Embattled Register of Deeds escorted out of Commissioners meeting

Register of Deeds Constance Coram was removed by law enforcement officials from the Wayne County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning after refusing to adhere to the time limit rule during the board’s public comment period.

Before she began her statements, Coram asked the commissioners to extend the three minutes allotted to members of the public who ask to speak to the commission because she is “an officeholder.”

“And I might just be a minute longer. I ask that you please indulge me,” Coram said.

She did not wait for a response but began her statement, talking over Chairman Wayne Aycock as he advised her of the public comment time limit.

Coram repeated her request several times during her more than three minutes of comments and was later advised multiple times by multiple commissioners that she could ask to be put on the agenda as an officeholder to speak to the commission without a time limit.

Coram addressed her comments to not only the commissioners, but also to the community, saying she was there to “report her activities” as Register of Deeds.

Coram began by addressing her first days in office and alleging that her ability to do her job was impeded by a former Register of Deeds staff member, lack of personnel, actions taken by the county manager and commissioners and disruptions caused by illness and COVID-19 shutdowns.

“Three members of my staff resigned before I took office. The day I entered I had no seal nor any other tools to work with for nearly two weeks,” Coram said. “Then came the holidays, next two COVID shutdowns and we were down three major staff members for 14 days including myself.”

She then jumped to October of this year, adding that additional staff loss impacted her office, asserting that one departure was particularly damaging. She accused that former employee of improperly taking materials.

“As of Oct. 29 … within two weeks, I lost three remaining staff members to the old regime,” Coram said. “I did not realize the negative impact those individuals had over my office. The assistant who I did not realize had books that should have been presented to me and to the office … She held them for her own personal usage and power. And as I found out the materials that were in the binders, she vacated her seat.”

Coram said that the Office of the Register of Deeds as of June 2021 has generated $1.8 million, which she said is more than $400,000 more than was generated the previous year. Those numbers have not been confirmed by the county.

After that, Coram recited a list of the office’s workload including recording “70-100 real estate instruments a day,” among other items, adding that, “As of Sept. 20, we indexed through Oct. 1.”

She then listed items she claims the office, as of Sept. 29, has recorded — 287 assumed names, 10 assumed amendments and 8 assumed name withdrawals; 4,725 birth certificates, 7,500 death certificates, 1,200 marriage certificates and 875 marriage licenses issued; and 380 notary oaths performed.

Coram stopped reading her list, citing the commissioners’ time limit, although she again asked for more time since she is “an elected official.”

She then moved on to discussing a lack of reservations for training sessions, later adding that registration for subsequent training sessions have been secured, thanking the county manager for making that happen.

Coram then began to discuss the commissioners’ recent decision to add an account specialist through the county Finance Department to assist Coram with her “bills and paperwork.”

“The commissioners devised a plan to hire an Account Specialist 3 to assist me with my reports,” Coram said. “I did not ask for this help nor was I asked if I was interested in the help. That $40,000 could have gone into my budget. As of the last three months, all of my reports have been on target.”

Coram said she was then told that the Finance Department would be putting the Register of Deeds office bills into the county system and was given several bills to sign off on.

“I have been in this office for 10 months and no one even informed me that these bills even existed,” she said.

When she looked at them, she said she saw they included late charges.

She said she did not know “Finance was paying my bills.”

Coram then went into an explanation about waiting for an adjusted bill so that she could pay the invoice.

At that point, Aycock, who had given Coram an extra minute, banged the gavel to signal that her public comment time had expired, at which point Coram asked for the commissioners to give her “the respect” as an officeholder to allow her to continue speaking.

Coram continued to argue about extending her time, then addressing County Manager Craig Honeycutt.

“I am not one of your department heads, Mr. Honeycutt,” she said. “I am an elected official.”

Aycock asked Capt. Ray Brogden of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, who is on duty at every commission meeting, to remove Coram since she refused to leave the podium.

As Brogden moved toward Coram, Commissioner Antonio Williams said, “It looks like she is almost finished.”

Commissioner Bevan Foster asked the officer to stop, saying “Please make sure. You can’t move her legally like that. We might want to take precautions (so that) things are done the right way.”

Foster then informed Coram that she had been asked to adhere to the time limit and asked her to “let it be said what it is.”

“I am asking you personally to please stop right now,” he said.

Foster suggested Coram ask to be put on the agenda so that she could address her concerns fully.

Coram refused, saying that if the commissioners did not allow her to continue to speak, she would “find another way to get this out.”

At that point, Aycock addressed her again, saying that she could request to be added to the agenda at which time she could address the commissioners, adding again that this was “the public comment period,” which has a time limit.

“This is a public comment section, and I am speaking to my constituents,” Coram said.

She continued, adding that public officials could “call up and request emails about the communication that has been going on between me and my staff.”

At that point, Aycock told Coram that she was “out of order” and motioned for her to be removed, at which point Brogden moved toward her.

He did not restrain Coram, but put his hand near her back to attempt to guide her away from the podium.

Coram continued to speak.

“I am trying to let it be known to the public of Wayne County that I am going to the Attorney General to get some information as to how Mr. Honeycutt can force my system to be utilized by them,” Coram said.

At that point, Sheriff Larry Pierce, who was also in the room, moved to the podium and also made a move to move Coram away from the podium.

Coram continued to speak.

“I am asking that the community realize and help me do something by contacting the county manager’s office and help me get my office back intact,” she said.

As Pierce moved again to guide Coram away from the podium, she asked Pierce “not to do that,” at which point Pierce said that Coram had been asked to leave and encouraged her to leave the room.

“I am leaving, but I ask that you respect me as a public official,” she said.

As she left the room, Coram continued to speak to the commissioners.

“You are doing things underhanded. And you should not be doing them and it is not fair to me,” she said.

The commissioners did not discuss Coram’s comments, although Aycock later apologized for incident, adding that he was simply following the rules.

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It has been a challenging few months for Coram. In September, less than a month after a local resident submitted a sprawling complaint against her to District Attorney Matthew Delbridge, the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, the Secretary of State’s Office and various other state and local agencies were notified by the Local Government Commission, in writing, that Coram was in violation of General Statutes 161-11.5 and 161-10(a)(1).

The letter, obtained by the New Old North via a records request, is dated Sept. 7 and states that the Register of Deeds has failed to remit required payments for July 2021 to the State Treasurer.

“As you know, NC GS 161-11.5 requires that six dollars and twenty cents ($6.20) of each fee collected by the register of deeds under G.S. 161-10(a)(1) and (a)(1a) should be remitted by the register of deeds to the county finance officer, who shall then remit the funds to the State Treasurer on a monthly basis,” the letter reads. “As of the date of this letter, we have not yet received the required report or the transfer of funds for July 2021, which according to our published procedure we should have received by the 10th of the following month.”

The document arrived in Wayne County less than a month after local resident Linda Jordan alleged that Coram has violated General Statute dozens of times since being sworn in and should, therefore, be removed from office.