EDENTON — A crowd of Chowan County residents turned out recently to hear Kristy LaLonde make her case for sheriff, laying out a career that’s taken her from narcotics task forces to substance-abuse counseling and back into law enforcement leadership.
A gallery of photos from the event appears at the end of the story — also, in attendance were several other local Democratic candidates: Kathleen Miglorie, running for county commissioner; Miriam Rollin, running for state legislature; Sherronne Battle, running for the Board of Education; and Darin Migloree, running for an at-large Board of Education seat.
Speaking from Susan Inglis’ porch at the Homestead on East Water Street, Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, introduced LaLonde, touching on Eastern North Carolina’s long history within the party and the need for candidates willing to work across lines to get things done for their communities.
LaLonde didn’t waste much time getting to her central message.
“My campaign has never been about a badge or a title,” she told the crowd. “It’s about people.”
LaLonde spent a good part of her remarks on community policing, and she was careful to draw a line: working with outside agencies, she said, doesn’t mean going easy on offenders.
“The Sheriff’s Office has to investigate crimes, protect victims, and hold criminals accountable,” she said. “But we also have to recognize that we can’t arrest our way out of every problem.”
She talked about leaning on mental health professionals, treatment providers, schools, social services, churches and recovery groups as extensions of what deputies can do on their own — not replacements for them.
“Partnerships do not replace law enforcement,” she said. “They give our deputies more tools to prevent problems before they become another crime, another victim, or another call for service.”
She also pushed for more deputies on the roster and more training once they’re hired — training that covers not just violent crime and investigations but the mental health and substance-use calls deputies run into constantly. What she’s after, essentially, is an office that can be aggressive on crime and still show up for the community day to day.
LaLonde says the run for sheriff isn’t a sudden turn — it’s the product of years spent moving between law enforcement and behavioral health. She worked narcotics with a task force spanning roughly a dozen agencies across northeastern North Carolina, did patrol and community policing, handled investigations, and served as a school resource officer. In Enfield, she started a program for senior citizens focused on community engagement and spent time working with at-risk youth and their families.
From there her career shifted toward behavioral health — care management and Community Support Team work with people caught up in the justice system, along with their families.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration, a certificate in substance abuse counseling, and credentials as a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and Certified Criminal Justice Addiction Professional.
Why the detour from policing into counseling? LaLonde says it was intentional.
“I stepped back because what we were doing wasn’t working,” she said — a realization that pushed her further into criminal justice administration, with an eye toward eventually leading from a place that understood both sides: enforcement and community.
LaLonde also brought up Chowan County’s opioid settlement funds — roughly $1.3 million coming to the county over 18 years, according to county records, which also show the county has set up a committee to oversee how the money gets spent. She said she wants a seat at that table and plans to push for spending that reaches residents directly: treatment, prevention, recovery services, mental health support, and response after overdoses.
Cross-agency cooperation came up too. LaLonde said she’d pursue Chowan County’s participation in the Northeastern Drug Task Force, arguing that shared intelligence and coordinated investigations benefit everyone involved. She also pointed to partnerships around re-entry programs, youth diversion, and substance-use and mental health treatment. None of that, she stressed, takes responsibility off deputies’ shoulders — it just gives them backup.
A recurring theme of the night was presence — LaLonde argued that trust isn’t built through campaign promises or the occasional appearance, but by actually showing up: at community events, in conversations with residents, across every part of the county, regardless of who someone is or what they have.
“Fair is fair,” she said.
She got personal at points, too, reflecting on lessons from her own life.
“One thing life has taught me is not to judge someone’s decisions when you don’t know the options that they had,” she said — a philosophy she carries into how she thinks about criminal justice. Understanding why someone made a bad decision, she said, isn’t the same as excusing it. It’s about figuring out what could’ve gone differently, and whether the next person can be steered away from the same outcome.
One attendee, Becky, pressed LaLonde on transparency within the Sheriff’s Office and on retaining deputies, calling for a cultural shift and more investment in personnel. LaLonde agreed it needs to be a priority — deputies, she said, should feel valued, well-trained, backed by leadership, and part of a culture built on both accountability and teamwork.
By the end of the night, LaLonde’s pitch had circled back to the same idea she opened with: more deputies on patrol, more training, stronger investigations and regional ties, and a Sheriff’s Office willing to work with community groups on the issues — mental health, addiction, re-entry — that keep showing up in police calls.
“Public safety is more than making arrests,” she said. “It’s making sure people are safe in their homes, businesses can operate safely, children can grow up in secure neighborhoods, and our deputies have the tools they need to do their jobs.”
Also on hand for the event were several other local Democratic candidates: Kathleen Migloree, running for county commissioner; Miriam Rollin, running for state legislature; Sherronne Battle, running for the Board of Education; and Darin Miglorie, running for an at-large Board of Education seat.
Gallery — click to enlarge
For anyone interested in knowing more, see:
Chowan County Board of Commissioners Opioid Settlement Funds Committee Meeting Monday, October 28, 2024 https://www.chowancounty-nc.
Chowan County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting Monday, November 17, 2025 https://www.chowancounty-nc.
Chowan County Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting Monday, April 20, 2026
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