In a recent meeting with the Moore County Commissioners, a representative from the North Carolina Department of Justice (NCDOJ) presented the “DOJ Delivers” initiative. Luke Perrin, from the NCDOJ’s Public Protection Section, outlined the department’s ongoing efforts, including funds provided for Moore County.
Perrin began by explaining the mission of the NCDOJ under the leadership of Attorney General Josh Stein, focusing on crime prevention, consumer protection, and defending the constitutional rights of North Carolinians.
“Our office has a trifold mission,” read Perrin. “The first is to prevent crime and support law enforcement. The second is to safeguard consumers, and the third is to defend the state, its people, and their constitutional rights.”
Per Perrin’s presentation, funds won for Moore County included:
• Opioid settlement: $11.3M
• Funds won for consumer: $223.7K
• Medicaid fraud: $2.3M
• Taxpayer funds won and grants: $185.2K
• Total funds returned: $14M
The presentation also aimed to discuss broader state-level issues that also affect Moore County, such as large-scale DOJ wins against corporations, including Juul, Dish Network, and Duke Energy. Sights are also set on Ticketmaster and Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
Furthermore, Perrin shared that the backlog of untested sexual assault kits, which once numbered 16,000 statewide, has been entirely cleared.
“When Attorney General Stein took office in 2017, there were 16,000 untested sexual assault kits that had been untested for a variety of reasons,” Perrin announced. “I think the best word would be that I’m proud [to say] that backlog has been entirely cleared as of April of this year.”
However, the commissioners questioned the timing and intent behind the visit. Commissioner Chair Nick Picerno and Commissioner Jim Von Canon noted that the presentation seemed to serve more as a campaign than an update. Though they acknowledged and commended Stein’s work – as they have in the past – they also acknowledged that Stein is currently running for governor.
“A lot of this information we already had and already knew,” said Von Canon. “Josh has done a good job, but all of these things have happened in the last year, two years, three years. It seems like this is a campaign thing. We want to know what Josh is doing now for situations that affect us now.”
Picerno and Von Canon proceeded to question Perrin about statewide and nationwide issues that can be seen in Moore County, including the inflation of gas prices, illegal immigration, human trafficking, and dangerous amounts of fentanyl found in Moore County.
Picerno also raised concerns about the challenges in accessing opioid settlement funds.
“We have found that getting that money distributed has a lot of strings attached,” he explained. “It seems like there’s so much work that a lot of the people [who] could actually help people with these substance issues are not applying for the funds because there’s too much bureaucratic red tape. What can your department do to maybe reduce the amount of red tape, yet make sure that the program is solid?”
Perrin answered, “We have specific folks who are working on that opioid distribution within our Special Prosecutions Unit, so if you want to reach out to me, I’m happy to connect you with those folks.”
The chairman also pressed for answers regarding topics not answered in the slideshow, including Stein’s plans to tackle the issue of illegal immigration and its effects in Moore County.
Perrin was unable to answer but did suggest, “I’m going to give you my card after this, and you can shoot me an email, and I’ll get you connected with a person who can better answer.”
Further issues were pressed, including human trafficking and drug trafficking taking place both in Moore County and North Carolina as a whole. Von Canon referenced the 119 pounds of fentanyl seized in Iredell County in December – enough to kill millions of people, according to Von Canon.
Though no answers were provided, Perrin did promise that if the commissioners were to email him, he could connect them with the appropriate parties for their questions.
Finally, Picerno raised the ongoing issue of higher gas prices in Moore County compared to surrounding areas, urging the NCDOJ to investigate and provide answers that previous administrations had failed to deliver over several years.
Von Canon agreed, pointing out that gas in Lakeview and Vass was $3.08 while gas in-town in Carthage was $3.49, which is a large discrepancy. “That is hurting our poor people. They have to get to work, they have to get back home, they have to pick the kids up from school. It makes a big difference,” he said.
To hear other topics discussed at the Aug. 6 meeting, please click here.
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~Written by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy.
