North Carolina’s Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission received notice of Joseph Costa’s Granville County appointment nearly two years after he took the oath in June 2024, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. The notice followed a court filing by prosecutor Mike Waters that raised questions about Costa’s departure from the Durham County Sheriff’s Office. Costa remains certified while the commission investigates; no outcome has been announced.
The reporting deadline and the dispute
State administrative rules require a sheriff’s office to submit a deputy’s Report of Appointment within 10 days after the deputy takes the oath. They also require a background investigation of certification applicants before employment. A separate separation report asks whether an internal investigation supported allegations of misconduct or untruthfulness, according to the North Carolina administrative rules.
Costa worked for Durham County from 1998 until resigning in September 2023. The News & Observer reported that an internal investigation found misconduct and untruthfulness. Waters’ filing recounted what the Durham sheriff’s attorney told him: that Costa had an inappropriate relationship, lied about it and contacted a witness in an effort to disrupt the investigation. Those reported findings and allegations are part of the circumstances under review, not a public decision by the state commission about Costa’s certification.
Granville County Sheriff Robert Fountain told the newspaper that the missing notice resulted from an oversight and was not intentionally withheld. Waters said the circumstances appeared to indicate intentional withholding. The commission’s review will determine whether its rules were violated and whether Costa’s certification should continue, be suspended or be revoked, the newspaper reported.
A later law adds a personnel-file requirement
A separate safeguard came after Costa’s hiring. A 2025 North Carolina law requires sheriffs considering a deputy applicant to request and review the applicant’s complete personnel file from any North Carolina law-enforcement agency that employed the applicant during any part of the preceding five years, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. Because the law postdates Costa’s June 2024 appointment, it is not the hiring requirement that applied at that time…