Editing Cherokee County, North Carolina (section)

==Law, government, and politics==
===Government===
Mandated by the laws of the State of North Carolina, Cherokee County is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners who each serve a four-year term. The board directs the actions of the appointed Cherokee County Manager. The commission, as of 2023, is composed of Ben Adams, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, Jan Griggs (vice-chair), Randy Phillips, and Cal Stiles (chair). Maria Hass is the clerk to the board and Darryl Brown is the county attorney.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Commissioners |url=https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/322/Board-of-Commissioners |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov}}</ref> The county annual budget is $63.4 million as of 2025.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Foster |first=Randy |date=2025-05-14 |title=Taxes, fees flat, no raises in budget proposal |work=[[Cherokee Scout]] |publisher=[[Community Newspapers Inc.]] |location=Murphy, NC |pages=1A, 8A}}</ref>

Cherokee County is a member of the regional [[Councils of governments in North Carolina|Southwestern Commission Council of Governments]].

Cherokee County faces more than $50 million in costs related to lawsuits over its [[North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Social Services]] practice of separating children from families with an unlawful form to bypass judicial approval.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Kate |date=August 19, 2021 |title=County wary of lawsuit costs as insurer tries to reduce its liability |url=http://carolinapublicpress.org/47788/county-wary-of-lawsuit-costs-as-insurer-tries-to-reduce-its-liability/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Carolina Public Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Public safety===
Thirty percent of Cherokee County's budget is spent on public safety as of 2025, making it the largest share of annual expenditures.<ref name=":7" />

====Sheriff and police====
Court protection, jail management, and security for county owned property plus patrol and detective services for unincorporated county areas is provided by the Cherokee County Sheriff. The towns of Murphy and Andrews have municipal police departments. The Qualla Boundary tribal police provide security for the Cherokee Nation's Qualla Boundary territories throughout the county.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sheriff's Office {{pipe}} Cherokee County, NC |url=https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/269/Sheriffs-Office |url-status=live |access-date=August 14, 2022 |website=www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625010115/https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/269/Sheriffs-Office|archive-date=June 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Home – Murphy, NC Police |url=http://www.murphypolice.com/ |access-date=August 15, 2022 |website=www.murphypolice.com}}</ref>

====Fire and EMS====
Fire protection is provided by thirteen all-volunteer fire departments in the county including those at Culberson and Murphy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/BusinessDirectoryII.aspx?lngBusinessCategoryID=22|title = Resource Directory • Cherokee County, NC • CivicEngage}}</ref> Cherokee County Fire Inspector activity is part of the Cherokee County Building Code Enforcement Office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fire Inspection Office {{pipe}} Cherokee County, NC |url=https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/188/Fire-Inspection-Office |url-status=live |archive-date=August 13, 2022 |access-date=August 14, 2022 |website=www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813033225/https://www.cherokeecounty-nc.gov/188/Fire-Inspection-Office}}</ref>

===Politics===
{{PresHead|place=Cherokee County, North Carolina|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|13,883|3,686|255|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|12,628|3,583|212|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|10,844|2,860|477|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|9,278|3,378|211|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|8,643|3,785|158|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|7,517|3,635|47|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|6,305|3,239|130|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|3,883|3,129|871|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|4,021|3,686|1,051|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|4,557|2,567|21|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|4,894|2,776|9|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|3,849|3,114|116|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|3,210|3,571|67|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|4,113|2,411|80|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|3,768|2,402|915|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|3,106|3,823|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|4,294|3,197|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|3,830|2,843|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|3,228|3,363|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|2,615|2,771|186|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,625|2,582|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|2,674|3,180|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,214|3,473|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|3,131|3,348|25|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|3,239|1,911|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|2,314|1,742|23|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|2,506|1,761|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1916|Tie|1,362|1,362|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|734|906|477|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,310|782|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|980|663|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,157|774|6|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|987|770|2|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1892|Tie|692|692|66|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|888|673|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|678|517|0|North Carolina}}
{{PresFoot|1880|Democratic|649|722|0|North Carolina}}

Politically, Cherokee County is dominated by the Republican Party.<ref>{{cite news| last = Pishko| first = Jessica| title = Fed Up| newspaper = The Assembly| date = September 27, 2023| url = https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/constitutional-sheriff-cherokee-county/| access-date = September 28, 2023}}</ref> No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Cherokee County since [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1976, and the past six Republican candidates have all exceeded 65 percent of the county's vote, with [[Donald Trump]] exceeding 75 percent in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

Cherokee County lies within the [[North Carolina's 50th Senate district|50th State Senate district]], represented by Republican Senator [[Jim Davis (North Carolina politician)|Jim Davis]], in the [[North Carolina Senate]]. It lies within the [[North Carolina's 120th House district|120th district]], and is represented by Republican [[Kevin Corbin]], in the [[North Carolina House of Representatives]].