Dare sheriff candidate Theodore “Teddy” Daniels

Teddy Daniels (Photo courtesy Teddy Daniels)

By Corinne Saunders

Editor’s Note: This is one of our weekly open-access articles. Candidate information comes from public records, verbal responses during a public forum and written responses to questions from Outer Banks Insider. To support Outer Banks Insider’s work and to access all of it, click the button below.

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Theodore “Teddy” Daniels, one of four Republican primary candidates for Dare County sheriff, in his campaign has highlighted that he is not a “status quo” candidate, with past experiences including working in law enforcement, serving in the U.S. Army and managing businesses.

Outer Banks Insider asked questions about Daniels’ experience and background, but he didn’t answer many of them, so this article largely relies on public records.

Daniels is the only Dare sheriff candidate who has run for public office before. He’s also the only one with no North Carolina law enforcement experience, to have been involved with the legal cannabis industry, to have been suspended without pay from a police department and who is being sued for “defamation/libel.”

• Read about candidate Jeffrey “Jeff” Deringer here.

• Read about candidate Jimmy Pierce here.

• Read about candidate Rodney Rawls here.

No candidates from any other political parties filed to run in the sheriff’s race, meaning the primary winner will most likely win the general election. Longtime Dare County Sheriff John D. “Doug” Doughtie is retiring this November, at the end of his term.

Sheriffs in North Carolina are not required to have any law enforcement experience. But one of the questions at the Dare County GOP’s sheriff candidate forum on Thursday, Jan. 8, in Nags Head, asked about candidates’ respective North Carolina law enforcement credentials and experience.

“I do not have North Carolina law enforcement experience,” Daniels said. “But I have leadership experience. I have management experience. I have military experience.”

Daniels said when he started his first business, “I had $5,000 to my name…And in nine months, we were a publicly traded company with a market cap of $44 million.”

He did not share details on the nature of his businesses during the forum. He also did not respond to Outer Banks Insider’s questions about the names and nature of his businesses by publication time.

But he posted on his Facebook page on Dec. 11, 2025, about the first company he founded, and how it was featured in multiple media outlets. In that post, he shared what appeared to be an article clipping naming the company as Blue Line Protection Group—a cannabis security business that launched in 2013, according to multiple news reports and public records.

A Theodore Vincent Daniels is listed as the registered agent for Blue Line Protection Group, LLC, on the Colorado Secretary of State website.

A Ted Daniels of the same age and background appears in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on March 27, 2014, for The Engraving Masters, Inc. The filing states that the company acquired Blue Line Protection Group, Inc., 13 days prior and “agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests in Blue Line Protection Group LLC” 12 days prior. The filing names Daniels as the vice president of sales for The Engraving Masters, Inc., and states that he previously served in law enforcement and in the U.S. Army infantry—where he received a Purple Heart—and that he founded Blue Line Protection Group, LLC, in August 2013.

“From there, [I] sold my interest in that company, started another company,” Daniels said during the forum. “[It] operated in seven states on the East Coast, Michigan and California,” and it “got acquired in 2019.”

Public information shows that his second business was in the same industry: National Cannabis Security Services (NCSS).

Former military and law enforcement members, working for NCSS as “heavily armed private security,” deliver marijuana to dispensaries and move cash on behalf of the dispensary clients, according to a Feb. 16, 2017, ABC News article naming Ted Daniels as the NCSS executive director and a Pennsylvania native.

Ted Daniels, listed as the founder of National Cannabis Security Services, appeared among speakers slated for the Oct. 10, 2017, Medical Cannabis Educational Summit at the Harrisburg campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, according to a Sept. 26, 2017, press release from the college.

Palm Springs, California-based HARDCAR acquired NCSS out of Pennsylvania, founded by “Theodore V. Daniels (Ted),” which resulted in expanding its U.S. footprint to over 10 states, according to a Feb. 27, 2019, Newswire.com article.

Employment history

A question at the Dare GOP sheriff candidate forum specifically for Daniels was: “Posts on social media say you’ve had 10 law enforcement officer jobs in 11 to 12 years. Is this true, and if so, why?”

Daniels did not answer the question at the forum.

“You know, a lot of stuff is said on social media,” he said. “A lot of things get twisted. I’ve worked full-time police jobs and part-time police jobs at the same time.”

Daniels in his campaign announcement video on Facebook said he’d been a police officer for 15 years. His Facebook page states that he is a “retired police officer.”

In his introductory statement at the forum, he said, “I did close to 15 years in law enforcement.”

Records that Outer Banks Insider obtained from law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania and Maryland indicate that he worked for at least nine different agencies—one of them twice—for a total employment time of over 10 years between 1997 and 2010, with a mix of full-time and part-time jobs.

Daniels declined to answer any of Outer Banks Insider’s specific questions about his law enforcement employment history. 

“I forwarded your questions to my legal team and we are preparing civil litigation against you…for targeted harassment and defamation,” Daniels said in a Feb. 7 email. “Your ‘questions’ are masquerading as ‘reporting’ and is being done to only harass and defame.”

Mitchell Finch of Finch PLLC in Kill Devil Hills emailed Outer Banks Insider on Feb. 9, stating, “I’m in the process of being retained in regards to this matter.” He asked for and received an extension of the Feb. 9 deadline by which Outer Banks Insider had requested candidate answers.

Finch provided responses from Daniels to select questions on the morning of Feb. 11, accompanied by a letter stating, “I represent Theodore Daniels.”

In response to a question about what he was most proud of in his law enforcement career, Daniels through his attorney said, “I am proud of the fact that I spent years in service being able to help those in need, and to stand up for people who didn’t have anyone to stand up for them.”

Daniels declined to answer questions about how many law enforcement jobs he had and at how many different agencies; the total length of time he was employed as a law enforcement officer; or if he worked as a law enforcement officer anywhere before Lehigh County or after Minersville.

The first law enforcement job Outer Banks Insider was able to confirm from public records was a part-time deputy sheriff position for the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office in Pennsylvania.

According to the records officer, Daniels held that role for approximately three months, from December 11, 1997, to March 27, 1998. He held the same part-time role a decade later for about a month, from Feb. 12, 2008, to March 13, 2008, according to Open Records Officer Sheila Dutra-Michel.

Outer Banks Insider’s request for the nature of his separations and any awards, letters or notices from supervisors regarding his performance and/or job status was denied under an exemption in Pennsylvania Right-To-Know law (RTKL).

Immediately following his first stint with Lehigh, Daniels worked simultaneously full-time for Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Pennsylvania and part-time for Upper Perk Police Department in Pennsylvania for four months, according to a copy of a handwritten job application he submitted in 2005 to the Havre de Grace Police Department obtained from a source.

Daniels did not respond to a question asking if the Havre de Grace application obtained by Outer Banks Insider was an accurate copy of his original application.

His fourth law enforcement job was working for the Marlborough Township Police Department in Pennsylvania from August 1998 to March 1999, according to the copy of the Havre de Grace application.

Daniels listed the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office as a prior employer on his resume in his application to the Douglass Township Berks County Police Department in Pennsylvania—a record provided to Outer Banks Insider by that township—but he did not include any employment dates on that resume.

“Please be advised that Montgomery County searched its human resources records and Montgomery County does not have any records responsive to your request in its possession, custody, or control,” Joshua C. Wertheimer, public records officer, said in a letter response to Outer Banks Insider’s request for employment details, including dates.

Daniels’ fifth and longest law enforcement job reflected in public records Outer Banks Insider obtained was six years with the Bel Air Police Department in Maryland.

The Bel Air Police Department denied Outer Banks Insider’s request for records. However, the Douglass Township provided records that included Daniels’ Douglass Township, Berks County Police Department employment application from July 7, 2008, in which he wrote that he worked for Bel Air from April 1999 to April 2005.

