Jeff Royall
As a result of the challenge, the Yadkin County Board of Elections has scheduled a hearing for 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 23, 2010, to allow Royall the opportunity to answer questions about his official county of residence. The hearing will be held in courtroom 1 of the Yadkin County Courthouse. A three-member panel, comprised of Elections Board Chairman Jack Shore, Board Secretary H. Kenneth Alley and Board Member Claude G. Wiseman, will hear the challenge and then decide whether Royall can continue to run for county sheriff.
David Winfield Matthews, who works as a dispatcher for the YCSD, filed the challenge of Royall's candidacy with the Yadkin County Board of Elections on July 2, 2010, contending that Royall hasn't met one of the requirements set down by state statutes to declare as a candidate for county sheriff, said Board Supervisor Janet Choplin.
According to N.C. General Statutes, there are three requirements to run for county sheriff. A candidate must be at least 21 years of age, must not practice law or serve as a member of the General Assembly and must have resided in the county for which he is running for the office for at least one year prior to his election. Which essentially means, said Choplin, Royall will have prove that if he is elected sheriff on Nov. 2, 2010, he will have to have been an official resident of the county since Nov. 2, 2009.
In the challenge of candidacy, Matthews raises five questions about Royall's official county of residence. Matthews begins the first of the five challenges alleging Royall has "physically resided at his wife's home on U.S. 268, Elkin since at least 2006," reads the official challenge document.
In the second allegation, Matthews charges Royall "applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Surry County on Nov. 24, 2009, indicating that his residence was U.S. 268, Elkin," reads the compliant.
In the third allegation, Matthew charges that at the time Royall applied for the concealed weapons permit the address on Royall's driver's license was in Surry County, Elkin.
In Matthews' fourth allegation, he said that at "no time prior to filing his Notice of Candidacy for the office of Sheriff of Yadkin County (did Royall) notified(y) the Surry County Sheriff or the Yadkin County Sheriff of his change of permanent address" pursuant to general statutes, reads the challenge.
In the fifth allegation, Matthews charges Royall was included on the Surry County jury list and was summoned to serve as a juror on July 20, 2009.
Elections Board Supervisor Choplin said that for Royall to prevail in the hearing and be subsequently included on the Nov. 2 ballot for the general election, he must provide the burden of proof to establish his official county residence.
To provide this burden of proof, the challenge of candidacy requires Royall produce dozens of documents, including DMV records, tax returns, insurance policies, banking statements, tax records of personal property, utility bills, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, religious institution records, Social Security, veterinary records for pets, county tuition records for school-aged children, and copies of photographs of "special family events from 2006 through the current time, including to but not limited to (1) Thanksgiving meal, (2) Christmas morning, and (3) birthdays depicting Royall.
When Matthews was contacted about the challenge, he was asked if current Yadkin Sheriff Cain had asked him to mount the residency challenge, he said, "Absolutely not."
There was a meeting, however, called by the sheriff about the possibility of mounting the challenge which was attended by Cain and Matthews among others.
"I had a meeting," said Cain. "I wasn’t going to file this thing. I said it would be better to let the voters decide in November what they want to do. The law says any person can do this, any registered voter who lives in this county can do it. Mr. Matthews told me in the meeting, if you’re not going to do it, unless you’re going to discipline me, I’m going to do it.”
Cain said he told Matthews, “That’s your business.” When asked what prompted the residency challenge, Matthews said he heard "through talk and people telling me" that Royall was not a resident of Yadkin County.
As a result of the challenge, said Matthews, "all the questions will be answered."
Cain offered his perspective on the challenge.
“The one who filed the appeal or challenge, it’s not me. I didn’t have anything to do with this person filing. It doesn’t matter who filed it, somebody’s going to blame me with having them do it."
Cain acknowledged knowing there were question bubbling within the county about Royall's residency, but decided against pursuing the challenge himself.
“I chose not to do it because I chose to take him straight on in November. I had talked about it and thought about it, but I just decided let the people say, if that’s what they want. I believe that he has not met the requirements of living in this county 12 months prior to the November election. The law says you have to reside in this county 12 months prior to the November election.
“I have got my doubts as whether or not he has actually been living here through this entire thing,” he said.
David Winfield Matthews, who filed the challenge, works at the Yadkin County Sheriff’s Department, Cain said.
“He certainly does. I told all my people in here, I had a meeting, I wasn’t going to file this thing. I said it would be better to let the voters decide in November what they want to do. The law says any person can do this, any registered voter who lives in this county can do it. Mr. Matthews told me in the meeting, if you’re not going to do it, unless you’re going to discipline me, I’m going to do it.”
Cain said he told Matthews, “That’s your business.”
However, Royalls doesn't buy Cain's explanation of his role in the challenge.
Royall said he believes that it is a disguise that Matthews filed the complaint and that the sheriff is in on it to hide the truth.
“It’s not him that signed it, but I’m sure that he had something to do with it,” he added.
People can express their positions or what they believe to be true, he said, without regard for repercussion in any political setting.
He said he is getting a quick education about politics.
“I have learned the hard way about politics the past 15 months. It’s been a hard lesson. I can tell you with 18 years of working with the Department of Corrections and in law enforcement that I had rather deal with any criminal because I know what to expect, but with politicians, you never know.”
Royalls has retained the services of a local attorney to help with the challenge.
“I’ve obtained attorney Ed Powell of Winston-Salem, and we have discussed in depth and worked closely, and we feel 100 percent that the law and the facts are on our side. Hopefully the Board of Elections will see that Friday.”
He said he believes he will receive a fair and impartial decision.
“I can’t expound on it. We’ll hear those arguments Friday,” he said.
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