The Axon contract may not be legal. At all.
Tonight, I relayed to Mayor Esther Manheimer and city council member Maggie Ullman that the Axon contract the City of Asheville signed for ~$7.5 million in May of 2026 may not be legal. I attended a Buncombe County Democratic Party hosted event, and when I was queued up to ask a question the event ended before I could ask anything. Seems like poor planning most likely.
So I spoke with Esther and Maggie one on one, and relayed my concerns that Asheville’s contract may not only be voided because Axon may be operating an unlicensed security camera business, but that it may be a crime (misdemeanor) for the city to continue to procure services from Axon while Axon is (potentially) unlicensed. Per the North Carolina Security Camera Licensing Board, there is an ongoing investigation into this via a complaint I filed Monday, August 31st.
A search for Axon related entities, not limited to Axon Enterprise(s), turned up no results via the North Carolina Security Camera Licensing Registry…
Kim Roney has been consistently been against surveillance, with candidate Jeffrey Burroughs and Drew Ball echoing concerns. Antanette Mosley and candidate/councilor Sheneika Smith (Councilperson Smith was a no-show to this event again, unsure why…) have both responded to the ongoing surveillance debate with articulated support for the surveillance on the basis that it helps their respective represented communities on public safety issues.
Should Axon be found to be in violation of state statutory requirements to be registered with the Licensing Board, it theoretically could void the multimillion dollar master service contract with Asheville, but also every contract they hold bundled with stationary surveillance services/devices in the State of North Carolina. Obviously this is a question for the city attorney/the attorney general, and not interested citizens, but I’m sure they’ll hear about it soon!
If you wanted to read some law, please follow this link to take a look at the statute that mandates Axon be authorized via the licensing board for security cameras.
I also want to emphasize that death threats aren’t okay. I understand this is a contentious issue, and yeah, there are constitutional questions about the right to privacy and warrantless searches. Death threats are also never okay to make. Maggie Ullman had her car broken into and tires slashed, Esther seemed genuinely concerned. Mass surveillance is not okay in any circumstance, neither is threatening your local representatives, even if you disagree passionately.
