RALEIGH — A select House committee to determine what, if any, actions can be taken regarding the arrest this month of Rep. Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford) will no longer be necessary as Brockman resigned on Friday not long after the committee was announced by House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls).
“Rep. Brockman’s decision to resign is the right thing to do for his constituents and for the North Carolina House of Representatives,” Hall said in a post on X. “His departure spares the House from a difficult expulsion process and brings closure to this troubling chapter.”
Brockman has been charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and two counts of statutory rape/sex offense of a 13- to 15-year-old by a defendant at least six years older than the victim. He remains in custody on a $1.05 million bond.
“I am glad that Rep. Brockman has voluntarily resigned from the General Assembly. The allegations against him are serious and made it impossible for him to adequately represent his constituents,” Minority Leader Rep. Robert Reives (D-Chatham) said in a statement. “I look forward to the Guilford County Democrats appointing his successor.”
Hall first mentioned such a committee during House floor activities Oct. 21 and said the committee would look at “relevant precedent from prior committees of this nature” to “ensure that a fair and impartial examination of the facts has had.”
“It’s a rare occurrence for this sort of thing to be taken up by this chamber,” Hall said. “And so what I’ve done is asked staff and the attorneys about the history and precedent of it and what has been done in the past.”
At that time, Hall also said he had been in communication with Reives about the matter.
The committee could look at impeachment or expulsion, although expulsion has historically been applied for monetary or campaign finance abuses.
Top Democrats and Republicans, including NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, called for Brockman’s resignation following his arrest.
Court records show past cases involving Brockman, such as an ejection from his apartment in April for failure to pay $2,651.26 in rent for an apartment on Abberton Way in High Point. That complaint was made by Broadstone Village Apartments. The monthly rent for the apartment is $970. The ejection notice was filed and signed by a magistrate on April 22.
The April case was not the first time Brockman had been ejected for nonpayment by that property group. Records show Broadstone Village Apartments filed for a summary ejection of Brockman in mid-October 2014. Another court record from 2015 shows Broadstone Village Apartments sued Brockman for money owed, and the court record shows he was ejected Jan. 15, 2015.
The state’s eCourts system also shows 14 other closed cases for Brockman between 2002 and 2022. Most of the cases are traffic related, such as no operator’s license, failing to comply with license restrictions, lack of valid registration, no valid inspection, expired tags and speeding.
A 2007 case included a charge for speeding in Guilford County when he was cited for going 58 mph in a 35-mph zone. That same year he was cited in Wake County for driving with a revoked license.
A case in 2009 cited Brockman for possession of marijuana (1/2 to 1 1/2 ounces), failure to comply with license restrictions, expired registration/tags, expired registration and driving with a revoked license in Guilford County.
Two years later, he was cited by the Cary Police for not using his headlights, but the charges included possession of drug paraphernalia. Both charges were dismissed without leave by the district attorney.
The most recent closed case in 2022 showed he was cited in Cabarrus County for “reckless driving with wanton disregard” and speeding (96 in a 65).
