Sheriff assaults Commissioner in disagreement over number of inmates to be returned to the jail | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

Hood Richardson forcibly removed from the jail on Alan Jordan's orders

    You know you have a problem when public officials can't stand criticism and use their authority "under color of law" to try to strong-arm someone who is critical of them. Such is the case with Beaufort County Sheriff Alan Jordan.

    Last Friday (9-6-13) an inspection of the newly renovated jail was scheduled and all commissioners were invited to participate. One of those commissioners was Hood Richardson, a frequent critic of Sheriff Alan Jordan's dictatorial behavior.

    Also on the tour were Commissioner Robert Belcher, County Manager Randell Woodruff, County Engineer Christina Smith, the Chief Jailer Katrina Ross, the Chief Deputy and three other deputies. You will soon see why this heavy duty detachment of armed law enforcement officials was needed, even though the jail was empty of prisoners at the time.

    The purpose of the inspection was to determine if the jail met the conditions prescribed in Senior Resident Superior Court Judge, Wayland J. Sermons' order. Sermons had ordered the jail evacuated until repairs had been made. The inspection was to determine if the repairs were sufficient.

    The entire tour lasted about 40 minutes; consisting of a walk around looking at the freshly painted cells, the floor repairs, the laundry room and etc. Deputies were close at hand to Commissioner Richardson. At the end of the tour all parties were in a circle having a final discussion when Commissioner Richardson asked when the inmates would return and how many would be returning. Sheriff Jordan stated there would be 101 prisoners returning. Commissioner Richardson pointed out we are only permitted to have 85 prisoners at a time and it may not be wise to deliberately violate the State Permit by starting out with an over capacity. Sheriff Jordan began to turn red and stated that he was the one who decided how many people stayed it the jail. Commissioner Richardson stated that he, as a commissioner, could not support overcrowding the jail under the present conditions.

    By this time Sheriff Jordan was very red in the face and staring at Richardson. He then said "Look, Ass Hole....". Richardson allowed Sheriff Jordan to finish and began his reply with "Look Ass Hole". That is a far as he got. Sheriff Jordan gave a hand signal to his deputies and three of them immediately surrounded Richardson, touching him on all sides and limiting the use of his arms. Jordan then ordered Richardson to be removed from the jail. Richardson said "Wait a minute." At that point the deputies forcibly removed Richardson from the jail. The County Manager, Commissioner Belcher, and the Engineer then started saying we do not need for this situation to get worse and implored that all leave.

    The incident was reviewed by the full board of County Commissioners in conference with their attorneys. The board agreed that a letter would be sent by the County Attorney advising Jordan that it is the board's position that commissioners have not only a right, but a duty to inspect the jail and to offer their position on jail management issues.

    Upate: 9-14-13 Update: WNCT.com has the video of the incident and a brief interview with both Jordan and Richardson. Click here to watch the video of the incident