Those records also contained copies of numerous law enforcement certifications Daniels obtained and awards he earned during his time with Bel Air.

The County Council of Harford County, Maryland for three years in a row presented awards to Daniels that each said, “Honorable Mention for being one of the Top DWI Law Enforcement Agents.”

Daniels made four DWI arrests in 2001, 14 DWI arrests in 2002 and 12 DWI arrests in 2003 during his time at the Bel Air department, according to copies of the awards.

The Office of the State’s Attorney for Harford County also recognized Daniels for each of those years with awards for his “dedicated service to Harford County by investigating drunk-driving incidents.”

In his employment application to the Douglass department, Daniels wrote that his reason for leaving Bel Air was “to work with [my] brother in Havre de Grace PD.”

Daniels worked for one year for the Havre de Grace Police Department in Maryland—his sixth law enforcement job, according to obtained public records. He was hired as “a full-time officer” on April 6, 2005, and resigned on April 20, 2006, with no entries referencing suspensions or administrative leave during that time, according to Dr. Christopher Ricci, director of administration for the City of Havre de Grace.

Daniels wrote in his Douglass application for employment that he left Havre de Grace Police Department because he “was making more selling real estate.”

Daniels worked for the Douglass Township Berks County Police Department in Pennsylvania for about five months, full-time, according to its records.

Hired on Aug. 18, 2008, Daniels was sworn in on Sept. 2, 2008, and resigned on Jan. 21, 2009, the township’s records show.

Daniels’ resignation letter to the Douglass department was also among released records.

“I feel that although this is an outstanding agency to work for, I need more out of my career as a police officer,” he wrote in his resignation letter, which he signed Ted V. Daniels. “I wish to find an agency which will afford me the opportunity to expand my career and find an agency that will be growing in time.”

Ted Daniels appeared in the April 7, 2009, meeting minutes for Douglass Township Berks County Board of Supervisors in Pennsylvania, as he had appealed the denial of unemployment benefits following his resignation from the police department. (Screenshot of start of meeting minutes)

Daniels filed for unemployment after his resignation, according to Douglass Township – Berks County Board of Supervisors meeting minutes. He was denied and then appealed the denial.

“Ted Daniels has been denied unemployment compensation and has filed an appeal for the denial,” posted April 7, 2009, meeting minutes state, noting a suggestion that the lawyer be present at the hearing.

Daniels declined to respond to questions about why he resigned, filed for unemployment afterward and appealed the denial.

Public records show that he began working part-time at another police department the month before that board of supervisors meeting took place.

Daniels worked for approximately nine months as a part-time patrolman for Bally Borough Police Department in Pennsylvania, according to Bally Borough records.

“Based on the records we have, being 17 years ago and record retention requirements, I can only tell you Theodore Daniels was a P/T patrolman from March 2009 - December 2009,” Bally Borough Secretary Tammy M. Wood wrote in an email to Outer Banks Insider. “There was no mention of Theodore Daniels in the minutes from the end of 2009 to beginning of 2010.”

For approximately the last month he was working part-time at Bally Borough, Daniels held a second job working full-time for the Minersville Police Department in Pennsylvania, records show.

He worked full-time for about nine months for the Minersville Police Department until he was suspended without pay, according to Borough of Minersville records.

He then resigned exactly a year from his date of hire, according to those records.

Daniels was hired as deputy police chief on Nov. 10, 2009, was suspended without pay on Aug. 23, 2010, and resigned on Nov. 10, 2010, according to Borough of Minersville Open Records Officer Megan Paul.

Outer Banks Insider’s request for the nature of Daniels’ separation and for any letters or notices from supervisors to Daniels about his performance and/or job status was denied, Paul wrote, “because the records are exempt from disclosure under [the Pennsylvania Right-To-Know law].”

Daniels declined to comment on his suspension without pay from the Minersville Police Department.

