WBTV sues Mooresville over refusal to release video of mayor and woman
WBTV on Monday sued the town of Mooresville for refusing to release surveillance video that may show Mayor Chris Carney and a woman at Town Hall in the early morning of Oct. 10, 2024.
Carney and the woman “twice triggered motion detectors at Town Hall, alerting the Mooresville Police Department,” according to the lawsuit in Iredell County Civil Superior Court in Statesville.
The woman was a paid public relations consultant for the town, according to the lawsuit and documents obtained by The Charlotte Observer through a public records request.
From June to October 2024, the town paid the woman $12,000 for help arranging public events, according to invoices provided to the Observer as part of its public records request.
In an interview, Carney told WBTV that he went to Town Hall to retrieve his work phone, “and then stayed for a few hours in order to sober up following a dinner with Town commissioners,” the lawsuit states.
“He took an unexpected leave of absence for three weeks following the incident, which he said was to take bereavement and to address substance use issues,” according to the complaint.
The videos would merely show him walking in the hallways and going to the bathroom, Carney told WBTV, the lawsuit states.
“There is significant public interest in viewing videos capturing the Mayor and a paid Town consultant in a municipal building outside of business hours, and the Mooresville Police Department’s interactions with the Mayor when its officers were called to the scene twice that early morning by security alarms,” according to WBTV’s complaint.
In denying the station’s request, Town Attorney Sharon Crawford wrote that the videos are “criminal intelligence records” not subject to release under the state’s open records law. The lawsuit includes a copy of her letter.
No court hearing has been scheduled on the station’s request to release the videos.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM.