Judge dismisses petition to remove Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden from office
A Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge dismissed the petition to remove Sheriff Garry McFadden from office Thursday.
Judge R. Stuart Albright’s decision came just over a week after state Rep. Carla Cunningham, a north Charlotte Democrat, and four former Sheriff’s Office employees filed a petition to remove McFadden from office in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. The petition alleges widespread misconduct, threats and retaliation.
McFadden’s legal team filed the motion to dismiss the petition, saying the petitioners failed to get the approval of the district attorney or county attorney as required by state statute before filing. The attorney representing the petitioners, including Cunningham, argued a decision on whether to proceed shouldn’t be made until the district attorney and the county attorney can review the results of the SBI investigation.
But the petition was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the case could be revived pending the results of an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation requested by District Attorney Spencer Merriweather. Merriweather and County Attorney Tyrone Wade also could still choose to approve a petition to remove McFadden, but both attended Thursday’s hearing and said they would not approve the petition at this time.
McFadden told reporters leaving the hearing he “welcomes the process,” but he previously called the claims in the filing “lies.”
In an emailed statement, Cunningham said the dismissal doesn’t change anything.
“The SBI investigation will continue, and the DA will still have an opportunity to seek McFadden’s removal based on the investigation,” Cunningham said in the emailed statement. “This is now in the court’s hands, and I am focused on my reelection campaign to serve the 106th District in the North Carolina General Assembly.”
Specific allegations in the petition included that McFadden threatened Cunningham last year while she faced pressure from Democrats not to help override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill requiring sheriffs to more closely cooperate with federal immigration officials. Cunningham ultimately broke ranks with Democrats and was a critical vote in ensuring the veto’s override.
The petition further claimed McFadden violated the Hatch Act, which limits political activities of government employees, by making sheriff’s office staff work on his campaign website. Among other things, the petition also claimed McFadden directed deputies to pick up officials in town for a National Sheriffs Association conference and drive them to bars and strip clubs in sheriff’s office vehicles, violated MCSO policy by using credit cards to pay for hotel and flight upgrades, used official vehicles for personal travel and weaponized the internal affairs division for investigations against employees he did not like while protecting those he liked.
During a sheriff candidate forum on Tuesday, McFadden wasn’t directly asked about the allegations, but said election season brings on “noise.”
“You can come close to it all you want to, but if you’ve never sat in the seat to be the sheriff, then you need to be careful about what you’re doing, talking about the sheriff,” he said in his closing remarks after about 90 minutes of questions. “I have served you well. I’ve never been out of your eyesight. And I take the criticism, the backstabbing and even the betrayal, but I am your sheriff.”
Both McFadden and Cunningham are facing multiple Democratic primary challengers this year as they look to keep their respective offices.
McFadden is also among a sizable group of Mecklenburg leaders slated to testify before the state House Oversight Committee on Jan. 29 on safety in Charlotte, the city’s public transit system and DEI initiatives.
House Republicans alluded to the upcoming hearing in a social media post about Thursday’s court hearing.
“The evidence against McFadden is stacking up and his removal petition was dismissed??” the House GOP Oversight and Accountability Committee wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Don’t worry, accountability is coming on January 29th.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 10:38 AM with the headline "Judge dismisses petition to remove Mecklenburg Sheriff Garry McFadden from office."
