Gaston County attorney and his deputy county attorney resign

The Gaston County attorney and a deputy county attorney who worked under him both resigned last week, according to county officials.

County Attorney John Joye, who began working for Gaston County Jan. 29, 2024, quit on Tuesday, said Chad Brown, chair of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. Attorney Al Andrews also resigned.

"On Tuesday, Mr. Joye had tendered his resignation. He did a wonderful job for Gaston County," Brown said.

Brown said that he doesn't know where Joye is going next.

"On Tuesday, he did that, and he thanked us. He was very complimentary of the things that we had done, and we're very complimentary about the things he had done and wish him the best," Brown said.

Joye replaced former county attorney Bill Stetzer, who resigned Dec. 31, to serve an eight-year term as a Superior Court judge for the Fifth Judicial Division, which includes Gaston County. Previously, Joye worked as a senior assistant city attorney for aviation for the city of Charlotte. He also spent five years before that working as the city attorney for the city of Wilmington, including helping that city in the recovery from Hurricane Florence. Joye was paid an annual salary of $250,000.

Attorney Al Andrews had worked for Gaston County since March 2024, according to his LinkedIn account. Joye hired Andrews shortly after he himself started, said county spokesman Adam Gaub. Andrews and Joye quit on the same day.

Andrews was previously the county attorney for Durham County, North Carolina, according to his LinkedIn. Andrews was paid an annual salary of $208,340.

In a meeting Tuesday evening, attorney Charles Moore was appointed interim county attorney. Moore was county attorney from 1984 until he retired in 2020, and he was one of Gaston County's longest serving high-level employees at the time of his retirement.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County attorney and his deputy county attorney resign