Judge orders Mooresville to release mayor surveillance video

A Superior Court judge has ordered the Town of Mooresville to release after-hours surveillance footage involving Mayor Chris Carney, ruling the videos are public records under North Carolina law.

The April 15, 2026, order, filed in Iredell County Superior Court (Case No. 25CVS002134-480), grants summary judgment to a media plaintiff and denies competing motions from the town and Town Manager Tracey Jerome.

Judge Richard B. Gottlieb directed the town to release the footage within five business days or submit it for in-camera review with proposed redactions and legal justification.

After-hours incident at Town Hall

The case centers on surveillance video recorded in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2024, when Carney entered Town Hall at approximately 12:25 a.m., according to swipe card and police records cited in the order.

Motion detectors were triggered twice — at 2:42 a.m. and 4:17 a.m. — prompting a response from four police officers. Police Chief Ron Campurciani testified the alarms were “out of the ordinary” and said no criminal investigation was initiated after reviewing the footage.

The footage at issue shows the mayor, a female companion and responding officers inside and outside the building during that time period.

Court rejects confidentiality claims

In its ruling, the court found the town did not meet its burden to withhold the videos under the state’s Public Records Act.

The town argued the footage was exempt as either criminal investigative material or sensitive public security information. The court rejected both claims.

Judge Gottlieb concluded the videos were not criminal investigation records because they were not created or compiled by law enforcement and no investigation followed the incident.

The court also rejected the argument that releasing the footage would compromise security.

“The plain language of the provision does not exempt information that could be used to ‘reverse engineer’ plans,” the order states, emphasizing that exemptions must be narrowly interpreted.

Motions resolved

The order also settles several related motions:

• An expert affidavit submitted by the town was struck by the court as speculative and lacking foundation.

• A motion to strike an affidavit from a journalist was denied.

• The town’s motion for a protective order was denied as moot.

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The court also determined the plaintiff had standing to bring the case under North Carolina law.

Next steps

Under the order, the town must either release the footage within five business days or submit it to the court for review, identifying any portions it seeks to redact and the legal basis for doing so.

The court will retain jurisdiction to determine whether attorneys’ fees should be awarded.

The ruling underscores North Carolina’s presumption in favor of public access, stating that government records are “the property of the people” unless a specific exemption applies.