D.A. has received — is reviewing — ROD complaint

Wayne County District Attorney Matthew Delbridge says he has received a copy of the complaint filed against Register of Deeds Constance Coram.

Delbridge said that he is “looking into” the information provided by county resident Linda Jordan, who sent copies of her allegations to the county commissioners, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and other state officials.

Jordan alleges in the sprawling complaint that Coram’s office not only violated multiple N.C. Statutes — including the timely and correct filing of birth and death records as well as property transfers and deeds — but also pointed to errors in the indexing of the records as well as other discrepancies.

“I am very concerned that the integrity of this office and the safe keeping of these public documents are in jeopardy under Ms. Coram’s leadership, or better yet, lack of,” Jordan wrote. “Ms. Coram was sworn in on Dec 14, 2020. At that time there were about 330 records not released with a release time of 3 days past presentation. Currently there are about 3,000 records not released with a release time of 58 days past presentation.”

Here’s the complete complaint:

ROD Complaint

Coram’s tenure as Register of Deeds also was the topic of discussion during the County Commissioners’ meeting Tuesday.

After a two-hour executive session to discuss, in part, the “performance of certain public offices,” the commissioners hired a clerk, who will be under the direction of the county finance director, to assist in the Register of Deeds office. The commissioners also asked County Manager Craig Honeycutt to send a note to Coram advising her of the hours the office should be open, as directed by the board.

Under state law, the commissioners are permitted to set the office’s hours.

Delbridge said he could make no further comment on the complaint or the allegations at this time.