A superior court judge denied a preliminary injunction to a man appointed and sworn in as Anson County sheriff Monday night. The Anson County Commission, with new board members, appointed interim Sheriff Scott Howell the following night to fulfill the term of the former Sheriff Landric Reid, who died in late September.
The ruling means that Howell will continue as sheriff while Gerald Cannon’s legal challenge to remove him from office makes its way through the court system.
The question of who replaces Reid has been the subject of controversy since he died on Sept. 21. Reid, a Democrat, was the only person on the general election ballot.
In October, the Anson County Democratic Party’s executive committee chose Cannon, a veteran of the Wadesboro Police Department, to be awarded Reid’s votes. But Howell contested that result.
He was part of a group that filed a grievance with the state Democratic Party over the process. The state party’s Council of Review sided with Howell’s group and invalidated the local party’s nomination of Cannon on several grounds.
The local party nominated Cannon a second time last Saturday, but by then the election was certified and he couldn’t be awarded Reid’s votes. It was up to the county commission to accept or reject the nomination.
The commission, with two outgoing commissioners and supporters of Cannon, called an emergency meeting Monday evening and appointed Cannon. A commission with new members sworn in the following night then appointed Howell to a four-year term amid complaints that the previous night’s meeting was illegal.
Attorneys for Cannon say they are proceeding with the case. A hearing has not been scheduled.