Jason Kirkland was sworn in as chairman of the Swain County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 4, marking the end of an appointment process marred by transparency concerns and procedural misunderstandings. 

The swearing-in ceremony began 15 minutes late, the individual facilitating the ceremony was not using a microphone and the oath began before attendees knew where to look. 

Swain County Commission Chairman Kevin Seagle’s resignation was made public after an Aug. 19 meeting with a letter released by County Manager Lottie Barker — a letter requested by The Smoky Mountain News the previous day that Barker had in her possession but failed to provide.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding former Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, the new sheriff, Brian Kirkland, only a month and a half on the job, will have company on the ballot come 2026.  

Brian Kirkland, who served as interim sheriff in Swain County following the scandalous retirement of Curtis Cochran, has been appointed to serve out the rest of the current term. 

For nearly two decades, a self-styled reformer with no law enforcement experience who toppled a longtime sheriff and rode a rising red tide to four reelection victories enjoyed his unusual transformation from outsider to one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in rural Western North Carolina, but it came with a growing cost — budget troubles, payroll strife, political grudges and ultimately a cascade of criminal charges that would chase Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran from office, leaving behind an unanswered torrent of questions. 

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.

In the wake of numerous criminal charges from both the state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tied to two alleged sexual assaults, Curtis Cochran has retired from his position as the Swain County Sheriff. 

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.

A controversial law enforcement association that holds a fringe interpretation of the Constitution and has ties to white nationalism, the sovereign citizen movement, election denial and COVID-19 conspiracy theories will host a meeting in Cherokee County this weekend, but Western North Carolina sheriffs have been largely reluctant to say whether they’ll attend. 

To be a sheriff in North Carolina is to be the most powerful elected official in a county.