him
“Accountability and transparency” applied to the plate readers means three concrete things: publish the sharing list, publish the annual audit, and put the contract to a vote. Will he commit to each?