A convicted felon can no longer serve as sheriff in North Carolina. The state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday that bans convicted felons from running for or serving as county sheriff. More than 85 percent of voters approved the referendum, according to preliminary results.
The bill worked its way through the North Carolina Senate and then through the House of Representatives in a unanimous vote. It received major support from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.
“The irony of the current situation is that the deputy sheriffs and police officers can’t be convicted felons, but their bosses can be,” said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association, in a September interview with The Chronicle.
In the May 4 primary elections, six convicted felons ran for sheriff in various counties in the state, but all were defeated.
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