Columbus County Sheriff suspended from office after District Attorney files petition for removal

COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - A judge has ordered Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene be immediately suspended from office after District Attorney Jon David filed a petition requesting Greene be removed from office.

In his petition, which was filed on Tuesday, David cited racist remarks made by Greene during a recorded phone conversation in 2019, not long after Greene first took office. WECT first reported the existence of the recording last week.

“Defendant has committed willful misconduct and maladministration in office,” David wrote in the petition. “The acts committed by Defendant... constitute corruption while in office.”

Superior Court Judge Douglas B. Sasser agreed to David’s request to suspend Greene until a hearing could be held on the petition for removal.

“And the Court, upon consideration of the Petition and Verification presented in support of the allegations, finds sufficient cause to immediately suspend S. Jody Greene from the Office of Sheriff of Columbus County,” Sasser wrote in the order.

To conclude, David says that Greene engaged in racial profiling of sheriff’s office employees both personally and via other people under his command.

The hearing on the petition for removal is scheduled for Oct. 24 at 10 a.m.

This afternoon, WECT received a tip that David had filed the petition for removal, which was served on Chief Deputy Aaron Herring. A WECT Reporter reached out to Herring around 3:00 p.m. and he denied receiving the petition.

However, Herring was contacted again after WECT received court documents indicating he was personally served hours before the first call. When the reporter called back to ask Herring why he told us he had not received the petition, Herring said he had no comment.

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