About SRS Consulting Services, LLC

Kim Strach

CEO/Managing Partner

Kimberly Westbrook Strach brings a wealth of leadership experience in public administration, investigations, and organizational compliance. She currently serves as the CEO and Managing Partner of SRS Consulting Services, LLC, where she leads a dynamic team delivering consulting services to public and private sector clients in forensic accounting, investigations, elections and campaign finance, organizational compliance, technology solutions, and crisis communications.

Kim’s career includes a distinguished tenure as Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (2013–2019), where she served as the state’s Chief Election Official. In that role, she oversaw the administration of elections across all 100 counties, ensuring integrity and compliance with election and campaign finance laws. She led high-impact investigations that resulted in the criminal convictions of high-level public officials, including a former Speaker of the House and a former Governor. Her responsibilities also included managing statewide training programs and regulatory oversight.

In addition to her administrative leadership, Kim has provided expert testimony on election laws and regulations and has served as a witness in numerous criminal and civil trials. Her legal and investigative insights have contributed to significant enforcement actions and policy decisions.

From 2019 to 2020, Kim served as Executive Director of the UNC System Presidential Search Committee, guiding the recruitment, vetting, and selection process for the UNC System President. Her work involved stakeholder engagement, leadership assessment, and executive-level decision-making, culminating in the appointment of Peter Hans.

With deep expertise in government oversight, investigative strategy, and organizational effectiveness, Kim is committed to positioning the SRS team as a trusted partner for clients across the country.

Tim Reilly

Partner

Tim Reilly is a seasoned financial investigator with over 27 years of expertise in combating financial crimes, including money laundering, public corruption, and tax fraud. His distinguished career includes serving as a Supervisory Special Agent for the U.S. Treasury Department, IRS–Criminal Investigation, where he led high-profile cases against political figures and dismantled complex financial schemes.

Throughout his career, Tim has demonstrated exceptional skill in forensic analysis, investigative strategy, and managing informants, earning a 98% conviction rate in his supervisory role. He has worked extensively with federal and state law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and defense counsel, providing invaluable insights in high-stakes cases.

Tim’s expertise extends to consulting roles, where he has applied his investigative knowledge to uncover fraud in post-COVID stimulus programs and develop innovative solutions to combat financial crime. A five-time recipient of the Department of Justice Award for Public Service, Tim is also an accomplished educator, having lectured at prestigious law schools and trained professionals worldwide on financial crimes and investigative techniques.

With a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pace University and over two decades of holding a Top-Secret security clearance, Tim brings unparalleled depth and commitment to his work in financial investigations and public service.

Charles Stuber

Partner

Charles W. (Chuck) Stuber, Jr. is a distinguished former FBI Special Agent, forensic accounting expert, and holds a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. With a remarkable career spanning over 30 years, Stuber is best known for his expertise in investigating complex financial crimes and high-profile corruption cases. Throughout his career, he has worked on hundreds of cases, uncovering significant fraud and corruption that shaped public policy and brought justice to light.

FBI Experience

Stuber’s FBI career began in 1985, where he quickly gained recognition for his investigative expertise. Early on, he tackled multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes, including a $316 million investment fraud case, the largest in Colorado’s history at the time. While serving in the FBI’s Washington Field Office, he was a key member of a task force investigating the U.S. House of Representatives Bank. This high-profile case involved analyzing financial accounts for over 300 members of Congress and resulted in several convictions for bribery and election law violations. For this work, Stuber received the U.S. Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.

In North Carolina, Stuber spearheaded the development of a public corruption program, leading to the conviction of numerous prominent political figures, including N.C. Speaker of the House Jim Black and Governor Mike Easley. His investigations resulted in over $10 million in forfeitures and spurred significant legislative reforms.

Forensic Accounting Expertise

Stuber, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holder of the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) credential, brings extensive expertise in financial analysis and fraud detection. Renowned for his ability to unravel complex financial records, Stuber has played a key role in uncovering fraudulent activities. As both a witness and expert witness, he has delivered compelling courtroom testimony on forensic accounting and investigative matters, offering critical insights into highly challenging cases. Currently, Stuber shares his knowledge as an instructor, teaching Forensic Accounting and Cyber Security at Wake Technical Community College.