An area newspaper in Pennsylvania, the Pottsville Republican Herald, in at least four articles across four months covered the suspension and what it ultimately called a “separation agreement” in a Nov. 9, 2010, article.

Daniels declined to answer if the articles were accurate or to comment on any separation agreement.

Pennsylvania public records show that, years later, Daniels later applied for and was granted two private detective licenses in two different counties.

Daniels was granted a private detective license in Chester County, Pennsylvania, by a May 30, 2018, order, following his April 10, 2018, application for the license.

He was granted a private detective license in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, by an Oct. 28, 2021, order, following his June 21, 2021, application for the license.

Army career

Daniels said at the sheriff candidate forum that after his police career, he joined the U.S. Army.

His campaign signs across Dare County feature a Purple Heart award, which he was awarded for his service in Afghanistan, according to his campaign website.

A copy of Daniels’ service records Outer Banks Insider obtained from a source showed that he served in the Army from March 2011 to April 2014 and was deployed from March to July 2012.

Daniels did not respond to Outer Banks Insider’s request for confirmation of those dates.

Daniels wrote that he has a “100% Permanent and Total Disability rating through Veterans Affairs for injuries sustained in combat,” in his “statement of financial interests” for the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission during his run for lieutenant governor.

On the document, which he signed on Feb. 22, 2022, he listed his occupation/profession as “retired/disabled,” and listed only two sources of income: Department of Veterans Affairs, with an address in Janesville, Wisconsin; and Social Security Disability, with an address in Baltimore, Maryland.

“Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or ‘Disability’ provides monthly payments to people who have a disability that stops or limits their ability to work,” according to the Social Security Administration website.

Daniels did not respond to questions related to his receiving disability.

Political career

Daniels ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for a U.S. House seat representing Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, the state’s election results show.

He initially began running for that same seat in 2022 before switching to the lieutenant governor race.

Daniels declined to comment about why he initially ran for Congress.

In response to a question about why he started a second run for Congress and then switched to the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor race, he indicated that COVID-19 played a role.

“During covid [sic] I felt like I could do more for the residents of the state of Pennsylvania in a state position, rather than in federal position,” Daniels said. “Polling had me up 30 points in the congressional race when I left and got involved with the race for lieutenant governor.”

Residency

Daniels told Outer Banks Insider that he owns a second home in West Virginia, sold his South Carolina house last spring and “relocated to the Outer Banks over a year ago.”

Daniels registered to vote in Dare County on May 20, 2025, and five days later, he posted on Facebook a public video of him driving in which he announced his planned run for sheriff.

The Manteo address he listed as his residence on his voter registration is owned by his wife and her ex-husband, Jeremy Tillett.

Jeremy Tillett and Briana Lisa Ragone own the home in Manteo, county property records show. They divorced in December 2023, according to court records.

A positive and the first challenge to address 

In response to the question of what he thinks the Dare County Sheriff's Office is currently doing well, Daniels pointed to some current employees and to the interagency drug task force.

“They have some amazing deputies that work in the Sheriff’s Office, who seem to like what they do,” he wrote. “I brought this up approximately 8 months ago – that I think the interagency narcotics task force is a very positive development.”

When asked what the first challenge he’d address as sheriff is and how he’d do it, Daniels responded: “Attacking the drug trafficking issue. Cracking down hard on fentanyl, cocaine and heroin. Addicts need help, dealers need jail. I will support and grow the narcotics task force and increase drug interdiction efforts.”

Daniels has been vocally anti-drugs and anti-corruption in his local campaign.

“I want this to be a community free of drugs, free of corruption,” Daniels said in last May’s video announcing his planned run for Dare County sheriff.

At the forum, in response to a question about how candidates would “augment existing measures currently in place to stop or reduce the flow of drugs into Dare County,” he said, “I want to train guys on drug interdiction.”

He said he wanted to focus on “the guys at the top” who are distributing drugs and noted, “I also want to form partnerships with the surrounding counties and their drug task force so we can go ahead and share resources to get that done.”

