Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr.

Who is Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr.?

Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr. is a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's thirty-sixth North Carolina Senate district, including constituents in Cabarrus and Iredell counties. An attorney from Concord, North Carolina, Hartsell is currently serving in his twelfth term in the state Senate.

An ethics complaint was filed against Hartsell with the North Carolina Senate Ethics Committee alleging conflict-of-interest based on his past legal representation of a developer and the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County. This complaint was filed after a small group of residents in the Western part of Cabarrus County failed to get the appropriate legislative support for their incorporation efforts.

In January 2013, The Charlotte Observer reported that Hartsell spent nearly $100,000 of his campaign's money in 2011 and 2012 paying off debts on at least 10 personal credit cards. In an interview with the newspaper, Hartsell could not promise that campaign contribution money did not cover some personal expenses, which would be prohibited under state law. In a subsequent interview with his local paper, Independent Tribune, Hartsell stated that he was working to rectify the reporting errors by hiring a professional treasurer. "I’ve come to the realization that I have tried to do too much by handling the accounting side of my campaign finance reporting", Hartsell said in the January 15, 2013 article.