Additional Accomplishments

After retiring from the FBI, Stuber served as Chief Investigator for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, where he led investigations into campaign finance violations and election fraud. His work resulted in over 30 cases being referred for prosecution, including high-profile cases involving campaign finance mismanagement and voter fraud. He also developed policies and procedures for investigative teams, leveraging the FBI’s investigative philosophies.

With decades of experience in investigations and forensic accounting, Charles Stuber is a trusted authority in combating corruption and fraud. His career reflects a commitment to integrity, transparency, and justice.

Sheryll Harris

COO

Sheryll Harris is the Chief Operating Officer at SRS Consulting Services, bringing over two decades of expertise in banking, financial investigations, and election oversight. She ensures operational excellence in delivering the firm’s investigative, IT, and compliance services to clients nationwide.

Before joining SRS, Sheryll served for seven years as the Director of Campaign Finance at the North Carolina State Board of Elections. In that role, she played a pivotal part in enforcing campaign finance and ethics laws, overseeing statewide   

disclosure programs, and supporting investigations and audits to maintain the integrity of the electoral process. Her efforts helped ensure candidates and political committees complied with legal requirements, safeguarding public trust in election funding.

Renowned for her digital investigative skills, Sheryll has been instrumental in uncovering complex financial schemes by leveraging technology and data analytics. Early in her career, she gained substantial experience in banking, specializing in detecting fraud, money laundering, and financial crimes. This expertise has been critical in her consulting work at SRS, where she analyzes large datasets and traces financial irregularities, often coordinating with law enforcement and regulatory agencies to achieve successful case resolutions.

As COO, Sheryll is committed to driving innovation, efficiency, and accountability within SRS Consulting Services. Her leadership combines hands-on investigative experience, management expertise, and technical savvy, making her an invaluable asset in projects involving election audits, campaign finance compliance, and fraud detection. She upholds the highest standards of integrity and transparency to strengthen election systems and public-sector accountability.

Brian Neesby

Project Management & Data Science

Brian Neesby is a technology executive and data scientist with a distinguished background in election systems, data analytics, and data science. He recently served as the Chief Information Officer for the North Carolina State Board of Elections (a cabinet-level role), where he is responsible for all IT operations supporting statewide elections. In this capacity, Brian oversaw a team of over 30 IT professionals and manages a multimillion-dollar budget, maintaining North Carolina’s complex network of election applications and databases. One of his major achievements as CIO was leading a large-scale cloud migration project: Brian orchestrated the transfer of 100+ county election servers and more than 600 databases from on-premises infrastructure to the Microsoft Azure Government cloud platform. This migration modernized the State Board’s data environment, improving reliability, scalability, and security of election data management. Brian also ensures that the state’s election systems are defended against cyber threats, including those posed by nation-state actors – he has implemented robust risk management, incident response, and business continuity protocols to protect critical electoral infrastructure. Under his leadership, the Board of Elections has maintained a strong security posture while delivering IT services that support over 800 end-users and thousands of election devices statewide.

Previously, Brian served as North Carolina’s first Chief Data Officer at the State Board of Elections (2014–2019), where he championed data-driven innovations in election administration. In that role, Brian pioneered cutting-edge election audit techniques: he designed an innovative post-election audit program that leveraged data science to verify ballot coding and results accuracy. Notably, he led an investigation into irregularities in the 2016 primary by decoding a binary vote tabulation file, uncovering fraudulent alterations that resulted in criminal indictments against the perpetrators. He developed over a dozen data validation and error-detection rules for the state’s voting systems, an effort that significantly reduced transcription errors and was the first such program of its kind in the nation. Brian’s expertise also proved critical during a high-profile 2016 recount: when a voting system vendor could not explain a software error, Brian decoded the system’s data files to pinpoint the cause and confirm the accuracy of the election results, averting the need for a costly re-election. In addition to his technical accomplishments, Brian brings a strong understanding of legal and compliance matters – he holds a Juris Doctor and has testified as an expert witness in federal litigation defending the integrity of North Carolina’s voter database (a court praised his testimony as “highly credible” and knowledgeable). Now working with SRS Consulting Services, Brian applies his blend of IT leadership, analytical rigor, and innovative thinking to help clients design robust election audit systems and strengthen their IT infrastructures. His comprehensive experience – from hands-on database architecture and machine learning to executive-level strategy and policy – makes him uniquely qualified to support election technology and campaign finance projects that demand precision, security, and accountability.