A regional drug task force that had been in the works for about a year and a half, according to involved agency leaders, was announced on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

When asked what he thinks his responsibility to the public is as sheriff, he said it “would be to provide the public with the best law enforcement services that we can possibly provide and in doing so, in the most professional manner.”

When asked how he plans to hold the sheriff’s office accountable to the citizens of Dare County, he did not share specific plans.

“It’s my responsibility to hold the sheriff’s office accountable, he said. “A true leader takes blame, and gives praise.”

“Addicts need help, dealers need jail. I will support and grow the narcotics task force and increase drug interdiction efforts.”

— Teddy Daniels, candidate for Dare County sheriff

Court history

Online Maryland courts system records show that Daniels was accused of domestic violence in 2013 and that on several occasions, he was not paying child support on time.

Family-related questions were among those Daniels, through his attorney, declined to answer.

“After careful consideration, on behalf of my client, I believe that a number of the questions presented go beyond what is reasonable or appropriate for public commentary in the context of a local sheriff’s race,” Finch wrote in his letter to Outer Banks Insider.

“Several questions seek comment on pending or threatened litigation, confidential or sealed personnel matters, private family matters, or sensitive medical and military information,” Finch continued. “Mr. Daniels cannot comment on those matters, and doing so would risk violating privacy interests, legal protections, and the rights of third parties.”

Daniels was the only candidate to bring a young child to the sheriff candidate forum last month, and he asked his son to stand during the forum and introduced him as Jack.

“I’m raising my little boy here,” Daniels said. “He’s eight years old. Okay? School safety is a huge issue, huge issue. The pedophile issue is huge.”

In a court filing that does not name the other party, in November 2013, Daniels was accused of domestic violence, according to a filing in the District Court of Baltimore County, Maryland.

The result of a Nov. 21, 2013, hearing was: “This order is denied because there is no statutory basis for relief.”

Outer Banks Insider was not able to obtain the full court records for this matter by publication time.

Separately, during his run for lieutenant governor in 2022, Daniels found himself in the national spotlight when his wife at the time sought and was granted temporary emergency protections in Pennsylvania, claiming “physical and mental abuse,” according to an April 28, 2022, article in The Associated Press.

The now ex-wife was granted temporary custody of their child and Daniels was ordered to turn over his guns, according to the article. Daniels called the allegations “unfounded” and claimed they were politically motivated, the same article said.

A judge struck the protective order the following week, according to a May 6, 2022, article in Rolling Stone magazine. 

Recently, in a Q&A with the Island Free Press, in response to a question about the 2022 protection-from-abuse (PFA) order, Daniels said, “I’m glad you asked me about that.”

He shared at length in the Jan. 26 Island Free Pree article, stating, “None of that was what it was made out to be,” and said that his ex-wife—who died in December 2023 after the couple had divorced—“had a stroke and died from alcohol and prescription drug abuse.”

Maryland court records indicate that at least two different women were previously awarded custody of children they had with Daniels, and he was ordered to pay child support for each.

Outer Banks Insider could not access full case documents for these actions by publication time and Daniels, through his lawyer, declined to comment on these allegations.

Daniels petitioned for visitation rights for one child in 2001, and records showed the parties reaching an agreement later that year.

In 2002, a consent order directed Daniels “to pay arrears and child support as specified, etc.”

In a separate case, Daniels filed for divorce, with the judgment of absolute divorce dated Aug. 5, 2004, in Harford Circuit Court, Maryland, granting sole custody of the couple’s child to his ex-wife.

Thereafter the parties continued to grapple with accusations that Daniels, named in the records as Theodore V. Daniels, was not making his child support payments.

In Maryland, Title 4D refers to child support enforcement.

The case file shows petitions were filed in August 2006 and November 2006, each called, “Title 4D petition for contempt and show cause.”

An April 24, 2009, “Judge’s Response” in the case file said, “4D found in contempt – lump sum order,” and listed Daniels as the party name.

