LaRue Windham for Sheriff of Cumberland County
Trust and Transparency.
Twenty years in the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office — from deputy to operations commander — and a graduate of the FBI National Academy. LaRue Windham is running to give the deputies of this county a sheriff who stands behind them, and to give the people of this county a straight account of what their sheriff's office is doing.
Meet LaRue
Twenty years inside this office
LaRue Windham joined the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office in 1988 and served there for twenty years, rising from deputy to deputy operations commander. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration from the University of Mount Olive.
Law enforcement is the family trade — his father served as a Cumberland County chief deputy and later as assistant director of the State Bureau of Investigation. In the years since leaving the sheriff's office, Windham has stayed in the field, working inside North Carolina's corrections system in special operations, as a training coordinator at Morrison Correctional Institution, and in probation and parole.
- Twenty years in this office Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, 1988–2008 — deputy through deputy operations commander
- Since 2008 N.C. corrections — special operations, training coordinator at Morrison Correctional Institution, probation and parole
- Trained FBI National Academy · B.S. criminal justice administration, University of Mount Olive
- Family Son, Cuyler. His father was a Cumberland County chief deputy and later assistant director of the N.C. SBI
- Home Gray’s Creek
The Plan
Three priorities
What the next sheriff can actually change, in the order it should be taken on.
Stand behind the deputies
Cumberland County cannot keep the deputies it trains. The career development plan that governs pay and advancement has not been rewritten since 1980, and every surrounding agency recruits against it. The first job of the next sheriff is to put a costed, current career ladder in front of the county commissioners — and to be a sheriff deputies can bring a problem to without wondering what it will cost them.
A real presence in the schools
School resource officers are the part of this office most families actually meet. Windham has argued across three campaigns for a larger, more consistent sheriff's presence in Cumberland County schools — officers who are in the building often enough that students and staff know them by name, rather than a post that goes unfilled when staffing gets tight.
Straight answers on drugs and enforcement
Calls for service involving overdose and substance use keep climbing. Windham has committed to regular public briefings on what the office is doing about it — what was seized, what was charged, and what is not working. A sheriff's office that only talks to the public after something goes wrong has already lost the argument.
Why the office matters
What the sheriff actually does
More people vote for sheriff than can say what the job covers. In North Carolina it is a great deal more than patrol cars.
An elected office
The sheriff is elected countywide to a four-year term. Unlike a police chief, a sheriff is not hired by a manager or a council and cannot be fired by one — the office answers directly to the voters of Cumberland County, and only to them.
The detention center
The sheriff runs the county jail. It is the single largest thing the office does — roughly $22.4 million a year, separate from the sheriff's office budget itself — and it covers everyone held before trial, their medical care, and their safety while they are in the county's custody.
Patrol and investigations
Deputies are the primary law enforcement for everyone living outside a town's police jurisdiction, and the office runs criminal investigations countywide. If you live in unincorporated Cumberland County, the sheriff's office is who answers your call.
Courts and civil process
The office serves civil papers, carries out evictions and court orders, and provides security for the courthouse. It is unglamorous work that touches more residents in a year than most of what makes the news.
School resource officers
Sheriff's deputies assigned to schools are, for most families, the only part of this office they will ever deal with directly. How many there are, and how consistently the posts are filled, is a decision the sheriff makes.
Permits and the registry
Concealed handgun permits are issued by the sheriff, and the county's sex offender registry is maintained by the sheriff's office. Both are statutory duties that arrive at the same front counter.
Supporters
Who's standing with LaRue
If you have worked with LaRue, lived in the county he served, or simply want a sheriff who backs his deputies, add your name. We publish an endorsement only once the person has agreed in writing to be listed.
How to vote
How to vote in this race
Sheriff sits on the county portion of the ballot, below the federal and state contests. The links below go to the North Carolina State Board of Elections — always confirm dates and locations there.
Check your registration
Confirm you're registered at your current address with the NC voter search — it takes a minute.
Know your options
Vote during early voting, by absentee/mail ballot, or in person on Election Day. Early voting also offers same-day registration.
Make a plan
Find your Election Day polling place and early-voting sites on your county Board of Elections site, and pick a time.
Keep going to the county races
Sheriff is below the federal and state contests on the ballot. Plenty of voters stop before they get there — that is where this race is won and lost.
Donate
Chip in
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