Board & Directory

Steve Johnson, Board Vice-Chairperson
Secretary of Public Safety’s Appointee - No expiration
Public Member
 

Steve Johnson is a certified law enforcement officer and criminal justice instructor and has since 2006 worked with the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association as a part-time employee assisting with the coordination of many of the Association’s training programs and special projects, including the Association’s annual conferences and seasonal meetings. 

Prior to joining the staff of the Association, Steve spent 34 years with the North Carolina Department of Justice, with 29 of those years at the North Carolina Justice Academy, where he worked as the lead instructor for all the firearms programs offered by the Academy, including Specialized Firearms Instructor Training, Law Enforcement Sniper Course, Firearms for Female Officers, Armed Security Instructor Training, Concealed Carry Instructor Training and a multitude of armorer courses. 

Steve served in the North Carolina National Guard for 35 years as a range instructor and a member of the N.C. National Guard’s rifle and pistol teams.  

Steve is one of the co-authors of the N.C. Concealed Carry Handgun Training Model Program and is a certified Concealed Carry Handgun instructor. In addition, he previously served (2009-2021) as a member of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, where he was the Association’s president from 2000 to 2016 and is currently the 2nd Vice President.  He continues to teach the Law Enforcement Sniper Course for Durham Technical College as well as other firearms-related programs for Team One Network. His duties as an instructor have taken him around the world to countries including Germany, Italy and China. 
 

Stacy Buff
Senate President Pro Tempore’s Appointee - Expires June 30, 2028
Public Member
 

Ron Burris
Governor’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2026
Public Member
 

Ron Burris is a retired Chief District Court Judge and Resident Superior Court Judge from North Carolina’s 20th Judicial District. He also worked previously as general counsel for Stanly Regional Medical Center. 

Burris remains a practicing attorney in Stanly County, N.C. One client he is proud to be associated with is GHAAS, a nonprofit providing support services for individuals with autism.
 

Debra Duncan, Board Ethics Liaison
Governor’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2026
Public Member
 

Debra Duncan is currently the chief of police and security at High Point University. She began her career as a private detective associate and security guard. She began her law enforcement career as a company police officer and later served with the High Point Police Department 22 years. She was HPPD’s first woman to hold the rank of captain. In addition to her duties at HPPD, she worked part time at High Point University. She was appointed chief of police for Virginia Tech two months before 9/11.  

Debra returned to North Carolina as the police chief for the City of Monroe, where she served for seven years before retiring. She was later elected to Monroe’s City Council, where she was the mayor pro tem for the last two years of her 4-year term.  During that time, she enrolled in law school and served as the interim chief of Johnson C. Smith University.

Debra is a member in good standing of both the N.C. and Arizona State Bars. Debra created a stand-alone police department at Smith College in Massachusetts before returning to High Point to do the same. 
 

Richard Epley
Senate President Pro Tempore’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2027
Public Member
 

Richard Epley, a native of Burke County, N.C., currently serves as the chief of police for Delta Company Police. He has more than 40 years of law enforcement experience and has owned and operated his company police and security guard businesses, Delta Company Police and Delta Protection Agency, respectively, for the last 25 years. 

Epley previously served as Burke County Sheriff before starting his own police and security business. He also currently serves on the N.C. Criminal Justice Training and Standards Commission.

Richard is a devoted husband who has been married for 45 years. He has three children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren and enjoys any free time he may have working on his farm and home.
 

Andy Renfrow
Speaker of the House’s Appointee -Expires July 1, 2027
Industry Member
 

Suzanne Creech
Speaker of the House’s Appointee - Expires July 1, 2028
Industry Member
 

Candace Ratliff
Governor’s Appointee – Expires July 1, 2026
Industry Member

 

David Poston
Governor's Appointee - Expires July 1, 2027
Industry Member

David Poston is a retired Senior Chief Petty Officer with 20 years of experience in national security and foreign intelligence through the National Security Agency and Naval Security Group, where he supported global operations critical to U.S. interests. He transitioned to a 24-year law enforcement career across Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, serving in patrol, narcotics, special response, and as a polygraphist as well as background investigator.

David has been licensed as a North Carolina private investigator since 2017, specializing in criminal defense, particularly first-degree murder cases. In 2018, he became a licensed polygraph examiner, focusing on pre-trial testing, employee theft, espionage, sabotage, pre-employment screenings for government and armed security agencies, and family advocacy. He is the founder of Truth Verification, LLC, which provides a comprehensive range of investigative and polygraph services tailored to these areas. In his spare time, David volunteers with Parents Against Bulling and Injustice, NC, Inc., and Clifford’s Army Rescue Extravaganza (C.A.R.E.), a dog rescue operating throughout North Carolina and beyond.

Don Miller
Governor's Appointee - Expires July 1, 2028
Industry Member 

Don Miller retired as a First Sergeant from the U.S. Marine with 20 years of service. He then had an 18-year career in law enforcement, first with the Morehead City Police Department and retiring as Chief of the Cape Carteret Police Department. After retiring from law enforcement, he spent 6 months in Iraq as a supervisor with the Baghdad Embassy Security Force.

He is currently licensed as a Private Investigator with a Close Personal Protection endorsement and also in Security Guard and Patrol. He owns and operates Miller Investigative Services, LLC.

Prior to being appointed to the PPS Board, he served on the NCAPI Board of Directors for 7 years, including 2 years as President. He also served 8 years as a Cape Carteret Town Commissioner and 4 years on the Carteret County Crimestoppers Board.