Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.
Editor’s Note 11/13/25: The submission above has been marked as “Completed”.
We attempted to revise the original request [see below]. However, there are still a few aspects that need to clarified before it can be sent (please see bolded items in particular). For example:
– A3. + B3. Are you looking for the total number of calls for service each Sheriff personally received or responded to? Or, do you want to know the total calls the Sheriff’s Department received (and/or) responded to as a whole?
-A5. + B5. Are you looking for overtime hours worked by and overtime pay given to Sheriffs Francis and Ellenburg specifically? Or, do you want to know overall totals for overtime hours and overtime pay given to the Sheriff’s Department as a whole?
This request is related to the Rutherford County, NC Sheriff’s Office specifically – and, all responsive records should cover the time period of January 01, 2020 – November 04, 2025.
If such a record exists. Please provide the following:
A1. The total annual budget for each of the last two years of Sheriff Francis’ term in office (ending 2022).
A2. The total amount of dollars Sheriff Francis went over budget during each of his last two years in office.
A3. The total amount of “calls for service” Sheriff Francis had for each of the last two years of his term in office.
(** Provide totals only. Do not include personally identifying info about case numbers, victims, addresses, etc.)
A4. The average number of inmates Sheriff Francis had for each of the last two years of his term in office.
(** Provide totals only. Do not include personally identifying info about case numbers, victims, addresses, etc.)
A5. The total amount of overtime hours and overtime pay spent during each year of Sheriff Francis’ last two years in office.
A6. The total number of “full-time” employees Sheriff Francis had during each of the last two years in office.B1. The total annual budget for each of the last two recent years of Sheriff Ellenburg’s term in office.
B2. The total amount of dollars Sheriff Ellenburg has gone over budget during each of his last two recent years in office.
B3. The total amount of “calls for service” Sheriff Ellenburg has had for each of the last two years during his term in office.
(** Provide totals only. Do not include personally identifying info about case numbers, victims, addresses, etc.)
B4. The average number of inmates Sheriff Ellenburg has had for each of the last two years during his term in office.
(** Provide totals only. Do not include personally identifying info about case numbers, victims, addresses, etc.)
B5. The total amount of overtime hours and overtime pay spent during each year of Sheriff Ellenburg’s recent two years in office.
B6. The total number of “full-time employees” Sheriff Ellenburg has had during each of the last two years in office.
** In general, we find the request to be overly broad / unclear. We also find it likely that the County will not be able to query some of the data as written — particularly, about employee totals in the past. We just want to note that for your consideration when re-writing the request.
– It is important what you’re requesting is specific and reasonable. Please specify the exact records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched.
– We recommend limiting requests to cover a three month time period, or shorter. Remember that the larger the request, the more time it takes to fulfill.
– Clarifying this info will help to greatly narrow the scope of the request, and will also reduce the amount of time it takes the Disclosing Agency (as well as our team) to process the request.
Please feel free to revise and submit a new request to our site (once our request form reopens later this week). Please clearly indicate any specific details, subject, message, dates, record types, City / County / State, etc. about the exact public records that are being requested.
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☀️ Requests that are incomplete, non-specific, or vague.
While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific information the requester hopes to receive. In this case, the sender may rewrite and resubmit the request.
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It’s the requester’s responsibility to write the request in a manner that clearly specifies a record that is being requested, and to what government entity it should be sent.
☀️ Please be specific:
It is important that what you are requesting is specific and reasonable, and is an actionable records request. Please specify the exact type of records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched. Remember that the larger your request, the more time it usually takes to fulfill. Specificity will often help reduce the amount of time needed to process the request.
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