NC lobbyist gets disbarred, probation after failing to register with state

Raleigh attorney and lobbyist Mark Bibbs will be disbarred after pleading guilty Monday to charges of unregistered lobbying.

Bibbs was indicted in 2018 on felony charges that he lobbied legislators on behalf of a bail bonds company without properly registering, and then lied under oath about his actions to the Secretary of State’s lobbying compliance investigators.

He had lobbied legislators in 2016 to oppose Senate Bill 508, which made changes to bail bonds regulations and expanded the insurance commissioner’s power to discipline bail bondsmen.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty in Wake County Superior Court to criminal contempt, obstruction of justice and four counts of lobbying without registration. He’ll lose his law license and is banned from lobbying activities.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said in an emailed statement that the case’s outcome “upholds the public’s right to know who is being paid to influence governmental action as well as the legislator’s right to know who is being paid to influence them. The Secretary of State’s Office is committed to investigating serious crimes and seeking justice for those offenses.”

Bibbs will serve 12 months of supervised probation and is required to enroll in a substance abuse treatment clinic.

Bibbs said in an emailed statement Monday that he took the plea deal to “put my children first.”

“My view of the evidence is very different, and I do not believe that I committed any crime, but the other side has unlimited resources and time to devote to this and, sadly, in our justice system, properly defending yourself from false claims is expensive, time consuming, and emotionally exhausting,” he said.

He also criticized Marshall for what he called her “windbag press release.”

“Elaine now has the temerity and unmitigated gall to gloat over this case,” Bibbs said. “As I said in open court today, thousands of lobbyists commit this registration violation each year and not one has EVER been charged, EVER. Elaine has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and two years of state employees’ time going after me and trying to ruin my reputation, me, a successful black lawyer who she has singled out for no good or fair reason.”

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