Daniels filed a “4D petition to decrease child support” on Jan. 23, 2017.

A May 8, 2017, 4D Amended Consent Order of Court required Daniels, the plaintiff, to pay monthly, with his ex-wife obligated to provide health insurance and hospitalization insurance coverage.

“The collection on arrears shall be stayed at this time pending the child’s receipt of the lump sum award from Social Security based on plaintiff's SSDI award,” according to the order.

Also granted was a “4D earnings withholding order,” which said it was a “wage lien on defendant’s earning through support and custody etc.”

A Title 4D order filed Oct. 27, 2017, said, “Plaintiff shall continue to pay ongoing child support per month” as previously ordered. “As a result of the lump sum award from Social Security based on plaintiff's SSDI award given to minor child on October 4, 2017, there are no arrears owed as of October 20, 2017.”

A “Title 4D earnings withholding order,” was also granted on Oct. 27, 2017.

The defamation lawsuit

Jerry R. Tillett, a retired Superior Court judge and Manteo resident who is running as a Republican for North Carolina Senate District 1, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, sued four individuals on defamation and other allegations: Richard Burrus, Noel Fritsch, Briana Daniels and Theodore “Teddy” Daniels.

Briana Daniels—now married to Teddy Daniels—is Tillett’s former daughter-in-law; she was previously married to his son, Jeremy Tillett. Jeremy Tillett and Briana Daniels are involved a separate, ongoing legal dispute over property payments.

The lawsuit Jerry Tillett filed alleges that Burrus publicly on Facebook shared an audio recording in December 2025, and Fritsch, publisher of the National File website, shared on the National File Facebook page the same audio and a link to a National File article published on his website titled, “OBX RACISM: NC State Senate Candidate’s Racist, Murderous Tirade Caught on Tape.”

The lawsuit further alleges that “Burrus has consistently shared false statements” about Jerry Tillett on Facebook.

Briana Daniels individually and in concert with Theodore Daniels “published to one or more other persons false and defamatory statements by asserting that plaintiff’s voice was the one making racial statements in the previously referenced audio file,” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendant knew this assertion was false.”

The lawsuit further alleges: “Defendants Briana and Theodore Daniels, individually and/or acting in concert, willfully intercepted, disclosed, and/or used a wire, oral, and/or electronic communication illegally and in violation of North Carolina law,” and also alleges interception violating federal law.

According to the lawsuit, “Defendant Theodore Daniels published and provided such audio recordings, having reason to know the information was false and obtained through illegal recording or interception as stated above.”

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants made “false statements with malice…and with willful intent to injure” the plaintiff.

The complaint filed in Dare County Superior Court lists four claims for relief and seeks over $75,000 in damages and a jury trial “on all issues so triable.”

The lawsuit’s four claims for relief are “defamation/libel per se;” “defamation/libel pro quod;” “unlawful interception, disclosure and use of communications;” and injunctive relief.

R. Daniel “Dan” Boyce, an attorney with the Raleigh-based Maynard Nexen law firm responded to questions Outer Banks Insider sent Jerry Tillett.

“We have filed lawsuits against four defendants,” Boyce said by phone on Feb. 6. “It is likely we may be filing an amended complaint against other publishers of the false and defamatory material.”

The amended lawsuit, filed on Feb. 23, did not name new defendants. It alleges that the false statements the four defendants published could have and did subject Jerry Tillett to “ridicule, contempt and disgrace in his community and harmed and continues to harm his professional and community reputation.”

According to Boyce, while parts of the audio include Tillett’s real voice, Tillett only says “innocuous, nonracial” statements, and Boyce said that people familiar with his voice have confirmed that.

“We believe the audio was altered,” Boyce said.

“There are three different male voices on the tape,” he said. “The two male voices making racially sounding statements were not that of Jerry Tillett.”

He continued, “An audio recording was converted to a video and thereafter run through Facebook software. The recorder’s voice was edited or deleted out. Other portions had to be edited or manipulated as there is a significant difference in the statements heard and the length of the statement.”

