Durham sheriff defends administrative hires, handling of drug probe
Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead this week stood behind his administrative hires and his office’s handling of a drug investigation that landed at the home of one of his top staffers.
The News & Observer reported last month that shortly after voters elected Birkhead sheriff in 2018 he hired:
▪ Tony Butler as a major over support services despite his being fired as a trooper in 1993 and fired as a counselor at the Durham County Youth Home five years later.
▪ Vincent Ritter as an assistant director over information technology despite his being fired from the City of Charlotte in 2016. Ritter has yet to confirm that he has earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College, as he previously reported on his LinkedIn page. The N&O has been unable to confirm that degree.
▪ Miranda Reddish as an accounting technician despite her being fired from the sheriff’s office in 2013. An investigative report the N&O obtained shows she was fired after making charges on a jail inmate’s food stamp benefits card.
Two other administrative hires -- Preston Edwards as chief of staff and Grace Marsh as community engagement director -- were top campaign supporters. Neither has law enforcement experience listed on their LinkedIn pages.
Birkhead also hired David Bowser as communications director, despite having a senior public information specialist. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office, which has roughly double the staff and serves a county roughly three times larger than Durham, has a single public information officer.
Birkhead created positions for Edwards, Marsh, Ritter and Bowser at an additional cost of $257,435 in pay and benefits.
In an email this week, Birkhead said all of his hires were vetted and had to pass criminal records background checks.
“These individuals were interviewed, and their experience, knowledge and skill sets were evaluated,” Birkhead said in the statement. “Each of the individuals hired has decades of experience.”
The sheriff made no mention of the firings, nor did he confirm Ritter’s bachelor’s degree.
Along with properties owned by others, Marsh’s home was searched in 2019, roughly 10 months after Birkhead took office. That came after sheriff’s investigators found that a suspected drug dealer, Caleb Green, was staying overnight there. In the weeks leading up to the search, an investigator had arranged several cocaine buys between Green, convicted previously of selling drugs, and a confidential informant.
Birkhead noted that Green didn’t live in Marsh’s home, and was a friend of her adult daughter who lived in the home. The day of the search, he was arrested in his car elsewhere. The district attorney later dismissed the charges, which included felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
“No interference occurred with the investigation or the search,” Birkhead said.
He said the sheriff’s office investigates when concerns arise that an employee may have violated sheriff’s policies or state and federal laws.
“While I cannot comment upon Ms. Marsh’s personnel file, I can state that the circumstances surrounding the 2019 search were internally reviewed, and therefore, Ms. Marsh remains a trusted member of the staff and highly regarded in the community,” he said.
State personnel law gives agency leaders the discretion to release information about confidential personnel matters to show their agencies are operating with integrity.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Durham sheriff defends administrative hires, handling of drug probe."