CEC hero image, a photo of Don Hardy

Don Hardy

Mayor Dontario Hardy is currently the Mayor of the City of Kinston and has served since 2017. Mayor Hardy is a proud veteran of the United States Navy. He is also currently serving as a sworn law enforcement officer at the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office and has worked at the local, county, and federal levels of law enforcement for over the past 17 years. Additionally, Mayor Hardy serves on the North Carolina Global Transpark Authority Board of Directors, North Carolina League of Municipalities Board of Directors, and National League of Cities Board of Directors. He is the Past Chairman of the NC Mayors Association, President of the North Carolina Black Elected Municipal Officials, and President of the Pitt-Greenville Lodge #69 Fraternal Order of Police. He is serving a second term as a Governor’s appointee to the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission, is a National Diversity Committee member at the National Fraternal Order of Police, and participates in numerous other boards and committees representing the City of Kinston as well as cities, towns, villages, and law enforcement officers across the state of North Carolina.