The Granville County board of commissioners is expected to announce the appointment of a new sheriff on Monday, according to information from the clerk to the board Debra Weary.
The board will convene Monday at 9 a.m. at the Granville County Expo & Convention Center, 4185 Hwy. 15, south of Oxford.
Senior Deputy Chris Smoot has been acting sheriff since late October 2021, when Sheriff Charles R. Noblin, Jr. resigned, according to information provided in October by county attorney Jim Wrenn. Although Noblin’s name was named in the investigation, he was not indicted. In October, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told WIZS News that because Noblin resigned, he would not be subject to criminal investigation or prosecution; rather, it was “a matter that is appropriately handled administratively.”
Noblin had been sheriff since January 2020, when he was appointed following the suspension of then-sheriff Brindell Wilkins.
Wilkins and three deputies were charged with multiple counts of obtaining property by false pretenses for falsifying training certificates back to 2012.