New details surrounding North Carolina’s COVID-19 inmate release program under former Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper, who is now running for US Senate, are renewing questions about public safety and prompting movement from lawmakers in the General Assembly. 

Recent investigations published by Fox News and the New York Post both indicate nearly half of the inmates released under a 2021 pandemic settlement were later arrested on new charges. 

The reports highlight a February 2021 agreement between then-governor Cooper and civil rights groups that resulted in the release of approximately 3,500 inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The settlement followed lawsuits from organizations, including the North Carolina chapters of the NAACP and ACLU, which claimed overcrowded prison conditions created unconstitutional health risks for inmates during the pandemic. 

According to the reports, a review of data from the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission found a recidivism rate of 48% among released inmates. The New York Post reported that more than 600 released inmates were later accused or convicted of serious crimes, including violent felonies and sex offenses. The Post, identified 18 individuals who were later charged with murder after their release. 

Fox News Digital came up with similar numbers, reporting that from a sample group of 1,180 released prisoners, 566 were later arrested on new offenses within two years. 

Last month, legislative leaders announced the creation of a new oversight subcommittee to investigate these prisoner releases carried out under Cooper. With House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell; and Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, saying the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations Subcommittee on Prisons will examine the decision to release inmates early as part of a settlement. 

“Roy Cooper opened the floodgates and then did the bare minimum to inform the public about the criminals being released into their communities,” Berger said. “He made every effort to hide what he did, and Republicans in the General Assembly are going to hold him and Gov. Stein accountable for releasing violent, repeat offenders and endangering our citizens.” 

Several high-profile arrests highlighted in both reports have intensified criticism about the early releases. 

  • Tyrell Brace: Previously convicted on assault and property crime charges, Brace was released early from prison. He was later charged in the 2022 killing of Elante Thompson in Charlotte. 
  • Kyshaun Norrell: Previously convicted of manslaughter, Norrell was released early before later being charged in a 2023 murder case in Raleigh. 
  • Brandon Locklear: Previously convicted of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury, Locklear was released early and was later charged with second-degree murder in 2023. 

Hall framed the committee as a matter of public safety and government accountability. 

“Public safety is the most important responsibility of our government,” Hall said. “If Roy Cooper or any other official failed at this most basic responsibility, the people of this state deserve to know about it. The release of violent, repeat offenders back onto our streets is a serious miscarriage of justice. This committee will investigate exactly how these early release decisions were made, who was responsible, and whether proper safeguards were followed.” 

Jon Guze, senior fellow of legal studies at the John Locke Foundation, said this was a “policy failure” to allow these prisoners to go free due to COVID concerns.

“I noted [at the time] that there was ‘a strong possibility that many members of those groups will commit new crimes after they are released,’ that ‘some will be arrested, convicted, and incarcerated,’ and that some of those ‘may carry the highly contagious COVID-19 virus into the jails, courtrooms, and prisons.’” Guze said. “For that reason, and many others, I didn’t think they should be released at all… I think time has showed that I was right.”

Concerns over public safety are likely to remain a major issue in North Carolina, as the US Senate race between Cooper and Michael Whatley is expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched contests in the country, with both parties battling for control of the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.