Former Kenly Manager Reaches Agreement With State Treasurer’s Office

SPRING LAKE, N.C. — Nearly four years after a highly-publicized dispute in the Town of Kenly led to the resignation of the town’s entire police department and the firing of Town Manager Justine Jones, the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer says it has resolved litigation brought by Jones over a separate employment dispute in Spring Lake.

In a statement released Friday, the N.C. Department of State Treasurer announced it and former State Treasurer Dale Folwell had entered into an agreement with Jones to resolve claims tied to the Local Government Commission’s 2022 decision not to approve funds for her hiring as town manager in Spring Lake.

The statement said the matter was resolved “with no admission of fault or liability on the part of either party.”

“The LGC’s decision not to approve funds for Ms. Jones’ hiring in Spring Lake was not intended to suggest that Ms. Jones acted improperly with respect to any legal action she may have taken in the past or to opine on her qualifications to serve in other public administration roles,” the department stated.

Officials said the matter is now fully resolved and declined further comment.

Jones briefly served as town manager in Kenly in 2022 during one of the most turbulent periods in the town’s recent history.

She was hired by the Kenly Town Council on June 2, 2022. Less than two months later, on July 20, 2022, the town’s entire full-time police department, including Police Chief Josh Gibson, resigned along with two other full-time employees.

At the time, Gibson said in a social media post, “The new town manager has created an environment I do not feel we can perform our duties and services to the community.”

The mass resignation drew statewide media attention and prompted emergency meetings by town leaders. Johnston County deputies temporarily assumed law enforcement coverage within the town while the State Highway Patrol handled traffic crashes inside town limits.

Kenly leaders later hired an outside firm to investigate issues surrounding Jones and the departing employees. Following a two-hour closed session on August 30, 2022, the town council voted 3-2 to terminate Jones effective September 2.

The investigative report reviewed by the council was never publicly released.

After her dismissal, Jones issued a statement maintaining independent reviews found no wrongdoing on her part.

“While all related information is certainly a matter of public concern, the allegations made against me were timely and thoroughly vetted by independent sources and there was no such finding of wrongdoing by me or my office,” Jones said in 2022.

Just weeks after her firing in Kenly, Jones was selected by the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen as its next town manager in a split 3-2 vote.

However, the hiring quickly became controversial after the Local Government Commission, chaired at the time by Folwell, intervened.

Spring Lake had been under intensive financial oversight by the state following audits and concerns over the town’s financial condition. The Local Government Commission had previously taken control of portions of the town’s finances due to concerns about fiscal management and potential default risks.

On October 13, 2022, Folwell publicly announced he would not approve the expenditure of funds to hire Jones as Spring Lake’s town manager.

At the time, Folwell said “new and unsettling information” about Jones’ employment history had raised concerns and argued Spring Lake did not need “a distraction from the important work they are doing to return the town to fiscal health.”

Folwell also cited concerns about potential legal and financial liabilities and said the decision was made in what he believed were the best interests of the Spring Lake community.

Friday’s statement from the Department of State Treasurer appeared to soften some of the language surrounding the original decision, specifically noting the state’s actions were not intended to suggest Jones had acted improperly or was unqualified for future public administration roles.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.