James Lell

Senior Developer & Database Administrator

James Lell has over two decades of experience developing and managing election management and campaign finance software systems for the State of North. From 2006 until 2024, he served as the Applications Software Manager at the NC State Board of Elections, where he led the team responsible for the state’s voter registration system, elections management platform, and electronic campaign finance reporting applications. In this role, James supervised a department of up to 12 developers, quality assurance testers, and support specialists, ensuring that all election IT applications were reliable and met user needs. He architected improvements to the software and database structures, streamlining data tables and standardizing code for better performance and maintainability. James also spearheaded the first phase of modernization of North Carolina’s election technology, guiding a transition from legacy client-server software to a cloud-enabled architecture using .NET (C#/VB) and Microsoft Azure resources. Under his guidance, the development process evolved from a traditional waterfall methodology to an Agile Scrum approach, accelerating release cycles and enhancing the quality of delivered systems. His leadership ensured that North Carolina’s election and campaign finance systems remained robust, user-friendly, and compliant with changing regulations over the years.

In 2024, James joined SRS Consulting Services as the Director of Software Development and Database Administration, where he continues to apply his extensive technical and domain expertise to assist public-sector clients. In his current role, he analyzes complex IT systems and provides recommendations for improvements, from database schema redesign to application architecture enhancements. James is proficient in a wide range of technologies, including C#/.NET for application development, SQL Server for database management, web frameworks like Blazor, and scripting languages such as PowerShell and JavaScript. He also has in-depth experience with reporting and analytics tools (SSRS, Crystal Reports) and version control and DevOps practices. With over 20 years of direct experience in North Carolina’s elections and campaign finance technology, James Lell offers a rare combination of hands-on development skill and strategic oversight. He is adept at architecting secure, efficient software solutions that meet the rigorous standards of government election systems, and his long history of public service IT work makes him attuned to the importance of accuracy, security, and transparency in election technology projects.

Dennis Sheerin

Senior Database Administrator

Dennis Sheerin is an accomplished data professional with extensive expertise in database administration, development, and data analysis. He currently serves as a Data Consultant with SRS Consulting Services, where he helps organizations migrate and secure complex data systems. His recent projects include moving client data from vendor-provided platforms to customized databases and establishing secure cloud-based database environments to improve performance and resilience. Dennis is highly proficient in SQL and relational database design (Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MS Access) and skilled in scripting and automation with tools like T-SQL and PowerShell. He also has hands-on experience with cloud technologies (Azure and AWS) and data modeling tools, enabling him to optimize databases for both efficiency and security.

From 2019 to 2022, Dennis led the Data Team at the North Carolina State Board of Elections, guiding critical improvements to the state’s election data infrastructure. In this role, he oversaw the migration of one hundred county election databases from local servers to a secure Azure cloud platform. He also developed real-time election reporting dashboards that provided state officials and the public with up-to-the-minute data, enhancing transparency and decision-making. Notably, Dennis spearheaded the database support for North Carolina’s first Risk-Limiting Audit (RLA) of election results, bolstering public confidence in the accuracy of vote counts. During his tenure at the Board (2006–2022), Dennis served as Senior Database Administrator at the State Board of Elections, where he managed data security for dozens of state-level databases and maintained real-time replication between county and state election systems. Earlier in his career, as a Database Analyst at the NC Department of Justice’s State Bureau of Investigation, he designed and optimized law enforcement database systems, further sharpening his skills in high-security, mission-critical data environments. Dennis’s blend of election-domain experience and deep technical knowledge makes him adept at implementing robust, reliable data solutions for election and campaign finance systems.

