Rutherford County Sheriff's Office (NC)

The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office is responsible for patrolling the towns and unincorporated areas of Rutherford County, North Carolina, operating the Detention Center, transporting inmates, securing the court house, executing warrants, serving civil papers, and ensuring public safety. Additionally, the Rutherford County Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of the county. The current sheriff is republican Aaron Ellenburg. In 2016, the sheriff's salary was set at $82,555.

Organizational Structure
Divisions and units of the Sheriff's Office.


 * Administration
 * Patrol
 * Investigations
 * Detective Unit
 * Forensic Unit
 * Narcotics Unit
 * Support Services
 * School Resource Officers
 * Court House Security and Bailiffs
 * Civil Process
 * Warrant Process
 * Detention Center
 * Detention Crews
 * Transportation
 * Detention Investigator

Rank Structure
The current rank structure used by the sheriff's office had been in effect since January 2023. The leadership hierarchy as of December 2023:


 * Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg
 * Chief Deputy Randall Greenway
 * Major Peter Wan
 * Captain Marc Duncan, Rutherford County Schools Safety Officer
 * Captain Chris Lovelace, Investigations
 * Lieutenant J. Upton, Investigations
 * Sergeant J. Greenway, Forensics
 * Sergeant J. Mode, Narcotics
 * Captain Jamie Keever, Detention Center (and Professional Standards)
 * Lieutenant Patrick Wiseman
 * Detective B. Friend
 * First Sergeant B. Sprouse
 * Sergeant J. Splawn, Detention Crew
 * Sergeant B. Cole, Detention Crew
 * Sergeant M. Logan, Detention Crew
 * Captain Stephen Ellis, Patrol
 * Lieutenant T. Lowery, Patrol Crew A
 * Sergeant J. McComas, Patrol Crew A
 * Lieutenant Allen Hardin, Patrol Crew B
 * Sergeant B. King, Patrol Crew B
 * Lieutenant Corey Smith, Patrol Crew C
 * Sergeant N. Ensley, Patrol Crew C
 * Lieutenant Michael Snyder, Patrol Crew D
 * Sergeant Wilmer Chavez Perez, Patrol Crew D
 * Captain Brian Gooch, Support Services
 * Sergeant A. Greenway, School Resource Officers
 * Sergeant E. Toney, Civil Process
 * Sergeant J. Hoppes, Warrant Process
 * Sergeant B. Hooper, Courthouse Security

Election of 2022
The race for sheriff began crowded with five people running for office: incumbent Chris Francis (R), Anthony 'Tony' Roberson (R), James 'Aaron' Ellenburg (R), Steve 'Theo' Theodoropoulos (R), and Jason Wease (D). Before the primary election in May 2022, Tony Roberson registered to run unaffiliated, and Chris Francis had dropped out of the race after successfully being elected three times. Aaron Ellenburg won the Republican primary, beating out Theodoropoulos by 2,360 votes. In the Democratic primary, Jason Wease won by default without opposition. Three candidates remained and were on the general election ballot: Aaron Ellenburg (R), Jason Wease (D), and Tony Roberson (U).

After receiving unofficial final election night results from all county precincts, Aaron Ellenburg is the winner of the general election being more than 11,000 votes ahead of Jason Wease and more than 13,000 votes ahead of Tony Roberson. Ellenburg will be sworn in as the 47th Sheriff of Rutherford County on Monday, December 5, 2022 and will serve until the end of the term on Monday, December 7, 2026 per North Carolina General Statute § 163-1.