- “No sheriff should ever suggest that a legislator’s safety depends on how she votes. I was afraid and the intimidation affected me,” said Cunningham in a press statement Monday.
A Democratic state lawmaker representing parts of Charlotte has joined a formal petition asking a judge to remove Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden from office — alleging intimidation, corruption, and misconduct — a move that comes amid heightened political and legislative scrutiny of both the sheriff and rising crime in Charlotte.
State Rep. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, is one of multiple parties listed in the petition, which seeks McFadden’s removal for attempted extortion and corruption, “willful misconduct and maladministration in office, and willful and habitual refusal to perform the duties of his office.” Under North Carolina law, an elected sheriff can be removed only through a court process and if allegations are proven.
The filing comes as Gov. Josh Stein, also a Democrat, has endorsed Cunningham’s opponent, Rodney Sadler, in the upcoming March primary election. The endorsement underscores Democrats’ intra-party tensions surrounding Cunningham, who has at times broken with Democratic leadership and voted with Republicans on key legislative issues.
I’m honored to earn the endorsement of @JoshStein_. I look forward to working with him to invest in our public schools, lower costs for working families, and uphold Democratic values in the NC House. This is how we move North Carolina forward. pic.twitter.com/sVXMURQxIW
— Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler (@RevDrSadler) January 5, 2026
In his endorsement, Stein emphasized that he was endorsing Sadler for his support of “Democratic values.” Among the policy issues on which Cunningham split with party leadership was voting to override Stein’s veto of House Bill 318, a bill that requires North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement “to determine the immigration status of those detained for felonies, Class A-1 misdemeanors, or DUI- related offenses.”
McFadden was among the five county sheriffs that has refused to honor federal ICE detainers. Cunningham was the sole Democrat in the House to both sponsor and vote for its passage. Cunningham claims in the petition that McFadden threatened her personal safety in connection with her work as a legislator. After Stein vetoed the measure, but before the state House considered a vote to override the veto, Cunningham and McFadden spoke on the phone in July.
“McFadden stated that if Rep. Cunningham continued down the path she was on — that is, supporting HB 318 — the people of Mecklenburg County would ‘come after’ her,” according to the petition. “Based on McFadden’s tone and manner of delivery, Rep. Cunningham understood McFadden to be making a prediction that Rep. Cunningham would become physically unsafe, not that she would (for example) lose the support of her constituents or face highly motivated political opposition.”
“Finally, McFadden told Rep. Cunningham that ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt; you live in my county,’” the petition added. “Rep. Cunningham hung up on McFadden immediately after this statement. Rep. Cunningham reasonably understood ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt; you live in my county’ as a threat by McFadden to either physically harm her, or to withdraw or refuse her any protection from members of the public who would physically harm her.”
Cunningham also considered McFadden’s statement a threat “because she was aware of his carefully cultivated reputation for retaliation against his perceived enemies within the sheriff’s office,” the petition continued.
The complaint alleges McFadden’s conduct amounted to extortion, as well as attempted bribery and corruption.
“No sheriff should ever suggest that a legislator’s safety depends on how she votes. I was afraid and the intimidation affected me,” said Cunningham in a press statement Monday. “This process exists for serious situations involving public trust, and the people of Mecklenburg County deserve transparency. Filing this complaint is part of rebuilding trust — trust in fair process, trust in our institutions, and trust that concerns will be handled through proper channels, such as dialogue and negotiation rather than silencing and bullying.”
Cunningham has also supported state funding for full-time jail inspectors, an issue the McFadden opposed. The petition asks a judge to review sworn allegations from Cunningham and other individuals that also raise concerns about the operation of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Separately, McFadden is scheduled to testify later this week before a legislative oversight committee, where lawmakers are expected to question him regarding what has been described as “gross mismanagement” within the sheriff’s office.
Due to the gross mismanagement within the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department, not to mention its blatant disregard for state law, the House Oversight Committee has invited Sheriff Garry McFadden to testify on his department's failures. #ncpol pic.twitter.com/kET9ACuL3A
— Rep. Brenden Jones (@BrendenJonesNC) January 5, 2026
Cunningham is one of five people to sign onto the petition. Another, Marcia Crenshaw Hill, worked at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office for 13 years until her position was eliminated in 2021.
“Crenshaw Hill saw how McFadden’s changes in policies, and his non-enforcement of and ad hoc exceptions to existing policies, created unsafe conditions in Mecklenburg County Detention Center,” according to the document. McFadden blamed Crenshaw Hill for a 2020 incident in which an inmate stabbed Crenshaw Hill in the neck.
Kevin Canty was McFadden’s chief deputy sheriff for nine months but resigned in November 2024 “due to repeated clashes” with the sheriff. “Canty witnessed McFadden initiate internal investigations into employees who had done nothing wrong, simply because McFadden appeared to dislike them or did not view them as personally loyal to McFadden,” according to the petition. The sheriff pressured Canty into recommending the firing of two sheriff’s department employees “even though Canty believed they had not done anything wrong.”
Former sheriff’s department employees Juan Delgado and Bryan Adams also registered complaints about McFadden’s actions.
The filing does not itself remove McFadden from office but initiates a judicial review process required by state law. Court review of the petition is pending and the legislative hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22.