THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Chuck Thompson | Exclusive to The Shelby Independent The Justice Center construction rises from behind the current courthouse, still far from completed, on July 20, 2026. | Chuck Thompson Editor’s note: This legal letter dated July 8, 2026 was discovered in a public records request by The Shelby Independent. This is a developing news story about the information within a letter and the information researched from other documents and previous news reports. A second part wi

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The school board forum will involve eight of the candidates, all republican, on Jan. 29, at The LeGrand Center. UPDATE: Jay Carpenter will not be attending as previously reported. Stephen Carroll Self will be attending now. Anyone interested in listening to the school board candidates’ personal stances on local education issues, and wanting to ask them questions, will have their chance next week. The Cleveland County GOP and Moms

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent A sign outside the CC Board of Elections, pointing the way to the main entrance. Chuck Thompson | Shelby Independent As the Friday Dec. 19 deadline looms for candidates to file for the 2026 primaries, the Cleveland County Commissioner race is crowded with seven hopefuls running for two seats, and a board of education race that so far has five republicans one democrat, and an unaffiliated candidate all running for four chairs. On t