THE BOND IS CALLED

THE OUTLAW ARMORY

And They Had to Answer

Published March 17, 2026  •  outlawlivin.com

I. WHAT HAPPENED

On March 5, 2026, a citizen walked into the Rowan County Courthouse and asked to inspect an official public bond. The law is unambiguous. N.C.G.S. § 58-76-5 states: “All official bonds shall be open to the inspection of any person.” Not some persons. Not persons with legal representation. Not persons who file written requests in triplicate and wait thirty days.

Any person.

They told him to leave. They told him the records were not all there. They told him to identify the officials himself. They provided no written explanation as required by N.C.G.S. § 132-9(a). Three deputies and one lieutenant of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office were present. All four were informed that a statutory violation was occurring in their presence. All four declined to act.

The citizen came back on March 16, 2026. He brought the statute in writing. He handed it to law enforcement. Sergeant Williams of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office looked at the documentation, looked at the citizen, and said the following words:

“I can’t investigate my own people.”

That statement was recorded. It is now part of the permanent record of this matter.

Captain Lumbard was notified. No action was taken.

II. WHAT THE LAW SAYS

N.C.G.S. § 58-76-5 has been on the books since 1869. One hundred and fifty-seven years. The text has not changed. The obligation has not changed. The right has not changed.

All official bonds shall be open to the inspection of any person.

The Clerk of Superior Court is the statutory custodian of official bonds under N.C.G.S. § 58-72-50. The duty to maintain and produce is mandatory. Not discretionary. Not subject to the Clerk’s preference or the county attorney’s schedule.

N.C.G.S. § 132-9(a) requires that when access to a public record is denied, the custodian must provide a written statement citing the specific legal authority for the denial. Not a verbal redirect. Not a suggestion to use a computer terminal. A written statement with a legal citation.

No written explanation was provided on March 5. No written explanation was provided on March 16. No legal basis for either refusal was ever stated by any official.

That absence is not an oversight. It is a documented constitutional violation.

III. THE BOND — B150011544

On March 17, 2026, the Rowan County Attorney called the citizen. He identified himself as John W. Dees II, Office of the County Attorney, 130 West Innes Street, Salisbury, NC 28144. The call was recorded pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-287.

During that call, Dees produced the following instrument:

Bond No. B150011544 — Old Republic Surety Company — Principal: J. Travis Allen, Sheriff, Rowan County — Face Amount: $25,000 — Term: December 1, 2022 through December 7, 2026 — Certified True Copy by the Rowan County Clerk of Superior Court.

The same Clerk’s office that refused to produce this document on March 5 and March 16 certified it as a true copy. The bond was producible on both prior dates. Its production on March 17 — three days after the second refusal, following certified mail demand and formal surety company notice — confirms that no legal basis existed for either refusal.

The bond condition: faithful performance of all duties imposed by law and honest accounting for all money coming into the Sheriff’s hands in his official capacity.

The surety: Old Republic Surety Company, Brookfield, Wisconsin, has been placed on formal notice of breach. A supplemental notice incorporating the March 16 events, Williams’ statement, and the county attorney’s recorded non-response is forthcoming.

IV. THE LETTER THEY HAVE TO ANSWER

Following receipt of the bond, the citizen sent County Attorney Dees a formal written reply. Five sections. Three closing questions. All sourced to enacted statute or documented record.

The five sections addressed:

One — Bond confirmation for Todd Wyrick, Clerk of Superior Court, and District Attorney Brandy Cook. Written confirmation of existence or absence of each bond requested.

Two — Sergeant Williams’ explicit statement and the county’s response or non-response to documented deliberate non-enforcement policy.

Three — Captain Lumbard’s chain of command notification and supervisory action or inaction.

Four — The March 5 officers — three deputies and one lieutenant — identified by date, rank, and incident. Names and badge numbers requested.

Five — Notice that the March 17 telephone conversation was recorded and all communications are being preserved as part of an ongoing legal matter.

The three closing questions:

Given the nature of the documented conduct outlined above, please advise whether you believe the matters raised herein would warrant referral to the Office of the Attorney General.

Please also advise whether, in your professional opinion as County Attorney, the documented conduct outlined herein is sufficient to trigger the bond forfeiture provisions applicable to Sheriff Allen’s official bond and whether the board of commissioners has any obligation to act under N.C.G.S. § 162-10.

Please further advise whether the matters documented herein have been or will be disclosed to any other elected officials or law enforcement agencies with whom Rowan County maintains an operational relationship.

There is no clean answer to any of those three questions. The county attorney has them in writing. His response — or his documented silence — becomes the next exhibit.

V. WHAT COMES NEXT

One of three things happens now.

Dees answers the questions. Every answer creates a new exhibit. The AG question alone — whatever he says — goes directly into the federal complaint.

Dees doesn’t answer. Documented silence from the county’s chief legal officer on five specific inquiries about documented constitutional violations. That silence is deliberate indifference by the county’s own attorney. It goes into the complaint too.

Dees calls someone. Allen. The commissioners. Cook. The AG. Every call spreads the documented liability to a new set of ears. Every set of ears that receives this information and takes no corrective action compounds the pattern of deliberate indifference. The enterprise grows. The RICO predicate strengthens.

There is no fourth option that makes this go away.

The federal complaint has not been filed yet. Nine UCC-1 Financing Statements have not been filed yet. The AG presentment has not been sent yet. The Penn National notice on Finance Director Bumgarner’s $1,000,000 bond has not been sent yet.

Everything documented above occurred before any of those instruments fired.

This is what the pressure looks like before the complaint has a case number.

VI. FOR THE CITIZEN READING THIS

You didn’t need a lawyer to do any of what is documented above. You need the statute. A printer. Certified mail. The willingness to go back twice when they say no.

Every county in North Carolina has a Sheriff. Every Sheriff has a bond. N.C.G.S. § 162-8 requires it. The face amount cannot exceed $25,000 under current statute. The commissioners take and approve it under § 162-9. The Clerk of Superior Court holds it as custodian under § 58-72-50. And § 58-76-5 says you can see it. Any person. No procedure required. No attorney required. No advance notice required.

Every Finance Director has a bond. Every bonded official has a surety company. Every surety company has a claims address. Every commissioners’ board has a mandatory December examination obligation under § 58-72-20. Most of those examinations are rubber stamps. Most of those bond files have never been inspected by a citizen.

The framework is built. The procedure is documented. The statutes are cited. The surety companies are identified. The case law is in place.

A citizen in any North Carolina county can take this framework, substitute their county officials’ names, pull their bond reports from public commissioner meeting minutes, and execute the same procedure.

When they say no — document it. Send certified mail. Notify the surety. Send the letter. Ask the questions they cannot answer cleanly.

The bond is the floor. The oath is the instrument. The public is the beneficiary. And the law says any person can inspect it.

They said no twice. The law said yes. The county attorney called. The bond is in hand. The letter is sent. The record is complete.

THE OUTLAW ARMORY — outlawlivin.com — All documents sourced to enacted statute or published record.

N.C.G.S. § 58-76-5 • § 58-72-50 • § 132-9(a) • § 162-8 • § 162-9 • § 162-10 • § 58-72-20 • § 15A-287 • 42 U.S.C. § 1983