Citizen Report No. 1671837290 - 239657921

CLEET Number :  0090741

License Type :  Fulltime Peace Officer

License Status :  Active

License Effective Date :  10/14/2004

License Expiry Date :  N/A

Sheriff Gary Dodd of the Johnston County Sheriff Office has often publicly announced himself as a "Constitutional Sheriff" on many occasions. One of the central tenets of "Constitutional Sheriffs", borrowed from the anti-government extremist sovereign citizen movement, is that the county sheriff is the ultimate authority in the county, able to halt enforcement of any federal or state law or measure they personally deem to be unconstitutional.  This ideology is not based in law and conflicts with the Insurrection Act which allows the president — with or without the Sheriff or state government’s consent — to use the military to enforce federal law or suppress a rebellion against federal authority in a state, or to protect a group of people’s civil rights when the state government is unable or unwilling to do so.

 The Anti-Defamation League has published this article examining how the extremist groups are infiltrating law enforcement.

on 10/07/2021 Sheriff Dodd publicly called for citizens of his jurisdiction and others to donate funds to him via a Fundly.com campaign calling for the need to stop the "invasion" of "illegals" at the southern border of the United States.  He told KTEN News GoFundMe suspended his fundraising account, saying he had violated its policies.

He also published a public video on 09/27/2021 speaking against the Federal Government and sharing more of these beliefs that he is superior to the Federal Government.

In December of 2022, the Legal Defense Fund wrote a letter regarding the Threat of “Constitutional Sheriffs” to our Democracy to Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.   

The attached videos produced by Sheriff Gary Dodd illustrate the ideology shared with the movements/groups associated with the "Constitutional Sheriff Movement".