The small town of Snow Hill, North Carolina—about 70 miles southeast of Raleigh—held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon and voted to revisit its decision to dissolve the town’s five-member police department.
Last week, the town commissioners voted 3-2 to disband the Snow Hill Police Department, which was established in 2011. The department consists of the Chief, four full-time, and four part-time officers, and is also supplemented by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
By disbanding the town’s police force, commissioners would opt to contract its police services to the county sheriff. Shifting policing to the sheriffs department would reportedly save the town $230,000 this year. Importantly, deputies have jurisdiction countywide, not just within town limits like Snow Hill officers.
The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to reconsider, though it will need to rework its budget to accommodate it. According to reports, town commissioners are working on setting a date for a budget work session. According to documents, the police department’s budget in 2023-2024 was approximately $465,000.
“I too have heard from the residents, and the residents want good law enforcement,” said Commissioner Faye Daniels. “The budget is balanced to fund the police for 25 and 26 so we are going to move forward. However, we must recommit ourselves to delivering the best police services to our community because they deserve nothing less.
After last week’s initial vote to disband the police department, pressure arose from political leaders like Rep. Don Davis, D-01, who once served as mayor of the town. In a press release, he urged the town to reverse its decision.
My statement on the Snow Hill Police Department: pic.twitter.com/Zr0206c1za
— Congressman Don Davis (@RepDonDavis) May 31, 2025
“Numerous towns, both small and medium-sized, do not have police departments and have contracted with their sheriff’s office for dedicated law-enforcement services within their town,” said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the NC Sheriffs’ Association. He pointed to counties like Union, Davie, and Forsyth, which contract with county sheriff’s offices for law enforcement services.
According to the Sheriffs’ Association, towns can benefit from predictable costs and avoid the complexities of recruiting, training, supervising, or replacing officers. Additionally, towns can avoid the civil liability risks and administrative overhead of running a department.
“While police officers working for the town are limited in their territorial jurisdiction to the town limits and one mile beyond, deputies will not be limited to the town jurisdictional limits and will have jurisdiction within the town and throughout the county,” explained Caldwell. “As a larger agency, a sheriff’s office can provide more training opportunities to deputies and more cross-training of deputies than a town can provide to its police officers.”
In 2021, the town of Mocksville dissolved its police force and entered into an agreement with the Davie County Sheriff’s Office for dedicated law enforcement services. Town officials emphasized that the decision to dissolve the department was not influenced by national discussions around “defunding the police.” Instead, the move was intended to increase the number of officers patrolling the streets while achieving significant cost savings for the community.
Similarly, the town of Hertford transferred policing responsibilities to the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office as a cost-saving measure. According to the mayor, this move is expected to save the town more than $300,000 annually—funds that can now be reallocated to other critical needs, all while maintaining public safety through county support.
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