Staff report

Former state legislator and Cabarrus County commissioner Coy Privette died this week. He was 82.

Privette passed away Monday in Thomasville, according to an obituary published in the Lexington Dispatch.

Privette was born in Iredell County in 1933 and attended Wake Forest University.

He was a retired Baptist minister and past president of the N.C. Baptist State Convention. He served as the longtime pastor of North Kannapolis Baptist Church, where a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday.

After running unsuccessfully for governor in 1976, Privette served four terms in the N.C. House of Representatives and 12 years on the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners.

Privette was president of the N.C. Christian Action League and was active in campaigning against alcohol sales in referenda.

He resigned that post after pleading guilty in 2007 to aiding and abetting prostitution in Rowan County. He did not seek re-election to the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners when his term ended in 2010.