Southport Magazine

Growing up in Southport in a family where community service was the norm laid a natural path for N.C. Representative Charlie Miller to follow a similar course. His path has led him a bit further, though — the small-town boy, a retired Chief Deputy Sheriff, is now in his second term in the N.C. General Assembly. 

His career has taken Miller through 33 years in law enforcement — starting and ending at the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office — through several terms on the Brunswick County Board of Education to now representing his home district in Raleigh. 

Though the jobs have changed, one thing remains constant for Rep. Miller, and that’s his desire to help and serve others, something he learned from his family.

Rep. Miller’s father also worked in law enforcement, starting with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office part-time in the mid-1970s. Since he was a young child, Rep. Miller said he knew it was what he wanted to do too. He also remembers when he was about 10 years old or so and his father helped start a rescue squad in Southport.

“I remember them having rescue squad meetings in our living room,” he said. “There were also meetings in Norman Leggett’s stockroom.”

The message was clear at a young age.

“You help your neighbor,” he said. “Growing up in Southport in those days….it’s different today than it was back then. We were such a small community. Everybody helped everybody. It didn’t matter what side of town you lived on, rich, poor, black, white, it did not matter,” he said.   

Rep. Miller recalled his first days on the job as a new deputy sheriff, saying back then, you didn’t have to go to rookie school before going to work in law enforcement. His education was on the job, riding with a deputy sheriff in the Leland area for six months. 

“My first day, he (the sheriff) handed me a five-shot revolver, five bullets, and a badge out of his desk.” 

In 2006, Rep. Miller was working for Progress Energy when he decided to run for the Brunswick County Board of Education. He said he’d always been interested in the school system, having a daughter and niece in the local schools, and he was always big on school safety. 

“I am a product of Brunswick County Schools. I just wanted to be a part of it,” he said. He served three and a half terms on the Board, resigning when he was elected to the State House. 

It was after the districts were redrawn that Rep. Miller said he was approached by a few people who encouraged him to run for District 19. He said he’d visited the General Assembly before, as a Chief Deputy, and he’d sat in the Gallery and watched the proceedings, and visited with Sen. Bill Rabon and Rep. Frank Iler. He said he got a call from a friend who also asked him to consider running for office, and he recalls that he had already said no. But then his friend got N.C House Speaker Tim Moore on the phone, and they convinced him to file.

When he was elected, Rep. Miller was still working full time. He said he burned through a lot of vacation time, and was working Monday, going to Raleigh to work there Tuesday through Thursday, and then coming home to put in some time Friday and over the weekend. 

“It wore me out. It was exhausting,” he said. 

So what was it like going into the General Assembly as a new representative?

“I sat back and I just watched and listened and saw who the movers and shakers were and started trying to get funding for our district,” he said. That first session, the District received $82 million in funding for various projects. 

Rep. Miller said he was also fortunate that Sen. Rabon immediately took him under his wing.

“His office is right down the hall from mine, and I’m usually in his office every morning drinking coffee before the day gets going,” Rep. Miller said. “He is just a phenomenal mentor to me.”

Now in his second term, and retired from his job with the Sheriff’s Office, Rep. Miller serves on eight standing committees, including serving as Vice Chairman of Appropriations and Judiciary 2, and as one of four Chairmen on the Appropriations, Justice and Public Safety Committee. Speaker Moore also appointed him to a justice commission and an ethics commission. 

Government at the State level is really not much different than local government, Rep. Miller said. It’s just on a larger scale. 

“It’s all about relationships and building partnerships with other legislators,” he said. “I tell people that the legislators in the mountains have issues that are just as important as mine on the coast. Where we may have a hurricane, they may have a rock slide.”

Rep. Miller said that any day he can help someone, it’s a good day. He said that oftentimes, he and his staff are asked to help citizens navigate through a government agency. Whether it’s a veteran who needs help accessing benefits or if someone needs help getting an appointment with the Division of Motor Vehicles, Rep. Miller said they’re happy to help. He is quick to compliment his staff — Legislative Assistant Natalie Nichols and Research Assistant Madeline King — for their efforts in working with citizens. 

“It’s just humbling,” he said of serving as his district’s Representative. “Every time I walk on that floor, I think wow, I am one of 120 people here from across the State. It’s not something that I take lightly,” he said. He’s proud to say he didn’t miss a vote last session. 

Rep. Miller also said that while he is registered Republican, he is in Raleigh to represent everyone in his district. He said he may not agree with everyone in his district, but he will always listen. 

“I tell people, I was elected to go to Raleigh and vote for my constituents and be their voice,” he said. “I take that seriously.”