Torry Crass

Cybersecurity

Torry Crass is an executive leader in cybersecurity with more than 25 years of experience in IT security, risk management, and critical infrastructure protection. He has a specialized focus on election security, having served as the third-party Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the North Carolina State Board of Elections beginning in 2019. In that role, Torry built and led the Board of Elections’ cybersecurity program, implementing comprehensive measures to safeguard voting systems and data across 100 counties. He oversaw the cyber and physical security of North Carolina’s election technology, developed incident response plans, ran regular tabletop exercises, and continuously analyzed threat intelligence relevant to elections. Torry also acted as the liaison for election security between the Board of Elections and other agencies – coordinating closely with federal partners (like the Department of Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the state IT department to ensure a unified security posture. In 2023, Torry was appointed as North Carolina’s State Chief Risk Officer, a role in which he directed enterprise cybersecurity strategy and risk mitigation efforts across all state government agencies. As Chief Risk Officer, he was at the forefront of developing a “whole-of-state” cybersecurity approach that extended resources and guidance not only to state departments but also to local governments, school systems, and other critical public sectors. This top-down strategy under his guidance helped strengthen defenses statewide and foster collaboration in protecting against cyber threats.

Beyond his public-sector election security work, Torry Crass has held senior cybersecurity positions in the private sector and actively contributes to the broader security community. In April 2025, he joined Tanium as the Public Sector Chief Information Security Officer, where he applies his hands-on experience from state government to help public institutions improve their security programs. Torry’s career has spanned both technical and leadership roles: he has managed global IT infrastructure teams, led penetration testing and incident response operations, and advised organizations on risk management and compliance strategies. He previously served as a virtual CISO and cybersecurity advisor with Woodstar Labs, assisting critical infrastructure clients in maturing their security postures. He also held CISO and security management roles at private companies (including LEO Cyber Security and SPX Corporation), where he was responsible for building security architectures and policies from the ground up. Outside of work, Torry is dedicated to advancing cybersecurity knowledge: he co-chairs BSides Charlotte, a regional information security conference that provides training and networking for security professionals, and he is an adjunct instructor at The Citadel’s Department of Cyber and Computer Sciences. In the latter role, he supports National Guard cyber defense boot camps and other Department of Defense-aligned training programs, demonstrating his commitment to developing cyber talent for government needs. Torry’s extensive expertise in election security and overall cybersecurity operations makes him an invaluable asset for any engagement that requires protecting sensitive election IT systems, conducting risk assessments, or implementing state-of-the-art security controls in the public sector.

Ken Nelson

Database Administrator

Ken Nelson is an accomplished Database Administrator (DBA) and software developer with a robust background in designing and managing complex information systems. He has decades of experience leading full life-cycle development projects for critical data applications, from initial architecture and data modeling through implementation and maintenance. Ken’s expertise lies in relational database design and optimization – he is highly skilled at crafting efficient database schemas, tuning performance, and ensuring data integrity for mission-critical systems. Over the years, he has worked extensively with Microsoft SQL Server and related technologies, leveraging tools and platforms such as Azure cloud services to build scalable, secure data solutions. Ken is also proficient in multiple programming and scripting languages (for example, he often integrates C#/.NET applications with backend databases and employs PowerShell for automation), enabling him to develop end-to-end software systems that meet stringent reliability and security requirements.

Throughout his career, Ken has applied his skills across a variety of industries and technical domains, including engagements in the public sector. He is adept at translating complex business requirements into effective technical designs and then delivering those solutions on time and within scope. Ken’s approach to IT projects emphasizes strong governance and best practices – he prioritizes thorough testing, documentation, and adherence to security standards in all database and software development tasks. Known for his analytical problem-solving ability, he has frequently been called upon to troubleshoot and resolve critical database issues while preserving data integrity (often under tight time constraints). This combination of deep technical knowledge and a disciplined, solutions-oriented mindset makes Ken Nelson a valuable contributor to projects involving sensitive data and complex workflows, such as election data management systems or campaign finance reporting platforms. His commitment to excellence in database administration and development ensures that the IT systems he works on are both robust and trustworthy.