Asheebo Rojas

Voters in Duplin County delivered decisive results in local primaries last week, with Eric Southerland leading the Republican race for sheriff. Southerland captured 48% of the vote, emerging as the presumptive next sheriff.

“I am humbled by all of the support and forever grateful for everyone that supported and voted for me,” Southerland told Duplin Journal. With no opponent in the general election, Southerland said he is asking for continued voter support, and pledges to serve all citizens impartially.

Incumbent Dexter Edwards won the Republican primary for District 2 county commissioner with 74% of the vote, setting up a November showdown with unaffiliated candidate Jessica Thomas, who gathered 271 signatures earning her a spot in the November ballot. Thomas expressed gratitude for the community members who helped her circulate petitions.

“I feel good about it,” said Thomas. “I just want a change for our community, however that needs to happen … As a commissioner, you’re only one vote, but making the information accessible to the people matters.”

In the race for clerk of Superior Court, Amy Price secured the nomination with 56% of the vote. At the state legislative level, Republican incumbents maintained commanding leads. Brent Jackson won the N.C. State Senate District 9 primary with 3,868 votes over William Barbour’s 694, while Jimmy Dixon captured N.C. House District 4 with 3,726 votes against Marcella Barbour’s 901.

Duplin County Board of Elections Director Carrie Sullivan, told Duplin Journal the turnout was better for this primary than the county’s 2022 midterm primary, with about 22% of registered voters casting ballots — more than 1,000 additional voters.

“This election showed similar turnout as the 2024 Presidential Primary, which saw 7,033 voters which was 22.32% of the registered voters in the county,” said Sullivan.

The county will certify its results at Friday’s canvass meeting.

In the U.S. Senate Republican primary, Michael Whatley led the field with 59.9% of the vote. He will face incumbent Governor Roy Cooper who dominated the Democratic primary race with 88% of the vote.

Judicial races saw Matt Smith win the Republican N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 1 with 57.7%. In the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary, Raymond Smith received 52.8% of the vote. For the N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 3, Christine Marie Walczyk secured the nomination with 62.7% of the vote.

KENANSVILLE — During the March meeting of the Duplin County Board of Commissioners, one of the key items focused on a proposed $200,000 loan from the county’s revolving loan fund to support a project by Villari Food Group LLC in Warsaw.

The loan request was presented by Economic Development Director Scotty Summerlin during a public hearing. The funding would help finance a $3.27 million project aimed at improving the company’s wastewater pretreatment system before its discharge enters the Town of Warsaw’s wastewater treatment plant. The project includes two phases: installing upgraded pretreatment equipment and developing a land application system to manage processed wastewater more effectively. The improvements are intended to reduce the burden on the town’s treatment facility and address past challenges with wastewater discharge.

“The project demonstrates the company’s strong desire to address their treatment deficiencies and challenges,” said Summerlin.

He noted that the revolving loan fund has existed for about 40 years and was originally created using Community Development Block Grant funds, meaning local tax dollars were not used to establish it. Loan applications are reviewed by a committee consisting of a county commissioner, a business owner, a certified public accountant and a banking professional. After reviewing Villari’s proposal, the committee recommended approval of the loan under terms including a 10-year repayment period and an interest rate based on the U.S. prime rate of 6.75%, with no deferred payments or early-payment penalties.

During discussion, Summerlin emphasized that the funding would support both repairs and improvements to address existing wastewater issues. Chairman Dexter Edwards, who sits on the committee, said he initially “was very concerned” when the proposal was first presented and wanted to ensure the project would not negatively affect the Town of Warsaw financially.

“I asked a question to make sure it was not going to be a loss of income for the town of Warsaw,” he said. “It does appear to me this is gonna be a benefit to Warsaw. It’s gonna free up some sewer opportunities for Warsaw, and I’m very much believing that this is going to help the citizens of Warsaw, not just Villari.”

Edwards explained that the improvements would reduce solids and other materials entering the treatment system, lowering operational strain and costs for the facility. In addition, the upgrades could free up capacity in the town’s wastewater system, potentially allowing for future growth and development.

Commissioners Jesse Dowe and Wayne Branch raised questions about whether town leaders had been consulted and whether the project could affect Warsaw’s treatment capacity or finances. In response, Summerlin said he was not aware whether Villari had presented the project to the Warsaw Town Board but said he had spoken with the Warsaw town manager.

Summerlin described the project as a way to protect existing employment while supporting long-term economic growth in the community. He explained that expected outcomes of the project include the ability for the company to grow in Duplin County, protect 1,000 existing jobs, and create 75 new jobs.

“Villari cannot grow without the project,” said Summerlin.

Several commissioners expressed that the project appeared to be a “win-win” situation for both the company and the town of Warsaw. They noted that the company had demonstrated a willingness to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements and address environmental concerns. After discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the loan request, allowing the project to move forward with county support.

WARSAW — After months of unanswered public records requests, Jessica Thomas, environmental justice chair for the Duplin County NAACP, has filed a complaint in Duplin County Superior Court seeking the release of public records from the Town of Warsaw.

According to the complaint, Thomas submitted a public records request to Town Manager Crystal Lea Turner on Oct. 20, 2025 seeking communications between town officials, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Villari Foods, C2NC, and state and federal representatives regarding the town’s wastewater treatment system, environmental compliance and related issues.

Thomas told Duplin Journal she hoped the information would clarify efforts to secure funding and address the town’s aging infrastructure.

