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.

A Bryson City man has filed a lawsuit against Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran in U.S. District Court claiming his constitutional rights had been violated during a traffic stop last week. 

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran recently called upon the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to investigate alleged threats against himself and several other law enforcement officers. 

Incumbent Republican Curtis Cochran has secured his fourth term as sheriff of Swain County after facing off against Democratic challenger Rocky Sampson. 

Incumbent Republican Curtis Cochran is running for a fourth term as Swain County sheriff. While he’s never had an easy race, he said, this election cycle has been particularly brutal with mudslinging coming from all directions.

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has suspended a longstanding mutual aid agreement with the Bryson City Police Department, though the reasoning behind the decision isn’t all that clear.

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran will remain a candidate on the November ballot after the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement upheld the decision of the Swain County Board of Elections panel in regard to a candidate challenge filed against him.