Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bill Would Clarify Expunged Felonies For Sheriff Candidates

Supporters of former sheriff Gerald Hege gather in the Davidson County government building to hear a challenge to his candidacy in April, 2018. WFDD file photo by Paul Garber.

In a move that has close ties to a former Davidson County sheriff, a state House committee has passed a measure to bar felons from running for the office even if the conviction has been expunged. 

Gerald Hege was a popular lawman in Davidson County before an investigation into wrongdoing ended his career and saddled him with two felony convictions.

He's twice attempted a comeback, and both tries have led to a reaction in Raleigh.

There was nothing barring a convicted felon from running for sheriff when Hege made his first attempt to get the job back in 2010. That year, after he had already lost in the primary, voters approved a change to the state constitution to keep felons from running for the seat.

But that wasn't the end for Hege. He ran again last year, saying his felony conviction had been expunged, making him eligible to run again. In a 3-1 vote, the Davidson County elections board agreed, saying the constitution's language didn't address expungement.

It hardly mattered; Hege was trounced in the Republican primary, garnering only 16 percent of the vote.

House Bill 863 would disqualify felons from becoming sheriff even if their convictions had been expunged. Hege is not specifically named in the bill.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate