Mecklenburg County Sheriff responds to SBI investigation while outlining steps to reopen Jail North

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden says allegations of extortion and corruption are a strategic attack against his re-election campaign. Sheriff McFadden spoke to reporters at a forum about reopening Jail North.

“The petition is nothing but a smear campaign designed just before the election. It is filled with lies, and we welcome the investigation and we respect the investigation that will be occurring,” Sheriff McFadden said.

While the investigation plays out, McFadden is working on reopening the Juvenile Detention Center also known as Jail North.

It closed down in 2022 because of what the Sheriff says were COVID-related staffing issues. Now the Sheriff says he needs more than $15 million dollars a year to run the facility and he says he needs help to hire and train more than 100 staff members.

“I think that we need a juvenile detention center in this city. But how do we get there? How do we get there? And who? The stakeholders raised their hand if they want to put in the money. Stakeholders say we’re going to find a way to get there. We can, but it’s going to take money and resources and everything else,” Sheriff Garry McFadden said.

Right now, Mecklenburg County pays Cabarrus County $3 million dollars a year to house around 42 juvenile offenders. As more kids commit crimes, the state says they needs more space.

“Over the last three years, we have expanded the bed capacity at Cabarrus so that we can house most of the Mecklenburg County kids closer to home in Cabarrus County. But there’s still a big advantage of a kid going to a facility in Mecklenburg County.” William Lassiter, Deputy Secretary, Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Mecklenburg County Spencer Merriweather asked the SBI to investigate the allegations, then depending on results DA Merriweather has the power to decide whether to present the case to a Superior Court Judge. There’s no timeline on how long this might take, but the primary election is in March. The Sheriff has three other opponents hoping to secure the democratic spot for Sheriff.