Public Records Law Meets Campaign Trail In Johnston County Sheriff’s Race

Officials cite extensive workload; sheriff candidate defends request volume

SMITHFIELD — A surge of public records requests filed by a candidate in Johnston County’s Republican sheriff’s primary has placed heavy demands on county staff, prompting county officials to warn that the scale, complexity and timing of the requests have strained resources.

Johnston County officials say sheriff candidate Randy Ackley has submitted 84 public records requests since April 2025, a volume that sharply exceeds typical activity. Records reviewed by The Johnston County Report show that just over 40 public records requests were submitted by all other requesters combined since January 2022 — and those requests covered all county departments, not just the sheriff’s office alone.

Ackley, who is challenging incumbent Sheriff Steve Bizzell in the March 3 primary, said the requests are necessary to inform voters.

“Our campaign submitted public information requests so we could accurately inform voters about the operations and staffing of the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office,” Ackley said. “Voters deserve facts, not assumptions.”

County records show that only four of Ackley’s requests were submitted before he announced his candidacy on May 1, 2025. All four were filed in April. The remaining 80 requests were submitted after he entered the race, compressing the workload into a short period during an active election season.

North Carolina’s public records law, outlined in Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, allows anyone to request government records without stating a purpose and requires agencies to provide access “as promptly as possible.” The law sets no firm response deadlines and allows exemptions for confidential personnel information and active criminal investigations. Governments may assess special service charges when requests require extensive staff time, though Johnston County has not done so.

Johnston County Attorney Jennifer Slusser said Ackley’s requests are far more extensive and complex than those the county typically receives.

“Some of Randy Ackley’s 84 public records requests are very extensive,” Slusser said in a written statement. “We try to give them a reasonable degree of attention with the personnel and other resources we have available, while balancing the workload required to provide proper safety, security, and services to the citizens of Johnston County.”

Slusser said the county has attempted to process the requests sequentially to manage workload fairly.

“We have attempted to answer Mr. Ackley’s public records requests in the order in which they were received,” she said. “Although where we were able to provide a response to a few of them quicker by taking them out of order, we have done that, but ultimately decided that we needed to answer all of them in the order in which they were received.”

The requests reviewed by The Johnston County Report span operational, administrative, personnel and historical records, often involving broad timeframes, multiple subparts or data pulled from several systems. Among them are requests seeking:

• the number of copy machines used by the Sheriff’s Office, paper usage statistics, and all associated copier and maintenance contracts
• a definition of “office duty,” including which positions qualify as office duty
• a list of all software programs used by the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office for writing, documentation and recordkeeping, including but not limited to Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat and Google Docs
• training records for Sheriff’s Office dispatchers
• training records for detention officers
• information regarding surveillance cameras located at the Johnston County Public Safety Center, including their intended use, but excluding specific camera locations
• all emails sent or received by administrative personnel during the last 12 months
• all group chat messages, including text messages, used by the Major Crimes Division, Property Crimes Division, or any other division-specific group chat
• recovered property data from 1998 through 2025
• Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) shift maps and movement logs for Sheriff’s Office patrol units on specific dates
• records of drones purchased by the Sheriff’s Office
• a copy of the current tattoo policy for Sheriff’s Office employees
• overtime pay and lunch break policy records

Slusser said the breadth of the requests has significantly increased the time required for review and legal analysis.

“Mr. Ackley’s requests are much more complex than the requests we typically receive,” she said. “They are extensive, with multiple subparts in a single request, and require documents to be pulled from various sources.”

“Because his requests have been so broad, it has been necessary for my office and the Sheriff’s attorney, Ronnie Mitchell, to take the time to review these records to make sure that we do not violate the law by disclosing certain records and confidential information,” she said.

According to Slusser, the workload has extended far beyond the Sheriff’s Office alone.

“Mr. Ackley’s requests have required substantial time to review, analyze and determine the extent of public records and what dissemination would be permissible,” she said. “Locating the records and determining their availability has involved not only the Sheriff’s Office but multiple county agencies and departments, including Emergency Services, 911 Communication, Finance, GIS, Information Technology (IT) and other services.”

“We have had at least 20 people involved in assisting with the responses, and the number of hours has been exceptional,” she said.

Ackley said county responses have been slow and incomplete.

“Unfortunately, the response process has been slow and, in many cases, incomplete,” he said. “Fewer than twenty responses have been provided despite numerous requests made months ago.”

Slusser emphasized that no fees have been assessed, despite the scale of the effort.

“We are committed to openness and transparency and do not typically charge special service charges to citizens requesting records, even when allowable by law,” Slusser said. “Mr. Ackley has not been charged for any special service charges or duplication fees, despite the extensive and complex nature of the requests.”

“We are continuing to work through the requests and will continue to respond as promptly as possible under the circumstances,” she said.

The Johnston County Report regularly submits public records requests as part of its reporting and relies on public records law to cover county government.

Similar surges in public records activity have been documented elsewhere. In Wake County, election officials reported that requests to local elections administrators grew from just over 50 in 2020 to 171 in 2022, illustrating how election-related scrutiny can sharply increase workload and take staff time away from core duties.

Another local government has responded to high individual request volume by adopting formal limits on staff time spent responding to repeated requests. In Bexar County, Texas, officials designated policies targeting so-called “zealous requestors” after a single individual filed hundreds of records requests within a few months, prompting the county to cap the amount of time employees are required to devote to such requests before charging fees. That approach was intended to protect limited county resources while still complying with public information laws.

Similar concerns have surfaced in other states where local officials testified that “abusive,” “malicious” and “vexatious” public records requests flooded agencies with demands so extensive they hindered basic operations and prompted calls for limits on how much time staff must spend responding to such requests.

While public records laws are designed to promote transparency and accountability, county officials say the scale, concentration, and campaign-driven timing of Ackley’s requests have required the sustained involvement of multiple departments, redirected labor away from daily operations, and imposed substantial but unquantified costs on county government.