After serving on the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission for nearly eight years, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood will now have the chance to lead the group.

Gov. Josh Stein’s office announced a trio of leadership appointments to the commission on Monday, including naming Blackwood as its chair. The 44-member advisory body aims to share feedback on how to improve public safety, reform the criminal justice system to help reduce crime, and generally enhance the quality of North Carolinians’ lives. The group then delivers those recommendations directly to the governor and the secretary of the Department of Public Safety.

“It is indeed an honor to serve the state as the Chair of the Governor’s Crime Commission,” Blackwood said in a sheriff’s office release about the news. “In Orange County, my team works to create a safe community where everyone can move about freely as they live, work, raise their families, and age in place with dignity and support. I view this appointment as an opportunity to promote that vision for all North Carolinians.”

Blackwood has served as the vice chair on the commission since Aug. 2020, and also chaired the Crime Victims Services Committee since being appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2017. It continues a run of statewide leadership by the Orange County Sheriff, who also led the North Carolina Sheriffs Association as its president for two years and was appointed to the Commission for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services by Gov. Cooper in 2021. His service as the Crime Commission chair is undated, so there is not a term limit.

In addition to Blackwood’s role as chair, Gov. Stein’s office also named Robeson County and 20th Prosecutorial District Attorney Matthew Scott as the vice chair. Spencer Merriweather, the district attorney for the 26th prosecutorial district in Mecklenburg County, was also named as the governor’s designee to the commission.

Blackwood, who worked in various sheriff’s office roles for more than 30 years before retiring from the field, was first elected as Orange County’s sheriff in 2014. He is currently serving his third term of office, which will run through 2026.

More information about the Governor’s Crime Commission can be found on the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s website.

 

Featured photo via the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

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