There are multiple versions of the recording, and “the original version was much shorter and contained no references to shooting,” Boyce said.

“Multiple requests and demands have been made for the original recording, or a clean copy, to confirm the identification of voices and other matters of authenticity,” Boyce said. “Those in possession of the recording have not responded, so access to the original recordings have been denied at this point.”

None of the defendants—Burrus, Briana Daniels, Teddy Daniels or Fritsch—provided comment about the lawsuit to Outer Banks Insider by publication time. They have not yet formally answered the complaint as of publication time, the case file shows.

Daniels’ attorney, Finch, told Outer Banks Insider in his Feb. 11 letter that his client “cannot and will not comment on pending litigation or allegations that are properly addressed in legal forums rather than the press.”

However, Teddy Daniels already publicly commented on Tillett’s lawsuit against him, as quoted in an article published in The Assembly earlier this month.

Daniels said that “neither me nor my wife illegally recorded anyone or posted anything to any platforms, nor did either one of us comment on the recording on social media,” and he opined that his “anti-corruption” platform for his sheriff’s run had “ruffled the right feathers,” as reported in The Assembly’s Feb. 7 article.

Burrus told The Assembly that some remarks attributed to him in Jerry Tillett’s complaint were taken out of context, and he denied the allegation of posting under false names.

A public Facebook group, “Dare County NC Conservatives,” lists Burrus and Teddy Daniels as group co-administrators. The group differentiates itself from the Dare GOP and proclaims that “RINOs [Republicans in name only] and Democrats have infiltrated most county GOPs.”

Position on ICE

Daniels said during the Dare GOP sheriff candidate forum that he was in Washington, D.C., over the summer “to meet with Tom Homan’s top advisors,” noting, “We will support ICE.”

Homan is President Donald Trump’s border czar and was former acting head of ICE.

“When I talked to his [Homan’s] folks, we talked about the grants, the money we can get,” Daniels said. “I don’t know if you all know, but we can take sheriff’s office deputies and have them sworn in as ICE agents.”

He stressed an alleged financial benefit to the county.

“If we lock up illegal immigrants…and we house them in the jail, the federal government will reimburse the county for use of the jail,” he said. “Now, I’ll tell you this, are we going to put a team together and go hunt them down? No. If you act stupid and you get in trouble, that’s just what’s going to happen.”

According to ICE’s 287(g) flyer, financial benefits are reserved for memorandums of understanding signed with agencies for the “task force model.”

The task force model “allows your officers to identify and report suspected aliens not charged with crimes (under ICE oversight) and exercise limited immigration authority on ICE-led task forces,” according to the flyer. It “allows your officers to enforce limited immigration authority while performing routine police duties or as an active participant in an ICE-led task force,” according to an ICE brochure.

ICE bears the cost of 287(g) training for law enforcement agencies, according to the ICE website.

Separate from the 287(g) program is the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP),

which provides federal funding to states and political subdivisions of states for costs incurred “for incarcerating certain criminal aliens,” according to the ICE website.

“There are not currently any funding opportunities available through this program,” according to the SCAAP website, which listed the date the site was modified as July 30, 2024.

When asked if his position on ICE changed since the forum, given recent events, Daniels responded, “No, my position has not changed.” He did not respond to a question asking why not, if not, or about what he sees as positives and negatives of pursuing the 287(g) agreement.

“Teddy Daniels will remove illegal aliens,” according to his campaign website.

ICE made headlines with its high-profile killings of two U.S. citizens in January, with eight total deaths attributed to ICE so far in 2026, according to a Jan. 28 article in The Guardian that’s included on the Congress.gov website.

Click here to watch the video of the Dare sheriff candidate forum recorded by Christina Williams.

Daniels has a campaign website and a Facebook page he is using to campaign. He did not answer questions about the Facebook page, including if he is the sole operator, by publication time.

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This article was updated around 4:06 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, to correct a link.

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