Bill Rogers sworn in as Columbus County Sheriff

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A day after Jody Greene resigned as Columbus County Sheriff for the second time, a new sheriff has been appointed.

Commissioners called an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to name a sheriff, choosing Bill Rogers as the new Columbus County Sheriff in a 6-1 vote. Brent Watts was the only one to vote no, saying he wished the commissioners had more time to make the decision. However, he added that he supports Rogers 100 percent.

“The past few months have proven to be a challenge for our county. Today we are moving forward in a positive direction and putting the past behind us,” Ricky Bullard, chair of the Board of Commissioners said during the meeting.

The past few months in Columbus County included allegations of racist remarks being made by former Sheriff Jody Greene. Shortly after the allegations surfaced, Greene was suspended from office in early October following a petition filed by District Attorney Jon David. Before David’s petition could be heard in court, Greene resigned from his role as sheriff. However, Greene’s name remained on the ballot and he won re-election in November.

Two protests were filed by two different people in an effort to prevent Greene from officially holding office, but both failed at the local and state levels. Greene was sworn in as sheriff on December 29. On the same day, the district attorney filed another petition to have him removed from office and permanently disqualified from the office of Columbus County Sheriff.

Six days after being sworn in, Greene resigned from his position for the second time.

During the commissioners’ emergency meeting, Bullard said the decision to appoint Rogers came after the board received positive feedback following his appointment as interim sheriff after Greene’s first resignation. Bullard says the board was pleased with Rogers’ ability to bring the staff together.

“I just want to get everybody back together because that’s going to be the key to getting the community and the whole county united back together. For us, our families, our schools, getting everybody back on the same page,” Rogers said.

Curtis Hill, president of the Columbus County NAACP, says Rogers taking office is a step towards rebuilding trust in law enforcement.

“These gentlemen put their lives on the line to protect all of us every day. We want people to realize they’re still out there working and doing their job,” Hill said. “Even though there might have been some folks in the other office that were not doing the right thing, we hope that we can build that trust back in our community.”

However, not everyone is happy with the decision. Greene did win his bid for re-election, so some voters have expressed frustration with what they feel is their votes not being honored.

“Jody Greene was the duly elected sheriff of Columbus County and the will of the voters should be respected, absent a compelling reason to do so. I have given over seventy pages of what I believe is a compelling reason why he is disqualified from that office, and that is why we decided to act.” Jon David said following Greene’s resignation announcement on Wednesday. “The healing moment which can come in the future is ensuring that we have a sheriff who is going to serve all of the citizens of Columbus County, and honor their oath to protect and serve, and enforce the constitutional rights of everyone, and I know that the county commissioners are committed to doing that,”

Rogers says he hopes all Columbus County citizens will give him a chance.

“I promise them I’ll do a great job and I’ll do the best of my ability to do what’s right,” Rogers said.

Before being appointed interim sheriff in October, Rogers had recently retired from working as a state trooper for more than 25 years.