“I wanted to understand what was going on with the wastewater treatment plant and whether the town had been communicating with state and federal officials about funding or solutions,” Thomas said.

Thomas alleges the town failed to provide the requested records as required under the North Carolina Public Records Act despite multiple follow-ups over four months. The complaint asks a judge to order the town of Warsaw and Turner to produce the requested records and to review any withheld records to determine if exemptions under the law apply.

Thomas also seeks reimbursement of $266 she spent filing the complaint. She said she filed the complaint after attending a Feb. 9 town board meeting and publicly urging the release of records that had still not been provided after four months.

“I requested public records months ago, and I still haven’t received everything. That’s why I filed a complaint in superior court — to get the information I’m legally entitled to and have my costs reimbursed,” said Thomas. “If she did her job in the first place, we wouldn’t be here.”

The request comes amid ongoing concerns about Warsaw’s wastewater infrastructure and environmental impacts in the area.

The records request comes amid concerns about Warsaw’s wastewater system after millions of gallons of “partially” treated wastewater were discharged into Stewarts Creek in August 2025 when the town’s treatment plant became unstable as sludge production surged far beyond normal levels, forcing operators to shut down portions of the treatment process and discharge wastewater into the creek during a system restart. The spill was reported to state regulators, but the public was not notified until several days later through a notice posted on the town’s website. Stewarts Creek flows into Six Runs Creek and eventually the Black River, which is part of the Cape Fear River watershed.

“The wastewater treatment plant is in an area of Warsaw that has the most minorities. It’s behind an elementary school, a church, and a rest home. There are complaints that people can smell it, and that creek flows through the rest of Duplin County until it dumps into the Black River,” said Thomas.

“If the town manager needs help contacting elected officials, I feel like that would be a good way for Duplin County to step in, because we have contacts with our representatives, senators, and congressmen.”

Town officials contacted her after the complaint was filed and provided access to records electronically, said Thomas, though she reported difficulty accessing the files. Thomas said the town later provided a flash drive containing 69 pages of documents, though 22 of those pages were blank.

According to Turner, she responded to Thomas with the requested information, but the email was not received. 

“The requested information was very extensive and with regular daily operations this was not a request that could be completed in a short time frame,” said Turner. She noted the town does not have staff dedicated solely to public records requests and that responses must be completed alongside regular daily operations. 

“The response times are based on workloads and priority. Voluminous requests such as these often take weeks and sometimes months, considering the lack of resources and staff in a small town,” she added.

The case remains pending in Duplin County Superior Court.

WARSAW — Questions about fines, delayed public records and financial oversight dominated a tense February meeting of the Warsaw Board of Commissioners, as town leaders confronted mounting concerns over transparency. Mayor Wesley Boykin and the board of commissioners centered much of the three-hour long meeting on governance and oversight.

A representative from McDavid Associates updated the board on the town’s wastewater pretreatment program, which has faced multi-year permit violations tied to industrial discharges.

Consultants told the board the town has authority to issue fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation under its approved enforcement response plan. However, the town has not issued formal fines to industrial users despite repeated violations, placing it out of compliance with its own adopted program.

“The town submitted that plan to the state. The state approved it. In as much as that, the town has not fined these industries. It is in violation of its own town adopted enforcement response plan,” said McDavid Associates. “We’ve got oodles of violations every day. So, I mean, you’re talking millions of dollars a month in potential fines … So that’s one of the problems we have between the town and the state that we’ve got to reconcile. It’s because we adopted rules that said we were going to issue fines.”

Instead, commissioners said costs associated with violations, including state-imposed penalties, have been “passed through” to industries as surcharges. Confusion arose during discussion over the distinction between fines and surcharges, with some board members stating they had previously been told industries were being fined.

Town officials said grace periods were allowed while facilities, including Villari and C2NC, constructed or upgraded pretreatment systems. One facility experienced equipment failures requiring additional investment before meeting standards.

The wastewater discussion preceded presentation of the town’s annual audit by Austin Eubanks of Thompson, Price, Scott & Adams for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Auditors confirmed that all procedures were completed with one notable deficiency: expenditures in the Memorial Park Project Fund occurred without an adopted budget ordinance. The board approved a required response letter to the Local Government Commission.

Financially, the General Fund reported approximately $3.9 million in revenues and a net decrease of about $173,000. The unassigned fund balance totaled $3.6 million, well above the Commission’s recommended minimum threshold. The town’s tax collection rate was 97.64%.

The Water and Sewer Fund reported roughly $3.18 million in operating revenues and $3.4 million in expenses, reflecting an operating loss before accounting for capital contributions.

Commissioners also revisited a proposed Cash Flow Policy governing how the town handles cash, checks and electronic payments. Concerns were raised about internal controls, documentation of shortages and whether the finance officer had formally vetted the policy. One commissioner warned that adopting financial control procedures without clear finance department certification could blur accountability and complicate future audits. The board ultimately approved the policy with one dissenting vote, noting concerns about staff involvement.

After a contentious meeting, Boykin stressed the importance of civility, collaboration, and timely citizen responses, particularly regarding Freedom of Information Act requests. He criticized delays in processing requests. This came after Jessica Thomas, representing the Duplin County NAACP and Cape Fear River Watch, notified the board that a public records request submitted on Oct. 20, 2025, concerning a wastewater discharge incident had not been fulfilled nearly four months later. She reported receiving acknowledgment of the request by the town manager and assurances of rolling production but no documents as of late-February.