W hile Sheriff Tyler Hatfield does not know yet the final result of his lawsuit asking to be placed on the August General Election ballot, he explained the reason that Judge Cox responded so quickly to his petition. “There is precedent for this. He (Cox) was involved in the 2006 case of Parker v Bedford County.”

Incumbent Sheriff Hatfield filed his paperwork to run for reelection in the August election. Due to confusion over Moore County’s first ever primary election, Election Commissioner Jim Sanders posted an incorrect deadline date for submitting required documents to Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST). This additional filing is required for candidates running for sheriff. As a result, Hatfield missed the deadline, and POST refused to certify Hatfield for the election.

In the 2006 case that serves as precedent, incumbent Sheriff Clay Parker of Bedford County was also given an incorrect POST filing deadline, and POST refused to certify him. Parker filed suit for relief with the Bedford County Chancery Court. The court found against Parker. Parker then appealed to the State Court of Appeals, which overturned Bedford County’s decision. Parker was then added to the general election ballot.

Hatfield’s case involves the same scenario. Knowing the outcome of the 2006 case, Judge Cox immediately found for Sheriff Hatfield, and ordered POST to certify him, as well as ordering Sanders to add him to the August ballot. POST has until March 4 to respond as to why it will not comply with the order, if that is their stance. William Raline, also a candidate for Sheriff, was notified regarding the decision, and has until March 4 to respond. Sanders has until March 11 to respond and show cause as to why he would not comply with the order, if that is his position.

May’s election is a Republican Primary. In a primary, even those declaring non-partisan must meet earlier deadlines for qualifying for the August General Election for some county offices. Those offi ces include Sheriff, County Trustee, County Clerk, Circuit Court Clerk, Register of Deeds, and School Board for Districts 1 and 3. All of these offices will be listed on the May 5 Primary ballot. However, as all of the candidates running for those offices declared as non-partisan, with the exception of William Raline, the ballot will show “No qualifying candidates” for the offices other than Sheriff. Those offices, along with names of candidates running for them, will then appear on the August General Election ballot. Only Raline’s name will appear on the primary ballot for Sheriff ’s office, since he registered as Republican.

As far as the Moore County Election Commission is concerned, Hatfield has qualified for the August General Election, as all of his documents were filed on time. According to Jim Sanders, “This is all on POST,” and is nothing unusual, “There is plenty of precedent, it happens all the time.”