Brad Hoxit has filed a notice of appeal following a removal order submitted earlier this month by Superior Court Judge William T. Stetzer. 

Hoxit was initially suspended from office Jan. 29 after District Attorney Ashley Welch filed a petition for his removal on the basis that he improperly used his power to investigate his wife’s ex-husband, Jacob Nelms, a sitting county commissioner. 

Brad Hoxit made history last month, but not in a way he’d ever have hoped.

Hoxit appeared in Graham County Superior Court from March 24-27 for a hearing to determine whether he would be permanently removed as sheriff of the small Western North Carolina county. Last week, Superior Court Judge William T. Stetzer did indeed bar Hoxit from returning to office, and now his attorneys say an appeal is imminent. 

An attorney representing former Graham County Sheriff Brad Hoxit said his client will appeal a recent decision by Superior Court Judge William T. Stetzer that bars Hoxit from returning to office.

Superior Court Judge William T. Stetzer has ruled that former Graham County Sheriff Brad Hoxit will not return to his former office.

In his order, Stetzer determined that Hoxit engaged in “willful misconduct and maladministration.”

There was no shortage of gray-haired attorneys in Graham County Superior Court last week. Some represented witnesses; others were just curious to watch a proceeding not seen in modern history. 

Maintaining faith in the justice system and protecting law enforcement were the themes of the four-day hearing held last week in Robbinsville to determine whether Graham County Sheriff Brad Hoxit — now suspended amid allegations of misconduct tied to an investigation of the ex-husband of his current wife — would be officially barred from returning to office.

Law enforcement leaders and elected officials from across Western North Carolina gathered the day before Thanksgiving to remind people about the dangers of consuming alcohol and getting behind the wheel while also reaffirming their commitment to combatting drunk driving. 

Former Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, who retired earlier this month amid sexual assault charges, is now facing a second-degree rape charge.

Cochran was formally indicted on the latest charge Monday, July 21, and was arrested by an SBI agent the morning of Tuesday, July, 22.

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been charged with several crimes after allegedly soliciting two women for sexual acts and is now suspended from office.

Cochran, who was first elected to office in 2006, was charged on June 27 with one count of sexual battery, soliciting a prostitute and assault on a female, all misdemeanors, as well as felonious restraint. In addition, Cochran has been charged with violations of the Cherokee Code; specifically, two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact.

More than two years after he was shot by Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT Team members, Jason Harley Kloepfer has reached a $10 million settlement with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee County, ending any chances of what was shaping up to be a difficult and complicated federal trial.

An order filed in Cherokee County Superior Court April 10 sealed all areas where there may be any evidence related to criminal cases, critically hampering the agency’s ability to serve taxpayers. This comes only about a week after District Attorney Ashley Welch issued a Giglio order against Milton “Sport” Teasdale, who heads up the sheriff’s office’s criminal investigative division.