NC SBI director announces he won’t step down at the end of his term

The director of North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday that he will not step down from his role when his eight-year term expires Friday night.

In an email to the SBI’s employees, Robert Schurmeier wrote that because state lawmakers haven’t confirmed the current nominee for the position, Capitol Police Chief R.E. “Chip” Hawley, Schurmeier believed that his appointment as SBI director would continue beyond his term’s expiration.

He wrote that his decision was “based on State law and NC Constitutional provisions” and was “confirmed verbally by the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.”

Earlier this year, Schurmeier had complained to state lawmakers about alleged meddling by the governor’s office, calling on them to make the SBI more independent. Since then, Schurmeier and Gov. Roy Cooper’s top aides have testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Schurmeier became the SBI director in 2016, having been nominated by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and approved by the General Assembly.

No action on Cooper’s nominee for SBI

In April, Cooper appointed Hawley to the position, but the General Assembly has yet to take any action on his nomination.

“The statute is clear and it’s been unusual to see Director Schurmeier and legislative Republicans work to such lengths to allow him to stay on beyond his appointed term while refusing to take up a highly qualified and universally respected nominee,” Cooper spokesperson Jordan Monaghan told The News & Observer.

“It is critical that the SBI continue to serve and protect our communities and meet the high professional standards North Carolinians expect and we will continue to monitor these unprecedented efforts by the Director and legislators.”

SBI spokesperson Angie Grube told The N&O that the legal provisions Schurmeier referenced in his email were NCGS section 128-7, which reads that “all officers shall continue in their respective offices until their successors are elected or appointed, and duly qualified,” and Article VI, Section 10 of the N.C. Constitution, which reads that North Carolina’s officers “shall hold their positions ... until their successors are chosen or qualified.”

Current state law dealing with the SBI director nomination and confirmation process does not say what exactly happens if no action is taken on the governor’s nominee before Schurmeier’s term expires. State law only outlines what would happen if a vacancy in the position arises “prior to the expiration of the Director’s term of office,” including allowing the governor to appoint an acting director if the General Assembly is not in session. The attorney general’s office declined to comment on whether it told Schurmeier he could remain in his position.

House Republicans are not planning to consider Hawley until their investigation into the governor’s conduct is complete, House Speaker Tim Moore’s office told The N&O.

At issue is a request by the House Oversight and Reform Committee for Kristie Jones, Cooper’s chief of staff, to testify a second time on matters regarding interactions between the governor’s office and the SBI. Jones, who testified the first time in May, declined the request through Cooper’s general counsel, Eric Fletcher, who called the committee’s proceedings a “partisan fishing expedition” and alleged that SBI documents and records used in the May hearing contained confidential information.

“Our office has expressed concerns to Director Schurmeier about his leadership and the culture and practices at the SBI, including complaints that he alluded to at the General Assembly today and the need for an outside review,” Monaghan wrote in an April email.

Moore’s office said that they are currently working through Fletcher to negotiate the conditions under which Jones would be able to testify a second time.

Among the allegations made by Schurmeier was that he was pressured to resign by Jones and Fletcher over racial discrimination allegations in October and November. State law allows the governor to fire the SBI director only for “misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance.”

“The general counsel told me at one point that if you don’t resign there will be a big investigation by a large law firm,” Schurmeier said during his testimony. He also said he was told the SBI would have to pay for the investigation. Jones and Fletcher then allegedly asked in December if Schurmeier wanted a second term; he said he was “flabbergasted” and declined.

The SBI is a state law enforcement agency that conducts criminal investigations in North Carolina, with original jurisdiction in a variety of areas, including election law violations and crimes involving state property. Its budget last year was nearly $75 million, and it now has about 404 full-time employees, including 247 agents.

Before becoming SBI director, Schurmeier served in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2004. He then co-founded a private investigation and security consulting firm, U.S. ISS Agency.

In 2014, the Republican-led General Assembly moved the SBI from the Department of Justice to the Department of Public Safety. A draft House budget released in April proposed moving the SBI from the Department of Public Safety to a separate, cabinet-level department, and would allow the General Assembly to remove an SBI director by a three-fifths vote. The proposed changes, supporters say, would answer Schurmeier’s calls to protect the bureau’s independence.

“Appointed leadership positions have inherent split loyalties between the Governor’s office and Department leadership, especially when politics do not align,” oversight committee Chairman Jake Johnson wrote in a statement emailed to The N&O in April. “Director Schurmeier made a clear case for a completely independent SBI.”