Editor’s note: This article has been updated to add background information about applicant James E. Black.
Nine people have applied to be the next Cumberland County sheriff, following the retirement in June of Sheriff Ennis Wright.
The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to pick a new sheriff at its meeting on Monday. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in room 118 of the Cumberland County Courthouse, at 117 Dick St. in Fayetteville.
The sheriff must be age 21 or older and qualified to vote in Cumberland County. He or she can’t have any felony convictions (including expunged felonies), cannot be practicing law, and cannot be a member of the General Assembly.
The Board of Commissioners’ pick will serve the remainder of Wright’s term, which expires following the November 2026 general election. If the new sheriff wants to remain in office, he or she must win the partisan election.
In Democratic-leaning Cumberland County, it has historically been challenging for Republicans and people with other voter registrations to win countywide elections, so the ultimate winner may be decided in the Democratic primary in March 2026. In 2022, Democratic Wright defeated Republican LaRue Windham 60.3% to 39.7%. In 2018, Wright led Republican Charlie Baxley 63.5% to 36.5%.
The applicants’ names are listed in the agenda packet for Monday’s commissioners’ meeting, but no background information is included. The county communications staff told CityView that state law prohibits the county from making public the resumes and other application materials that the applicants submitted.
Here are the applicants, plus further information that CityView was able to learn from other sources:
- Joseph Bailer, who is the director of public safety and security at Fayetteville Technical Community College. He is a Democrat.
- James Barnes. CityView could not on Thursday verify further information about him.
- James E. Black. He is a law, justice and drone technology instructor at Cape Fear High School, according to resume he provided to CityView on Friday, and previously retired from the Sheriff’s Office as a major. He is an independent voter.
- Kemberle Braden, the recently retired Fayetteville police chief. He is an independent voter.
- Brian Delrosario, a military veteran (who reports service in the Army and the Marines) who is a law school student. Delrosario is a Libertarian.
- Johnathan Morgan, who is a major in the Sheriff’s Office. Wright has endorsed Morgan for the appointment. He is a Democrat.
- Terry Ray. Public information online says he has been a long-serving deputy in the Sheriff’s Office. CityView could not on Thursday confirm further information.
- Ronald Starling. A man with the same name is running for the Hope Mills Board of Commissioners this year. And a man by the same name also sought the sheriff appointment in 2016 when Sheriff Moose Butler retired, The Fayetteville Observer reported at that time. CityView could not on Thursday confirm whether these are the same person.
- LaRue Windham, a former deputy who sought the appointment in 2016 and ran for sheriff in 2018 and 2022. Windham has said he was unjustly fired from the Sheriff’s Office in 2008 during an investigation into allegations that he falsified his timesheets. The district attorney ended the investigation in 2011, The Fayetteville Observer reported then, with no charges filed against Windham. He is a Republican.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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